Systems, methods, and apparatus for evaluating and / or controlling lightning generated at a cloud

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for targeting a cloud are provided. A source of a lightning strike is predicted. Furthermore, an aerospace vehicle is operated to dispose a lightning suppression payload at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

Description

SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING AND / OR CONTROLLING LIGHTNING GENERATED AT A CLOUDCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present Application claims priority to United States Provisional Patent Application No.: 63 / 547,677, entitled “Method and System of Reducing Lightning Ground Strikes,” filed November 7, 2023, and to United States Provisional Patent Application No.: 63 / 678,486, entitled “Systems, Methods, and Apparatus for Evaluating and / or Controlling Lightning Generated at a Cloud,” filed August 1 , 2024, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for evaluating and / or controlling lightning generated at a cloud.BACKGROUND

[0003] One of skill in the art will appreciate that lightning is a means of dissipating energy from clouds. Typically, the dissipated energy originates from water in oceans, lakes, rivers, and the like evaporated by solar energy. In such cases, each gram of water absorbs about 540 calories of energy when converted from liquid to water vapor. In large, vertical clouds, water vapor returns to the liquid state, and can freeze to become ice or snow, often in a cyclic manner. During such transitions and cycles, friction between particles of different phases releases energy, some of which is generated as heat while another portion contributes to a change in electric charge.

[0004] Cumulonimbus clouds are the most common form of thunderclouds, with bases as low as 1,000 feet (ft) above ground level and a top reaching more than 30,000 ft above the base. Within a cumulonimbus cloud, the electric charge is separated, such as charge region at the top of the cloud and an oppositely charged region at the bottom. In some instances, a significant voltage difference between the separated charge regions creates a strong electric field whose strength determines whether a lightning strike occurs or not.

[0005] More particularly, cumulonimbus clouds above the ground have a structure similar to that of two electrical capacitors, which stores and dissipates energy. For instance, cumulonimbus clouds can be considered to include two conductive plates separated by a non-conducting dielectric material. When a voltage is applied between the plates, equal and opposite electric charges appear on the plates. Furthermore, energy is stored in the capacitor equal to CV2, in which the term “C” represents the capacitance value, and the term “V” represents the voltage between plates of the capacitor. Of importance in lightning strikes, the energy increases with the square of the voltage. As such, a thundercloud represented as two capacitors - one between the top and bottom of the cloud and the other between the bottom of the cloud and the ground., in which the bottom of the cloud has a dual function with the upper capacitor and the lower capacitor. A charge on the bottom of the cloud would thus cause an opposite charge to be induced on the ground, causing a ground lightning strike.

[0006] When ground lightning strikes occur in vegetated locations, the ensuing wildfires cause significant damage to infrastructure by igniting manmade structures, agriculture, and nature. Recently, wildfires have become an increasingly significant issue in many countries. For example, more than half of wildfires are caused by lightning in many countries, such as Canada. Wildfires caused by lightning are resulting in significant overall increases in numbers and areas burned, especially in northern latitudes and areas where climate change results in increasingly hotter and dryer geographies.

[0007] At times, wildfires that occur in remote areas may be left to burn themselves out without causing substantial harm and damage. However, these wildfires are also likely to remain burning. In such cases, extinguishing or fighting theses wildfires becomes prohibitively costly if not outright impossible due the geographic complexity of the remote location and / or lack of infrastructure available near the wildfire.

[0008] Wildfires may also occur in commercially harvested forest areas, and many of these are located near population centers. These wildfires may be costly to fight, but save commercial timber, avoid population area damage, and minimize impacts on carbon budgets. Moreover, with increased frequency, wildfires have occurred with high intensities, such as higher maximum temperatures and / or surface area affected by the wildfire, which is undesirable.

[0009] Furthermore, conventional attempts to dissipate lightning including conducting a manned flight operation to seed chaff within a thunderstorm. See Kasemir et al, 1976, “Lightning Suppression by Chaff Seeding at the Base of Thunderstorms,” Journal of Geophysical Research, 81(12), pg. 1965-1970. Specifically, a manned aircraft is used to disperse chaff in areas of clear and cloudy air in order to yield an adequate number of ions that penetrate into an interior of the cloud. However, this conventional appearance produces substantial dangers and risks, and prone to error.

[0010] Furthermore, conventional approaches failed to provide an architecture that allowed for implementation of lightning dispersion at scale. For instance, conventional approaches fail to consider infrastructure requirements, such as operating costs, aircraft availability, specialized requirements of aircrafts, or airspace management when seeding clouds. For instance, prior attempts at seeding clouds with chaff deployed excessive amounts of material without consideration of fuel waste, environmental impacts, and / or meteorological impacts on neighboring storm fronts or the like.

[0011] Additionally, unmanned systems have found recent adaptation in a variety of consumer and military applications. However, such unmanned systems are restricted by an ability to detect and / or identify other aircraft and perform collision avoidance. Without such avoidance operations, unmanned system are typically limited to a range of 400 feet (ft) and visual line of sight to the pilot, which limits use in remote locations. Furthermore, such unmanned systems have limited payload capacity and range, such as due to a battery capacity and / or communication capacity of the unmanned system when operating in remote locations, and prone to unstable flight control system.

[0012] Furthermore, conventional solutions use lightning-resistant unmanned systems to attract lightning strikes, such as by flying the drone and attack the lightning strike as a conductor, which generates a high-voltage at, and heat within, the drone, which are undesirable for prolonged use or for attracting multiple lightning strikes during an extended storm front.

[0013] Additionally, lightning strikes are known to play a role in the production of nitrogen oxides, which influence the ozone layer and cycle.

[0014] Given the above background, what is needed in the art are improved systems, methods, and aerospace vehicles for reducing the frequency of ground lightning strikes that cause wildfires.SUMMARY

[0015] The present disclosure addresses the shortcomings disclosed above by providing systems, methods, and aerospace vehicles for evaluating and / or controlling lightning generated at a cloud.

[0016] In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and apparatus of the present disclosure initiate the discharge of the upper “capacitor” between the top and bottom of the cloud with an internal lightning strike (IC Lightning). For instance, when the charge on the lower level of the cloud is removed, the induced charge in the ground will also disappear, reducing or eliminating the risk of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes causing fires on the ground.

[0017] An aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for evaluating lightning control. The method includes determining a plurality of environmental parameters associated with (i) a region and (ii) a period of time. The method further includes identifying, during the period of time, at least one storm cell associated with the region based, at least in part, on some or all of the plurality of environmental parameters. From this, the method evaluates lightning control of the at least one storm cell.

[0018] In some embodiments, the method further includes traversing an aerospace vehicle to a location proximate to a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0019] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is configured to traverse to the location before elapse of the period of time.

[0020] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is airborne during the determination of the plurality of environmental parameters and / or the identification of the at least one storm cell.

[0021] In some embodiments, the method further includes disposing of some or all of a payload coupled to the aerospace vehicle when the aerospace vehicle traverses to the location.

[0022] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more hydrodynamic parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0023] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more electrical parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0024] In some embodiments, the one or more electrical parameters includes an electric field associated with the region.

[0025] In some embodiments, each respective storm cell of the at least one storm cell associated with the region is identified in accordance with a determination of the electric field of the respective storm cell satisfying a threshold electric field condition.

[0026] In some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition is of an amount between 50 kilovolts per meter (kV / m) and 350 kV / m.

[0027] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more cloud parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0028] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a cloud classification of cumulonimbus and / or pyrocumulus.

[0029] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a mass flow rate and / or a volumetric flow rate associated with an updraft of a respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0030] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a cross-sectional area associated with the draft of the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0031] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a minimum distance between a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell and a second storm cell, different from the first storm cell, in the at least one storm cell.

[0032] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes an altitude associated with the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0033] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters comprises a velocity of the updraft and / or the inflow of the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0034] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters comprises a convective available potential energy of the updraft and / or the inflow of the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0035] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a shape of a corresponding cloud associated with the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell, a color of the corresponding cloud, a density of the corresponding cloud, an optical parameter of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0036] In some embodiments, the shape of the corresponding cloud includes a curvature associated with a portion of the corresponding cloud, a uniformity associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, a normalization associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0037] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more landscape parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0038] In some embodiments, the one or more landscape parameters includes one or more fuel parameters and / or one or more topographic parameters.

