Title:

Detecting Transient Lightning Electric Field with a Mini-whip Antenna System

Detection of transient lightning electric fields using a Miniwhip antenna system is part of ongoing lightning physics research conducted by Dr. Liu. This research can help improve atmospheric modeling, weather prediction, and electromagnetic studies. The Miniwhip serves as a wideband electric field sensor capable of detecting weak RF signals over large areas. This work presents the design and implementation of a low-noise RF sensing system using a Miniwhip antenna integrated with a USRP N210 software-defined radio. Emphasis was placed on maintaining a low noise floor, preserving signal integrity, and enabling accurate signal characterization through Power Spectral Density (PSD) analysis. A front-end RF chain was developed to protect the receiver while conditioning the signal through filtering, and attenuation. System performance was validated using a 10 MHz test signal. PSD analysis shows the signal clearly above the noise floor, with stable baseline behavior, demonstrating the system’s effectiveness for RF signal detection and analysis.

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