The Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron (45 WS) provides comprehensive operational meteorological services to the Eastern Range and the Kennedy Space Center. These services include weather support for pre-launch ground processing, launch, recovery, routine 24/7 weather advisories for personnel safety and resource protection, and special missions. The 45 WS supports all launches at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space center for the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and commercial launch customers.

Weather impacts, such as natural and triggered lightning, present a significant challenge to spacelift, especially in the lightning rich environment of the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Over the last 15 years, approximately 50 percent of all scrubbed launch countdowns have been due to weather conditions. The effective use of weather information and timely management decisions translate into annual cost savings of millions of dollars while providing a paramount contribution to safety.

To assess weather’s impact on all phases of launch operations, the 45 WS operates an extensive meteorological instrumentation network. This network includes the Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Surveillance System (CGLSS). The CGLSS detects local cloud-to-ground lightning strikes and provides the location, strength, and time of those strikes with high performance. The CGLSS location accuracy in the local area is nominally 300 meters with a detection efficiency of 98%. The CGLSS reliable range is about 100 km. The high performance of CGLSS is achieved through a network of six IMPACT lightning sensors, like those used in the National Lightning Detection Network, with good geometry and spacing. The sensors are well maintained and calibrated, which also contributes to the high performance. The primary use of the CGLSS information is to access the likelihood of EMP damage to the delicate electronics of payloads and launch vehicles to determine if costly and time-consuming inspection of the electronics is required. The CGLSS information is also used to evaluate Lightning Launch Commit Criteria during launch countdowns, and in issuing lightning advisories.

This paper discusses the need for the system, its use in all phases of launch operations, its original design, and the most recent modifications accomplished to ensure the system best meets the needs of America’s space program.

A companion paper describing the uses of the CGLSS database is also being submitted for presentation at this conference; see ‘Applications of the Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Surveillance System Database’ by Roeder et al.