[0039] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more meteorological parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0040] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters includes a ground temperature associated with the region, an atmospheric temperature associated with the region, a relative humidity associated with the region, an absolute humidity associated with the region, or a combination thereof.

[0041] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes a predicted number of lightning strikes per square mile associated with the region during the period of time.

[0042] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes an estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload.

[0043] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes.

[0044] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0045] In some embodiments, the determining the plurality of environmental parameters includes obtaining a first environmental parameter in the plurality of environmental parameters using a first sensor coupled to an aerospace vehicle at or near the region.

[0046] In some embodiments, the first sensor is a radar sensor or an electric field sensor.

[0047] In some embodiments, the determining the plurality of environmental parameters includes obtaining a second environmental parameter in the plurality of environmental parameters using a second sensor disposed at or substantially at ground level.

[0048] The method of any preceding claim, wherein an area of the region is between 10 square miles (mi2) and 50 mi2, between 500 mi2and 1,500 mi2, or between 10,000 mi2and 100,000 mi2.

[0049] Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for selecting an aerospace vehicle. The method includes evaluating a plurality of aerospace vehicles associated with a region. When a respective aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies a first threshold condition in a plurality of threshold conditions, the method includes selecting the respective aerospace vehicle for inclusion in a subset of aerospace vehicles in the plurality of aerospace vehicles. Moreover, when no aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies the first threshold condition, the method includes repeating the evaluating of the plurality of aerospace vehicles using a second threshold condition in the plurality of threshold conditions until the subset of aerospace vehicles comprises at least one aerospace vehicle. The method further includes deploying a first aerospace vehicle, in the subset of the plurality of aerospace vehicles, to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with the region.

[0050] In some embodiments, the plurality of aerospace vehicles includes between 2 and 10,000 aerospace vehicles.

[0051] In some embodiments, a first condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a first distance between a current location of the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0052] In some embodiments, a second condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a second distance between a base associated with the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0053] In some embodiments, a third condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a minimum distance between the first storm cell and the aerospace vehicle.

[0054] In some embodiments, a fourth condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a failure to predict one or more lightning strikes associated with the region during a period of time.

[0055] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0056] In some embodiments, the repeating of the evaluating occurs for a plurality of instances. In some embodiments, the plurality of instances includes performing between 2 and 100 instances of the evaluating before ceasing to perform the deploying of the first aerospace vehicle.

[0057] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for deploying multiple payloads. The method includes deploying a first aerospace vehicle to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with a region. Moreover, the method includes disposing, during a first period of time, a first payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near the first location. The method further includes determining, at the first aerospace vehicle, a plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first storm cell, which identifies a change in the first storm cell. Furthermore, the method includes disposing, during a second period of time after the first period of time, a second payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near to a second location proximate to the first storm cell and different from the first location. The second payload is selected based at least in part on the change in the first storm cell.

[0058] In some embodiments, the first location is within an interior of a cumulonimbus cloud.

[0059] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes radar data obtained using a first sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

[0060] In some embodiments, the radar data includes one or more radar signals reflected from some or all of the first payload and received by the sensor.

[0061] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters comprises electric field data obtained using a second sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

[0062] In some embodiments, the change includes a difference between an electric field of the first storm cell prior to the disposing and after the disposing.

[0063] In some embodiments, the change comprises a difference between an electric field of a second storm cell different from the first storm cell prior to the disposing and after the disposing.

[0064] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for targeting a cloud. The method includes predicting a source of a lightning strike. The method further includes communicating, via a communication network, one or more instructions for operating an aerospace vehicle to dispose of a payload at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0065] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a cumulonimbus cloud and / or pyrocumulus cloud.

[0066] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a storm cell of the cumulonimbus cloud.

[0067] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a boundary region of the cloud.

[0068] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a voltage gradient associated with an altitude.

[0069] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes an electric field associated with the altitude.

[0070] In some embodiments, the lightning strike includes a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, an intra-cloud lightning strike, an inter-cloud lightning strike, or a combination thereof.

[0071] In some embodiments, the predicting includes selecting the source of the lightning strike from a plurality of potential sources of a lightning strike.

[0072] In some embodiments, the predicting includes using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) and / or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to predict the source of the lightning strike.

[0073] In some embodiments, the communicating includes using a first communication module associated with the UAS to communicate, via the communication network, the one or more instructions to a second communication module associated with the aerospace vehicle.

[0074] In some embodiments, the UAS includes the aerospace vehicle.

[0075] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aircraft, a flapping wing aircraft, a single-rotor aircraft, a multi-rotor aircraft, a cyclo-aircraft, a hybrid aircraft, a projectile, or a combination thereof.

[0076] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

[0077] In some embodiments, the payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0078] In some embodiments, the payload is configured to create an electron path.

[0079] In some embodiments, the payload includes a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

[0080] In some embodiments, the conductive material includes a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

[0081] In some embodiments, the glass material includes a glass-fiber material.

[0082] In some embodiments, the glass material includes between 50 weight percent (w%) and 70 w% glass-fiber material and between 30 w% and 50 w% aluminum or an alloy thereof.

[0083] In some embodiments, the payload comprises chaff.

[0084] In some embodiments, a length of the payload is between 0.2 inches and 1.1 inches.

[0085] In some embodiments, a diameter of the payload is between 20 microns (pm) and 30 pm.

[0086] In some embodiments, the payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

[0087] In some embodiments, the location associated with the source of the lightning strike is at an elevation greater than 50 meters with respect to a ground elevation.

[0088] In some embodiments, the one or more instructions includes a flight path for traversing from an initial location associated with the aerospace vehicle to the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0089] In some embodiments, the one or more instructions includes one or more coordinates associated with the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0090] In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates includes a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate, an elevation coordinate, or a combination thereof.

[0091] In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates includes a time coordinate.

[0092] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing an aerospace vehicle. The aerospace vehicle includes a lightning suppression payload during flight. In some embodiments,

[0093] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle further includes one or more processors, a communication module configured to receive and / or transmit a data element via a communication network, and memory coupled to the one or more processors. The memory stores one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or more programs includes instructions for operation of the aerospace vehicle and deployment of the lightning suppression payload.

[0094] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aerospace vehicle, a flapping wing aerospace vehicle, a single-rotor aerospace vehicle, a multi-rotor aerospace vehicle, a cyclo-aerospace vehicle, a hybrid aerospace vehicle, or a combination thereof.

[0095] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle includes a balloon.

[0096] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

[0097] In some embodiments, lightning suppression payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with a source of a lightning strike.

[0098] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload is configured to create an electron path.

[0099] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload is configured to retard or arrest heat generated at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0100] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload includes a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

[0101] In some embodiments, the conductive material includes a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

[0102] In some embodiments, the glass material includes a glass-fiber material.

[0103] In some embodiments, the metal material includes aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

[0104] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

[0105] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle includes one or more central processing units, one or more graphics processing units, one or more tensor processing units, one or more neural processing units, or a combination thereof.

[0106] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for dissipating stored energy within a cloud. The method includes using an aerospace vehicle to traverse a lightning suppression payload to a first location proximate to the cloud. Moreover, the method includes disposing of the lightning suppression payload at a portion of the cloud, thereby reducing an electric field between a first volume of a first charge associated with the cloud and a second volume of a second charge associated with the cloud and inducing a transfer of charge from the first volume to the second volume with the cloud, in which the first charge and the second charge are inversely electrically charged.

[0107] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a method for identifying at least one storm cell. In some embodiments, the at least one storm cell is identified by satisfying lightning potential criteria that is forecast to be over a region satisfying disaster potential criteria during a period of time. In some embodiments, the lightning potential criteria one or more meteorological parameters and the disaster potential criteria comprises a risk threshold that considers at least (i) one or more meteorological parameters and (ii) one or more geographic parameters.

[0108] In some embodiments, the method further includes delivering a lightning suppression material to a storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0109] In some embodiments, the disaster potential criteria comprises a wildfire, a damage to a structure, a lightning strike in a populated area, a cessation in a utility transmission, an interruption in a transportation network, a delay in the transportation network, a damage to the transportation network, a decrease in a population density, a formation of a landslide, or a combination thereof.

[0110] In some embodiments, the one or more geographic parameters comprises an environmental parameter and / or a locational parameter.

[0111] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform a method of the present disclosure.

[0112] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing a computer system. The computer system includes one or more processors and memory coupled to the one or more processors. The memory stores one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors. Moreover, the one or more programs include one or more instructions for performing a method of the present disclosure.

[0113] The systems, methods, devices, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium of the present invention have other features and advantages that will be apparent from, or are set forth in more detail in, the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0114] Figure 1 illustrates various modules and / or components of a lightning evaluation and control computer system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0115] Figure 2 illustrates various modules and / or components of an aerospace vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0116] Figure 3 illustrates a view of a region including a plurality of aerospace vehicles and a plurality of clouds, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0117] Figure 4 illustrates a flow chart of methods for evaluating lightning control, in which dashed boxes represent optional parameters, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0118] Figure 5 illustrates a flow chart of methods for selecting an aerospace vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0119] Figure 6 illustrates a flow chart of methods for deploying multiple payloads, in which dashed boxes represent optional parameters, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0120] Figure 7 illustrates a flow chart of methods for targeting a cloud, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0121] Figure 8 illustrates a flow chart of methods for dissipating stored energy within a cloud, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0122] Figure 9 illustrates a chart depicting an evaluation of a region visualized as a heat map, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0123] Figure 10 illustrates a graphical user interface for controlling an aerospace vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0124] Figure 11 illustrates a chart depicting dissipation of stored energy within a cloud, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0125] Figure 12 illustrates a chart depicting a radar plat of a region including a flight path of an aerospace vehicle to a location proximate to one or more storm cells, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0126] Figure 13 illustrates a chart depicting a radar plot of a region including a plurality of storm cells and a plurality of lightning suppression payload deployments at the region using one or more aerospace vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0127] Figure 14A illustrates a chart of lightning strikes in the vicinity of the region of Figure 13;

[0128] Figure 14B illustrates a chart of a period of time between deployment of the plurality of lightning suppression payload at the region of Figure 13;

[0129] Figure 15 illustrates a flow chart of methods for identifying a target for active lightning control, in which dashed boxes represent optional parameters, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0130] It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various parameters illustrative of the basic principles of the invention.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0131] The present disclosure is directed to providing systems and methods for targeting a cloud are provided. A source of a lightning strike is predicted, such as a cloud within a region and / or a storm cell associated with the cloud. Furthermore, one or more instructions for operating an aerospace vehicle to dispose of a lightning suppression payload at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike is obtained via a communication network.

[0132] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments.

[0133] It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For instance, a first subject could be termed a second subject, and, similarly, a second subject could be termed a first subject, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The first subject and the second subject are both subjects, but they are not the same subject.

[0134] The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and / or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0135] The foregoing description included example systems, methods, techniques, instruction sequences, and computing machine program products that embody illustrative implementations. For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of various implementations of the inventive subject matter. It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art that implementations of the inventive subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In general, well-known instruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail.

[0136] The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has been described with reference to specific implementations. However, the illustrative discussions below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the implementations to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The implementations are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles and their practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the implementations and various implementations with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

[0137] In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will be appreciated that, in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions are made in order to achieve the designer’s specific goals, such as compliance with use case- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one designer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a design effort might be complex and time-consuming, but nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordering skill in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure.

[0138] As used herein, the term “if’ may be construed to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting,” depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated condition or event] is detected” may be construed to mean “upon determining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [the stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

[0139] The term “about” or “approximately” is used herein to provide literal support for the exact number that it precedes, as well as a number that is near to or approximately the numberthat the term precedes. In determining whether a number is near to or approximately a specifically recited number, the near or approximating unrecited number may be a number, which, in the context in which it is presented, provides the substantial equivalent of the specifically recited number. It should be appreciated that all numerical values and ranges disclosed herein are approximate values and ranges, whether “about” is used in conjunction therewith. It should also be appreciated that the term “about,” as used herein, in conjunction with a numeral refers to a value that may be ±0.01% (inclusive), ±0.1% (inclusive), ±0.5% (inclusive), ±1% (inclusive) of that numeral, ±2% (inclusive) of that numeral, ±3% (inclusive) of that numeral, ±5% (inclusive) of that numeral, ±10% (inclusive) of that numeral, or ±15% (inclusive) of that numeral. It should further be appreciated that when a numerical range is disclosed herein, any numerical value falling within the range is also specifically disclosed.

[0140] As used herein, the term “instruction” refers to an order given to a computer processor by a computer program. On a digital computer, in some embodiments, each instruction is a sequence of 0s and 1 s that describes a physical operation the computer is to perform. Such instructions can include data transfer instructions and data manipulation instructions. In some embodiments, each instruction is a type of instruction in an instruction set that is recognized by a particular processor type used to carry out the instructions. Examples of instruction sets include, but are not limited to, Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC), Minimal Instruction Set Computers (MISC), Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW), Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing (EPIC), and One Instruction Set Computer (OISC).

[0141] Distributed Computer System.

[0142] In the present disclosure, unless expressly stated otherwise, descriptions of devices and systems will include implementations of one or more computers, such as one or more processing units (e.g., one or more central processing units and / or one or more graphics processing units). For instance, and for purposes of illustration in Figure 1, a lightning evaluation and / or control computer system 100, hereinafter “computer system,” is represented as single device that includes all the functionality of the computer system 100. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. For instance, in some embodiments, the functionality of the computer system 100 is spread across any number of networked computers and / or reside on each of several networked computers and / or by hosted on one or more virtual machines and / or containers at a remote location accessible across a communications network (e.g., communication network 196 of Figure 1). One of skill in the art will appreciate that a wide array of different computer topologies is possible for the computer system 100, and other devices and systems of the preset disclosure, and that all such topologies are within the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, rather than relying on a physical communication network 196, the illustrated devices and systems may wirelessly transmit information between each other. As such, the exemplary topology shown in Figure 1 merely serves to describe the features of an embodiment of the present disclosure in a manner that will be readily understood to one of skill in the art.

[0143] Figure 1 depicts a block diagram of a computer system (e.g., computer system 100) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer system 100 at least facilitates communicating one or more instructions for targeting a cloud (e.g., method 400 of Figure 4, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, etc.).

[0144] In some embodiments, the communication network 196 optionally includes the Internet, one or more local area networks (LANs), one or more wide area networks (WANs), other types of networks, or a combination of such networks.

[0145] Examples of communication network 196 include the World Wide Web (WWW), an intranet and / or a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local area network (LAN) and / or a metropolitan area network (MAN), and other devices by wireless communication. The wireless communication optionally uses any of a plurality of communications standards, protocols and technologies, including Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA), high-speed uplink packet access (HSUPA), Evolution, Data-Only (EV- DO), HSPA, HSPA+, Dual-Cell HSPA (DC-HSPDA), long term evolution (LIE), near field communication (NFC), wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.1 la, IEEE 802.1 lac, IEEE 802.1 lax, IEEE 802.1 lb, IEEE 802.11gand / or IEEE 802.1 In), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocol for e-mail (e.g., Internet message access protocol (IMAP) and / or post office protocol (POP)), instant messaging (e.g., extensible messaging and presence protocol (XMPP), Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), and / or Short Message Service (SMS), or any other suitable communication protocol, including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

[0146] In various embodiments, the computer system 100 includes one or more processing units, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs), one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) 1902, one or more tensor processing units (TPUs), one or more neural processing units (NPU), a network or other communications interface 1904, and memory 1912.

[0147] In some embodiments, the computer system 100 includes a user interface 1906. The user interface 1906 typically includes a display 1908 for presenting media. In some embodiments, the display 1908 is integrated within the computer systems (e.g., housed in the same chassis as the CPU 1902 and memory 1912). In some embodiments, the computer system 100 includes one or more input device(s) 1910, which allow a subject to interact with the computer system 100. In some embodiments, input devices 1910 include a keyboard, a mouse, and / or other input mechanisms. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the display 1908 includes a touch-sensitive surface (e.g., where display 1908 is a touch-sensitive display or computer system 100 includes a touch pad).

[0148] In some embodiments, the computer system 100 presents media to a user through the display 1908. Examples of media presented by the display 1908 include one or more images, a video, audio (e.g., waveforms of an audio sample), or a combination thereof. In typical embodiments, the one or more images, the video, the audio, or the combination thereof is presented by the display 1908 through a client application. In some embodiments, the audio is presented through an external device (e.g., speakers, headphones, input / output (I / O) subsystem, etc.) that receives audio information from the computer system 100 and presents audio data based on this audio information. In some embodiments, the user interface 1906 also includes an audio output device, such as speakers or an audio output for connecting with speakers, earphones, or headphones.

[0149] Memory 1912 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices, and optionally also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 1912 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotely located from the CPU(s) 1902. Memory 1912, or alternatively the non-volatile memory device(s) within memory 1912, includes a non- transitory computer readable storage medium. Access to memory 1912 by other components of the computer system 100, such as the CPU(s) 1902, is, optionally, controlled by a controller. In some embodiments, the memory 1912 include mass storage that is remotely located with respect to the CPU(s) 1902. In other words, some data stored in memory 1912 may in fact be hosted on devices that are external to the computer system 100, but that can be electronically accessed by the computer system 100 over an Internet, intranet, or other form of network 1906 or electronic cable using communication interface 1904.

[0150] In some embodiments, the memory 1912 of the computer system 100 stores:• an operating system 1920 (e.g, ANDROID, iOS, DARWIN, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) that includes procedures for handling various basic system services;• an electronic address associated with the computer system 100 that identifies the computer system 100 (e.g., within the communication network 196);• a control module 1922 controlling one or more processes (e.g., method) associated with the computer system 100; and• optionally, a client application for presenting information (e.g., media) using a display 1908 of the computer system 100.

[0151] In some embodiments, the control module 1922 is configured to perform one or more steps of a method of the present disclosure (e.g., method 400 of Figure, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, etc.).

[0152] Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more functions described above and the methods described inthe present disclosure (e.g., the computer- implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules are, optionally, combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the memory 1912 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the memory 1912 stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

[0153] It should be appreciated that the computer system of Figure 1 is only one example of a computer system 100, and that the computer system 100 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has a different configuration or arrangement of the components he various components shown in Figure 1 are implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, including one or more signal processing and / or application specific integrated circuits.

[0154] Aerospace Vehicle(s).

[0155] Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to providing an aerospace vehicle (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc.), which allows for traversing space in three-dimensions, such as for deploying a lightning suppression payload 308 at a location associated with a storm cell of a cloud 302, such as an interior of the cloud 302, an edge of the cloud 302, an updraft associated with the cloud 302, an inflow associated with the cloud 302, a downdraft associated with the cloud 302, a volume surrounding some or all of the cloud. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0156] Figure 2 depicts a block diagram of an aerospace vehicle (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospacevehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300- T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc.), etc.) according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The aerospace vehicle 300 at least facilitates receiving one or more instructions for targeting a cloud 302 and / or deploying a lightning suppression payload 308 (e.g., method 400 of Figure 4, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, etc.).

[0157] In various embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes one or more processing units, such as one or more central processing units (CPUs) and / or one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more tensor processing units (TPUs), one or more neural processing units (NPUs), a combination thereof 2902, a network or other communications interface 2904, and memory 2912. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For instance, in some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes one or more systems on a chip (SOC), one or more controllers, one or more state equipment, one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination thereof 2902.

[0158] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 further includes one or more processors (e.g., CPU 2902 of Figure 2) and a communication module (e.g., network interface 2904 of Figure 2) that is configured to receive and / or transmit a data element via a communication network 196. For instance, in some embodiments, the network interface 2904 is configured to receive one or more instructions from the computer system 200 for deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 at a first location associated with a cloud 302. In some embodiments, the network interface 2904 is configured to transmit one or more data elements generated at the aerospace vehicle, such as a data element associated with a position of the aerospace vehicle 300, an environment associated with the aerospace vehicle 300, or the like.

[0159] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes a user interface 2906. The user interface 2906 typically includes a display 2908 for presenting media, such as graphical user interface 1000 of Figure 10. For instance, referring briefly to Figure 10, in some embodiments,the user interface 2906 is utilized to visualize data received from a two-dimensional pixelated detector, such as a camera sensor 2916 coupled to the aerospace vehicle 300, to provide an field of view associated with the aerospace vehicle 300 and / or related information, such as altitude of the aerospace vehicle 300, electric field surrounding the aerospace vehicle 300, and / or the like. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0160] In some embodiments, the display 2908 is integrated within the aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., housed in the same chassis as the CPU 2902 and memory 2912).

[0161] In some embodiments, aerospace vehicle 300 includes one or more input device(s) 1910, which allow a subject to interact with the aerospace vehicle 300, such as a joystick, a paddle, or a throttle associated with the aerospace vehicle 300. Alternatively, or in addition, in some embodiments, the display 2908 includes a touch-sensitive surface.

[0162] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 presents media to a user through the display 2908. Examples of media presented by the display 2908 include one or more images, a video, audio (e.g., waveforms of an audio sample), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the audio is presented through an external device (e.g., speakers, headphones, input / output (I / O) subsystem, etc. that receives audio information from the computer system 200 and presents audio data based on this audio information. In some embodiments, the user interface 2906 also includes an audio output device, such as speakers or an audio output for connecting with speakers, earphones, or headphones.

[0163] Memory 2912 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices, and optionally also includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory 2912 may optionally include one or more storage devices remotely located from the CPU(s) 2902. Memory 2912, or alternatively the non-volatile memory device(s) within memory 2912, includes a non- transitory computer readable storage medium. Access to memory 2912 by other components of the aerospace vehicle 300, such as the CPU(s) 2902, is, optionally, controlled by a controller. In some embodiments, the memory 2912 include mass storage that is remotely located with respect to the CPU(s) 2902. In other words, some data stored in memory 2912 may in fact be hosted on devices that are external to the aerospace vehicle 300, but that can beelectronically accessed by the aerospace vehicle 300 over an Internet, intranet, or other form of network 1906 or electronic cable using communication interface 2904.

[0164] In some embodiments, the memory 2912 of aerospace vehicle 300 stores:• an operating system 1920 (e.g, ANDROID, iOS, DARWIN, RTXC, LINUX, UNIX, OS X, WINDOWS, or an embedded operating system such as VxWorks) that includes procedures for handling various basic system services;• an electronic address associated with the aerospace vehicle 300 that identifies the aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., within the communication network 196);• a control module 2922 controlling one or more processes (e.g., method) associated with the aerospace vehicle 300; and• optionally, a client application for presenting information (e.g., media) using a display 2908 of the aerospace vehicle 300 and / or deploying a lightning suppression payload 308 associated with the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0165] In some embodiments, the control module 2922 is configured to perform one or more steps of a method of the present disclosure (e.g., method 400 of Figure, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, etc.).

[0166] Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of executable instructions for performing one or more functions described above and the methods described in the present disclosure (e.g., the computer- implemented methods and other information processing methods described herein). These modules (e.g., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules are, optionally, combined or otherwise re-arranged in various embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the memory 2912 optionally stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the memory 2912 stores additional modules and data structures not described above.

[0167] It should be appreciated that the aerospace vehicle of Figure 2 is only one example of an aerospace vehicle 300, and that the aerospace vehicle 300 optionally has more or fewer components than shown, optionally combines two or more components, or optionally has adifferent configuration or arrangement of the components he various components shown in Figure 2 are implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, including one or more signal processing and / or application specific integrated circuits.

[0168] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes a payload attachment (e.g., payload attachment 306 of Figure 3) that is configured to deploy a lightning suppression payload (e.g., payload 308 of Figure 3) during flight. For instance, in some embodiments, the payload attachment 306 includes a fastener that is configured to removably couple with the lightning suppression payload 308, which allows for deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 when a threshold condition is satisfied, such as a threshold location of the aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., a threshold altitude, a threshold coordinate, etc.}. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0169] In some embodiments, the payload attachment 306 includes an actuator configured to decouple the lightning suppression payload 308 from the aerospace vehicle 300. In some embodiments, the actuator is controlled by a mechanical sensor 2916, such as a pressure sensor (e.g., a barometer, a manometer, a piezoelectric pressure sensor, a strain gauge, etc. a velocity sensor (e.g., a pitot tube), and / or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more sensors 2916 of the aerospace vehicle 300 includes an electric field sensor, a voltage sensor, a magnetic field sensor, or a combination thereof. Moreover, in some embodiments, the one or more sensors 2916 includes an electric field mill sensor. By way of example, in some embodiments, the one or more sensors 2916 of the aerospace vehicle 300 includes one or more electric field sensors configured to determine an electric field of a surface (e.g., a particle of a storm cell 1010-1, payload 308, etc.}, one or more capacitive field sensors configured to determine a change in capacitance caused by an object interacting with an electric field, one or more electromagnetic field sensors configured to determine and / or detect one or more electric and / or magnetic components of an electromagnetic field (e.g., radio-frequency measurements generated by a variance in electric field), one or more field mill sensors configured to determine and / or detect a continuous (e.g., real-time) static or quasi-static electric field data. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0170] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is a fixed-wing aerospace vehicle, a flapping wing aerospace vehicle, a single-rotor aerospace vehicle, a multi-rotor aerospacevehicle, a cyclo-aerospace vehicle, a hybrid aerospace vehicle, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes a balloon, an airplane, a seaplane, a drone, a glider, a gyroplane, a sailplane, a helicopter, an airship, a missile, a parachute, a rocket, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is a heavier- than -air aircraft or a lighter- than-air aircraft. In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes a single engine or a plurality of engines.

[0171] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft (UAV), such as a first aircraft piloted by a human or a second UAV. In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 includes a single pilot or a crew of pilots (e.g., two or more pilots, three or more pilots, etc. . In some embodiments, the pilot of the aerospace vehicle 300 is remote from an interior (e.g., cockpit) of the aerospace vehicle 300, which allows for traversing the aerospace vehicle 300 to a location that would otherwise be too dangerous for the pilot, such as within an updraft of a storm cell 1010. For instance, in some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 requires satisfying a threshold visibility condition before operating by a manned pilot, such as a first threshold visibility condition associated with maintaining a visual flight reference (VFR). One of skill in the art will appreciate that storms are known to cause unfavorable flight characteristics that makes flight operations dangerous to perform in certain condition, which makes operating a UAV or UAS, as opposed to a manned aircraft, preferred. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0172] In some embodiments, a wingspan of the aerospace vehicle 300 is between 0.3 feet (ft) and 350 ft, between 0.3 ft and 10 ft, between 0.3 ft and 1 ft, between 1 ft and 350 ft, 1 ft and 176 ft, 12 ft and 339 ft, 12 ft and 165 ft, 24 ft and 327 ft, 24 ft and 153 ft, 35 ft and 316 ft, 35 ft and 142 ft, 46 ft and 305 ft, 46 ft and 131 ft, 57 ft and 294 ft, 57 ft and 120 ft, 69 ft and 282 ft, 69 ft and 108 ft, 80 ft and 271 ft, 80 ft and 97 ft, 91 ft and 260 ft, 102 ft and 249 ft, 114 ft and 237 ft, 125 ft and 226 ft, 136 ft and 215 ft, 147 ft and 204 ft, 159 ft and 192 ft, 170 ft and 181 ft, 176 ft and 350 ft, 187 ft and 339 ft, 199 ft and 327 ft, 210 ft and 316 ft, 221 ft and 305 ft, 232 ft and 294 ft, 244 ft and 282 ft, or 255 ft and 271 ft. In some embodiments, the wingspan of the aerospace vehicle 300 is at least 0.3 ft, at least 0.5 ft, at least 1 ft, at least 12 ft, at least 24 ft, at least 35 ft, at least 46 ft, at least 57 ft, at least 69 ft, at least 80 ft, at least 91 ft, at least 97 ft, at least 102 ft, at least 108 ft, at least 114 ft, at least 120 ft, at least 125 ft, at least 131 ft, at least 136 ft, at least 142 ft, at least 147 ft, at least 153 ft, at least 159 ft, at least 165 ft, at least 170 ft,at least 176 ft, at least 181 ft, at least 187 ft, at least 192 ft, at least 199 ft, at least 204 ft, at least210 ft, at least 215 ft, at least 221 ft, at least 226 ft, at least 232 ft, at least 237 ft, at least 244 ft, at least 249 ft, at least 255 ft, at least 260 ft, at least 271 ft, at least 282 ft, at least 294 ft, at least305 ft, at least 316 ft, at least 327 ft, at least 339 ft, or at least 350 ft.

[0173] In some embodiments, the wingspan of the aerospace vehicle 300 is at most 0.3 ft, at most 0.5 ft, at most 1 ft, at most 12 ft, at most 24 ft, at most 35 ft, at most 46 ft, at most 57 ft, at most 69 ft, at most 80 ft, at most 91 ft, at most 97 ft, at most 102 ft, at most 108 ft, at most 114 ft, at most 120 ft, at most 125 ft, at most 131 ft, at most 136 ft, at most 142 ft, at most 147 ft, at most 153 ft, at most 159 ft, at most 165 ft, at most 170 ft, at most 176 ft, at most 181 ft, at most 187 ft, at most 192 ft, at most 199 ft, at most 204 ft, at most 210 ft, at most 215 ft, at most 221 ft, at most 226 ft, at most 232 ft, at most 237 ft, at most 244 ft, at most 249 ft, at most 255 ft, at most 260 ft, at most 271 ft, at most 282 ft, at most 294 ft, at most 305 ft, at most 316 ft, at most 327 ft, at most 339 ft, or at most 350 ft.

[0174] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 coupled to the aerospace vehicle 300 is configured to reduce an electric field associated with a source of a lightning strike, such as a first cloud 302-1. For instance, in some embodiments, the r the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to supply a continuing source (e.g., continuous during a period of time) of positive ions and negative electrons that neutralize the negatively charged rain drops and the positively charged hail / graupel, respectively, and thus reduce the electric field.

[0175] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to create an electron path. For instance, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to create a flow of electronics between a portion of the cloud 302 and a portion of the lightning suppression payload 308.

[0176] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to retard or arrest heat generated at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike. For instance, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 includes a material configured to increase a moisture content at the location associated with the source of the lightning strike. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0177] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 includes a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material. For instance, in some embodiments, the plurality of ions and / or theconductive material of the lightning suppression payload is configured to provide a release of a different plurality of ions associated with the cloud 302, such as through a corona discharge generated by the lightning suppression payload 308. For instance, in some embodiments, by injecting ions or conduction materials into a region of the cloud 302 between opposite charges, a potential for breakdown in the air of the cloud 302 results in the creation of lightning. In some embodiments, the region between the ground 304 and the lower levels of the cloud 302, such as elevation Hl of Figure 3, is relatively small.

[0178] For instance, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression pay load 308 includes a plurality of photons, such a coherent beam of photons emitted by a laser light source, that generates the plurality of ions at a location proximate to or within the cloud 302. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For instance, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is a project that includes a trailing wire. In some embodiments, the trailing wire is launched from the ground (e.g., ground 304 of Figure 3) have been fired from the ground into a CB, to create a small path for inducing lightning. Moreover, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 includes a conductive fiber, a trail of conductive gas, a path of conductive dust, or an ionized path caused by the lightning suppression payload 308 or a combustion product associated with the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0179] In some embodiments, the conductive material of the lightning suppression payload 308 includes a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the metal material includes aluminum or an aluminum alloy. For instance, in some embodiments, the metal material includes a plurality of metal fibers, such as a chaff.

[0180] In some embodiments, the glass material includes a glass-fiber material. In some embodiments, the metal material includes aluminum or an aluminum alloy. For instance, in some embodiments, the plurality of metal fibers includes a plurality of aluminum fibers. In some embodiments, each respective metal fiber in the plurality of metal fibers has a length of from 1 centimeter (cm) to 20 cm, from 1 cm to 10 cm, from 1 cm to 5 cm. In some embodiments, the length of each respective metal fiber in the plurality of metal fibers is at least 1 cm, at least 5 cm, at least 10 cm, at least 15 cm, or at least 20 cm. In some embodiments, the length of each respective metal fiber in the plurality of metal fibers is at most 1 cm, at most 5 cm, at most 10 cm, at most 15 cm, or at most 20 cm.

[0181] In some embodiments, the glass material includes a glass-fiber material.

[0182] In some embodiments, the glass material includes between 50 weight percent (w%) and 70 w% glass-fiber material and between 30 w% and 50 w% aluminum or an alloy thereof.

[0183] For instance, in some embodiment, the glass material includes 50 and 70 w%, 50 and 60 w%, 51 and 69 w%, 51 and 59 w%, 52 and 68 w%, 52 and 58 w%, 53 and 67 w%, 53 and 57 w%, 54 and 66 w%, 54 and 56 w%, 55 and 65 w%, 56 and 64 w%, 57 and 63 w%, 58 and 62 w%, 59 and 61 w%, 60 and 70 w%, 61 and 69 w%, 62 and 68 w%, 63 and 67 w%, or 64 and 66 w% glass-fiber material.

[0184] In some embodiments, the glass-fiber material is present in the glass material at a range from at least 50 w%, at least 51 w%, at least 52 w%, at least 53 w%, at least 54 w%, at least 55 w%, at least 56 w%, at least 57 w%, at least 58 w%, at least 59 w%, at least 60 w%, at least 61 w%, at least 62 w%, at least 63 w%, at least 64 w%, at least 65 w%, at least 66 w%, at least 67 w%, at least 68 w%, at least 69 w%, or at least 70 w%.

[0185] In some embodiments, the glass-fiber material is present in the glass material at a range from at most 50 w%, at most 51 w%, at most 52 w%, at most 53 w%, at most 54 w%, at most 55 w%, at most 56 w%, at most 57 w%, at most 58 w%, at most 59 w%, at most 60 w%, at most 61 w%, at most 62 w%, at most 63 w%, at most 64 w%, at most 65 w%, at most 66 w%, at most 67 w%, at most 68 w%, at most 69 w%, or at most 70 w%.

[0186] In some embodiments, the glass material includes 30 and 50 w%, 30 and 40 w%, 31 and 49 w%, 31 and 39 w%, 32 and 48 w%, 32 and 38 w%, 33 and 47 w%, 33 and 37 w%, 34 and 46 w%, 34 and 36 w%, 35 and 45 w%, 36 and 44 w%, 37 and 43 w%, 38 and 42 w%, 39 and 41 w%, 40 and 50 w%, 41 and 49 w%, 42 and 48 w%, 43 and 47 w%, or 44 and 46 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0187] In some embodiments, the glass material includes at least 30 w%, at least 31 w%, at least 32 w%, at least 33 w%, at least 34 w%, at least 35 w%, at least 36 w%, at least 37 w%, at least 38 w%, at least 39 w%, at least 40 w%, at least 41 w%, at least 42 w%, at least 43 w%, at least 44 w%, at least 45 w%, at least 46 w%, at least 47 w%, at least 48 w%, at least 49 w%, or at least 50 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0188] In some embodiments, the glass material includes at most 30 w%, at most 31 w%, at most 32 w%, at most 33 w%, at most 34 w%, at most 35 w%, at most 36 w%, at most 37 w%, at most 38 w%, at most 39 w%, at most 40 w%, at most 41 w%, at most 42 w%, at most 43 w%, at most 44 w%, at most 45 w%, at most 46 w%, at most 47 w%, at most 48 w%, at most 49 w%, or at most 50 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0189] In some embodiment, the glass material includes 50 and 70 w%, 50 and 60 w%, 51 and 69 w%, 51 and 59 w%, 52 and 68 w%, 52 and 58 w%, 53 and 67 w%, 53 and 57 w%, 54 and 66 w%, 54 and 56 w%, 55 and 65 w%, 56 and 64 w%, 57 and 63 w%, 58 and 62 w%, 59 and 61 w%, 60 and 70 w%, 61 and 69 w%, 62 and 68 w%, 63 and 67 w%, or 64 and 66 w% glass-fiber material, and further includes 30 and 50 w%, 30 and 40 w%, 31 and 49 w%, 31 and 39 w%, 32 and 48 w%, 32 and 38 w%, 33 and 47 w%, 33 and 37 w%, 34 and 46 w%, 34 and 36 w%, 35 and 45 w%, 36 and 44 w%, 37 and 43 w%, 38 and 42 w%, 39 and 41 w%, 40 and 50 w%, 41 and 49 w%, 42 and 48 w%, 43 and 47 w%, or 44 and 46 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0190] In some embodiments, the glass-fiber material is present in the glass material at a range from at least 50 w%, at least 51 w%, at least 52 w%, at least 53 w%, at least 54 w%, at least 55 w%, at least 56 w%, at least 57 w%, at least 58 w%, at least 59 w%, at least 60 w%, at least 61 w%, at least 62 w%, at least 63 w%, at least 64 w%, at least 65 w%, at least 66 w%, at least 67 w%, at least 68 w%, at least 69 w%, or at least 70 w%, and further includes at least 30 w%, at least 31 w%, at least 32 w%, at least 33 w%, at least 34 w%, at least 35 w%, at least 36 w%, at least 37 w%, at least 38 w%, at least 39 w%, at least 40 w%, at least 41 w%, at least 42 w%, at least 43 w%, at least 44 w%, at least 45 w%, at least 46 w%, at least 47 w%, at least 48 w%, at least 49 w%, or at least 50 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0191] In some embodiments, the glass-fiber material is present in the glass material at a range from at most 50 w%, at most 51 w%, at most 52 w%, at most 53 w%, at most 54 w%, at most 55 w%, at most 56 w%, at most 57 w%, at most 58 w%, at most 59 w%, at most 60 w%, at most 61 w%, at most 62 w%, at most 63 w%, at most 64 w%, at most 65 w%, at most 66 w%, at most 67 w%, at most 68 w%, at most 69 w%, or at most 70 w%, and further includes at most 30 w%, at most 31 w%, at most 32 w%, at most 33 w%, at most 34 w%, at most 35 w%, at most 36 w%, at most 37 w%, at most 38 w%, at most 39 w%, at most 40 w%, at most 41 w%, at most 42 w%, atmost 43 w%, at most 44 w%, at most 45 w%, at most 46 w%, at most 47 w%, at most 48 w%, at most 49 w%, or at most 50 w% aluminum or the alloy thereof.

[0192] In some embodiments, the payload 308 includes between 10,000 and 50 million fibers, between 10,000 and 10 million fibers, between 10,000 and 1 million fibers, between 10,000 and 500,000 fibers, between 100,000 and 50 million fibers, or between 100,000 and 10 million fibers, between 100,000 and 1 million fibers, between 100,000 and 500,000 fibers, between 500,000 or 10 million fibers.

[0193] In some embodiments, the payload includes chaff.

[0194] In some embodiments, a length (e.g., length LI of Figure 10) of the payload is between 0.2 inches and 1.1 inches. In some embodiments, the length LI of the payload 308 is between 0.2 and 1.1 inches, 0.2 and 0.6 inches, 0.3 and 1.0 inches, 0.3 and 0.5 inches, 0.4 and 0.9 inches, 0.5 and 0.8 inches, 0.6 and 0.7 inches, 0.6 and 1.1 inches, 0.7 and 1.0 inches, or 0.8 and 0.9 inches. In some embodiments, the length LI of the payload 308 is at least 2 inches, at least 3 inches, at least 4 inches, at least 5 inches, at least 6 inches, at least 7 inches, at least 8 inches, at least 9 inches, at least 10 inches, or at least 11 inches. In some embodiments, the length LI of the payload 308 is at most 2 inches, at most 3 inches, at most 4 inches, at most 5 inches, at most 6 inches, at most 7 inches, at most 8 inches, at most 9 inches, at most 10 inches, or at most 11 inches.

[0195] In some embodiments, a diameter of the payload is between 20 pm and 30 pm. For instance, in some embodiments, the diameter of the pay load 308 is between 20 and 30 pm, 20 and 25 pm, 21 and 29 pm, 21 and 24 pm, 22 and 28 pm, 22 and 23 pm, 23 and 27 pm, 24 and 26 pm, 25 and 30 pm, 26 and 29 pm, or 27 and 28 pm. In some embodiments, the diameter of the payload is at least 20 pm, at least 21 pm, at least 22 pm, at least 23 pm, at least 24 pm, at least 25 pm, at least 26 pm, at least 27 pm, at least 28 pm, at least 29 pm, or at least 30 pm. In some embodiments, the diameter of the payload is at most 20 pm, at most 21 pm, at most 22 pm, at most 23 pm, at most 24 pm, at most 25 pm, at most 26 pm, at most 27 pm, at most 28 pm, at most 29 pm, or at most 30 pm.

[0196] Accordingly, the length and / or size of the payload 308 allows dispersing a plurality of relatively small sized fibers and / or particles that increases a surface area of the payload 308, allowing for energy stored within a storm cell 1010 to be distributed effectively via the payload308. Furthermore, this length and / or diameter of the payload 308 allows for ironing the surrounding environment through corona discharge. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0197] For instance, in some embodiments, the payload 308 includes a plurality of fibers, in which each respective fiber in the plurality of fibers has a substantially cylindrical body of length LI and the diameter. In some embodiments, each respective fiber in the plurality of fibers is approximated as a slim spheroid, in which the LI is the length of the spheroid having a radius of curvature r with a first electric field F at a front end portion (e.g., tip portion) of the respective fiber and a second electric field E associated with an environment of the respective fiber, such as the storm cell 1010 and / or the cloud 302 being considered for targeting by the payload 308.

[0198] In some embodiments, each respective fiber in the plurality of fibers of the payload 308 is configured to provide between 12 and 22 Amperes (A) corona discharge current, 12 and 17 A, 13 and 21 A, 13 and 16 A, 14 and 20 A, 14 and 15 A, 15 and 19 A, 16 and 18 A, 17 and 22 A, 18 and 21 A, or 19 and 20 A corona discharge current. In some embodiments, the corona discharge current of each respective fiber in the plurality of fibers of the payload 308 is at least 12 A, at least 13 A, at least 14 A, at least 15 A, at least 16 A, at least 17 A, at least 18 A, at least 19 A, at least 20 A, at least 21 A, or at least 22 A. In some embodiments, the corona discharge current of each respective fiber in the plurality of fibers of the payload 308 at most 12 A, at most 13 A, at most 14 A, at most 15 A, at most 16 A, at most 17 A, at most 18 A, at most 19 A, at most 20 A, at most 21 A, or at most 22 A.

[0199] In some embodiments, the plurality of fibers of the payload 308 is as described at Kasemir et al., 1965, “Modification of the Electric Field of Thunderstorms,” U.S. Arm Electric Laboratories, print; Kasemir, H., 1983, “Heinz- Wolfram Kasemir: His Collected Works,” American Geophysical Union, pg. 308-312; DOI 10.1002 / 9781118704813.ch29, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

[0200] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 includes a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload. For instance, in some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload comprises a self-guided projectile, a self-guided UAV, a semi-guided projectile, a semi-guided UAV, an externally guided projectile, an externally guided UAV, or a combination thereof. As a non-limiting example, in someembodiments, one or more instructions is communicated by the computer system 200 via a communication network 196 to the aerospace vehicle 300, in which the one or more instructions include one or more position coordinates for traversing the aerospace vehicle 300 to and / or deploying the lightning suppression pay load 308 at a first location associated with the cloud 302. In some embodiments, the one or more instructions include one or more times coordinates for traversing the aerospace vehicle 300 to and / or deploying the lightning suppression pay load 308 during a first epoch associated with the cloud 302. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0201] In some embodiments, the one or more instructions include a plurality of instructions. In some embodiments, the plurality of instructions is at least 1000 instructions, at least 5000 instructions, at least 10,000 instructions is at least 50,000 instructions, at least 100,000 instructions, at least 250,000 instructions, at least 500,000 instructions, at least 1 million instructions, at least 5 million instructions, at least 10 million instructions, at least 25 million instructions, at least 50 million instructions, at least 100 million instructions, at least 250 million instructions, at least 500 million instructions, at least 1 billion instructions, or more instructions.

[0202] Now that a general topology of a system 100 has been described in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosures, details regarding some processes and methods of the present disclosure will be described.

[0203] In some embodiments, various modules in a memory of a computer system 200 and / or a memory of an aerospace vehicle 300 perform certain processes of the methods of the present disclosure, unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, in some embodiments, it will be appreciated that the processes of a method of the present disclosure can be encoded in a single module or any combination of modules.

[0204] Methods for Evaluating Lightning Control

[0205] Block 402. Referring to block 402 of Figure 4, in some embodiments, a method 400 for evaluating lightning control is provided.

[0206] In some embodiments, the method 400 is performed by the computer system 100 and / or one or more aerospace vehicles 300, such as a plurality of aerospace vehicles 300. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0207] Block 404. Referring to block 404, in some embodiments, the method 400 includes determining a plurality of environmental parameters associated with a region 9002 and / or a period of time. Accordingly, the plurality of environmental parameters are not only associated with the region 902, in a plurality of regions 902, but also is associated with a particular period of time, which provides a rich data set for using when evaluating lightning control. In this way, the method 400 allows for evaluating lightning control for a first region 902-1 using a first plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first region 902-1 during a first period of time, a second plurality of environmental parameters associated with a second region 902-2 during the first period of time, a third plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first region 902-1 during a second period of time prior to the first period of time, a fourth plurality of environmental parameters associated with the second region 902-2 during the second period of time, or a combination thereof.

[0208] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters allow for forming one or more rankings and / or prioritizations of one or more storm cells 1010 and / or one or more clouds 302 associated with some or all of the region 902. For instance, in some embodiments, the method 400 allows for evaluating if a ground lightning strike will occur at some or all of a region (e.g, first region 902-1 of Figure 9, second region 902-2 of Figure 9, region 902 of Figure 12, region 902 of Figure 13, etc. and, in accordance with a determination the ground lightning strike will occur at some or all of the region 902, further evaluating if a fire will ignite at the some or all of the region 902 from the ground lightning strike, and, in accordance with a determination the fire will ignite at the some or all of the region 902, evaluating if the fire is harmful to the some or all of the region 902. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0209] For instance, in some embodiments, a first subset of environmental parameters in the plurality of environmental parameters is weighted higher than a second subset of environmental parameters in the plurality of environmental parameters, and a third subset of environmental parameters in the plurality of environmental parameters is weighted higher than both the firstsubset of environmental parameters and the second subset of environmental parameters. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the first subset of environmental parameters is weighted higher than the second subset of environmental parameters, the third subset of environmental parameters is weighted higher than both the first subset of environmental parameters and the second subset of environmental parameters, and a fourth subset of environmental parameters is weighted higher than the first, second, and third subsets of environmental parameters. Moreover, in some embodiments, the first subset of environmental parameters is weighted lower than the second subset of environmental parameters, the third subset of environmental parameters is weighted lower than both the first subset of environmental parameters and the second subset of environmental parameters. Additionally, in some such embodiments, the fourth subset of environmental parameters is weighted lower than the first, second, and third subsets of environmental parameters.

[0210] By way of non-limiting example, in some such embodiments, the first subset of environmental parameters includes one or more landscape parameters that is utilized to determine if some or all of the region 902 is capable of hosting a threshold fire. In some embodiments, the second subset of environmental parameters includes one or more landscape parameters that is utilized to determine if the some or all of the region 902 will burn during the period of time if ignited. In some embodiments, the third subset of environmental parameters includes one or more electrical parameters, one or more hydrodynamic parameters, and / or one or more cloud parameters that is utilized to if a size of a respective storm cell 1010 and / or a respective cloud associated with the some or all of the region 902 is satisfies a threshold lightning strike production value, a type of storm, an estimated number of lightning strikes per square unit area of the some or all of the region, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the fourth subset of environmental parameters includes biodiversity parameters and / or one or more social cost parameters that is utilized to determine a cost and / or image of a predicted wildfire caused by the lightning strike. For instance, in some embodiments, the biodiversity parameters and / or one or more social cost parameters includes an identification of one or more ecosystems, one or more endangered species, one or more petroleum (e.g., oil and / or gas) assets, one or more forestry assets, one or more communities, or a combination thereof associated with the some or all of the region 902. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0211] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more hydrodynamic parameters associated with some or all of the region 902, which describes one or more fluidic behaviors associated with a storm cell 1010 and / or a cloud 302 of the some or all of the region 902. By way of example, in some embodiments, the one or more hydrodynamic parameters includes a water vapor mixing ratio, a rain snow mixing ratio, a cloud water ice mixing ratio, a chemical species ratio, a trace compound ratio, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the one or more hydrodynamic parameters is utilized to determine, during a first period of time, if the storm cell 1010 and / or the cloud 302 will produce ground lightning strikes that cause a wildfire that further causes substantial burning to the some or all of the region during a second period of time after elapse of the first period of time. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0212] In some embodiments, the one or more hydrodynamic parameters is associated with a plurality of hydrometeors associated with the storm cell 1010 and / or the cloud 302, such as an amount (e.g., a mass, a volume, etc. of the plurality of hydrometeors, a velocity associated with the plurality of hydrometeors. In some embodiments, the plurality of hydrometeors includes a first portion of ice, a second portion of snow, a third portion of supercooled water, or a combination thereof.

[0213] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more electrical parameters associated with some or all of the region 902. In some embodiments, the one or more electrical parameters includes an electric field associated with the region 902, such as an absolute value of the electric field of a portion of the cloud 302 and / or a relative value of the electric field per unit area of the cloud 302.

[0214] In some embodiments, the one or more electrical parameters include a charge structure associated with the cloud 302, such as a classification as a monopole charge structure, a dipole charge structure, or a tripole charge structure. For instance, a respective cloud 302 with an inverted dipole charge structure fails to satisfy a threshold electrical condition that defines a probability of producing ground lightning strikes. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0215] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more cloud parameters associated with some or all of the region, which allows for evaluating and / orconsidering various physical and / or observable parameters associated with some or all of the clouds 302 of the region 902. For instance, in some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a cloud classification of cumulonimbus, pyrocumulus, stratiform, nimbostratus, thundersnow, altumulous castellanus, or a combination thereof, which allows for categorizing one or more clouds 302 and / or one or more storm cells 1010 based on one or more characteristics of the one or more clouds 302 and / or the one or more storm cells 1010.

[0216] For instance, in some such embodiments, cumulonimbus clouds 302 are most likely to produce lightning strikes, which makes one or more storm cells 1010 associated with cumulonimbus clouds 302 and having been identified or categorized to the cloud classification of cumulonimbus, of particular interest. Moreover, in some such embodiments, the cloud classification of altumulous castellanus allows for identifying one or more storm cells 1010 that have a potential to develop into a cumulonimbus cloud 302. For instance, in some embodiments, if a respective cloud 302 and / or a respective storm cell 1010 belongs to the cloud classification of altumulous castellanus and / or cumulonimbus and satisfies a threshold number of lightning strikes per square mile, the respective cloud 302 and / or the respective storm cell 1010 is identified as being of interest. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0217] Moreover, in some embodiments, the classification cloud classification of pyrocumulus is associated with a certain amount of heat at and / or near the ground level, which allows for producing lightning strikes, such as during large wildfires, volcanoes, and / or the like.

[0218] In some embodiments, the cloud classification of stratiform is associated with an embedded thunderstorm with cumulonimbus clouds formed within the thunderstorm.

[0219] In some embodiments, the cloud classification of nimbostratus and / or thundersnow storms allows for identifying one or more storm cells 1010 that is less or not likely to further produce wildfires from lightnings strikes produced by the clouds. By way of example, in some embodiments, nimbostratus clouds 302 produces excessive rainfall, whereas thundersnow storms produce excessive snow fall, which are unfavorable conditions to producing wildfires due, at least in part, to the saturated ground conditions and / or the like. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0220] For instance, in some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present disclosure determine if a cloud 302 and / or storm cell 1010, such as first convective cloud and / or cloudsystem 302, is capable of developing into a tornado, a hurricane, or the like before determining if the cloud 302 and / or storm cell 1010 should be identified for targeting with a payload. For instance, in some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters include an indication of tornadogensis and / or cyclogenesis during a period of time.

[0221] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a mass flow rate and / or a volumetric flow rate associated with a draft of a respective storm cell 1010 in the at least one storm cell 1010. For instance, in some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a first mass flow rate associated with an updraft of the respective storm cell 1010, a first volumetric flow rate associated with the updraft of the respective storm cell 1010, a second mass flow rate associated with a downdraft of the respective storm cell 1010, a second volumetric flow rate associated with the downdraft of the respective storm cell 1010, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mass flow rate and / or the volumetric flow rate associated with the draft allows for determine if the respective storm cell 1010 will traverse a threshold portion of the respective payload 308, such as by causing substantial drag and / or lift on the respective payload 308 when disposed at or near the draft of the respective storm cell 1010. In this way, in some embodiments, one or more updrafts and / or one or more inflows of the respective storm cell 1010 is utilized to bring material of the payload 308 disposed by the aerospace vehicle 300 into an interior of the cloud 302 associated with the respective storm cell 1010. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0222] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes cross-sectional area associated with the draft of the respective storm cell 1010 in the at least one storm cell 1010, which allows for determining if the draft of the respective storm cell 1010 will traverse the threshold portion of the respective payload 308. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0223] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a cross-sectional area associated with the cloud 302 of the respective storm cell 1010. For instance, in some embodiments, a threshold cross-sectional area in which a length of the cloud 302 exceeds a thickness or height of the cloud 302, such as the first cloud 302-1 in a shape of a long cloud shelf extending in front of a second cloud 302-1. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0224] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a minimum distance (e.g., L2 of Figure 13) between a first storm cell 1010-1 in the at least one storm cell and a second storm cell 1010-2, different from the first storm cell 1010-1, in the at least one storm cell 1010. For instance, in some embodiments, the minimum distance L2 is a distance in which the first storm cell 1010-1 and the second storm cell 1010-2 merge if the first storm cell 1010-1 and / or the second storm cell 1010-2 fail to exceed the minimum distance L2. By way of example, in some embodiments, the minimum distance L2 is defined as a distance in which particular matter associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 interacts with particulate matter associated with the second storm cell 1010-2.

[0225] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes an altitude associated with the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell. For instance, in some embodiments, the altitude associated with the respective storm cell 1010 and / or a corresponding cloud 302 allows for configuring a location for disposing a payload 308 towards an updraft or indraft of the storm cell 1010.

[0226] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters comprises a velocity of the updraft and / or the inflow of the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0227] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters comprises a convective available potential energy of the updraft and / or the inflow of the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0228] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters includes a shape of a corresponding cloud associated with the respective storm cell in the at least one storm cell, a color of the corresponding cloud, a density of the corresponding cloud, an optical parameter of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0229] In some embodiments, the shape of the corresponding cloud includes a curvature associated with a portion of the corresponding cloud, a uniformity associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, a normalization associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0230] In some embodiments, the one or more cloud parameters is utilized to determine an absolute size of the cloud 302, an absolute change in size of the cloud 302 during the period oftime, an absolute shape of the cloud 302, an absolute change in shape of the cloud during the period of time, a relative size of the cloud 302, a relative change in size of the cloud 302 during the period of time, a relative change in shape of the cloud 302 during the period of time, or a combination thereof, which is useful indicators of growth and development as proxies for inflow of the payload 308, such as via a draft of the cloud 302. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0231] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more landscape parameters associated with some or all of the region. In some embodiments, the one or more landscape parameters allow for determining if a location associated with the cloud 302 and / or the storm cell 1010 is historically prone to ground lightning strikes and / or wildfires. In some embodiments, the historical information includes a first data set associated with granular period of time (e.g., one or more decades, one or more years, one or more months, etc.), and / or a second data set associated with a fine period of time (e.g., one or more minutes, one or more hours, one or more days, etc.).

[0232] In some embodiments, the one or more landscape parameters includes one or more fuel parameters and / or one or more topographic parameters.

[0233] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes one or more meteorological parameters associated with some or all of the region. For instance, in some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters includes an ambient temperature (e.g., a first ambient ground temperature, a second ambient air temperature, etc.), a predicted temperature (e.g., a first predicted ground temperature, a second predicted air temperature, etc.), an ambient pressure, a predicted pressure, a ground temperature, a relative dryness, an absolute dryness, a relative humidity, an absolute humidity, a wind speed, a wind direction, or a combination thereof.

[0234] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprises a ground temperature associated with the region, an atmospheric temperature associated with the region, a relative humidity associated with the region, an absolute humidity associated with the region, or a combination thereof. For instance, in some embodiments, a portion of a storm cell 1010-1 and / or a cloud 302 includes a first charged region associated with a first atmospheric temperature and a second charged region associated with a secondatmospheric temperature, in which the first charged region and the second charged region are oppositely charged. For instance, in some embodiments, the first charged region is associated with a position electric charge and the second charged region is associated with a negative electric charge. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0235] In some embodiments, the first atmospheric temperature between -10 °C and 0 °C, -8 °C and 0 °C, -6 °C and 0 °C, -4 °C and 0 °C, -2 °C and 0 °C, -8 °C and -2 °C, -6 °C and -2 °C, -4 °C and -2 °C, or -6 °C and -8 °C. In some embodiments, the first atmospheric temperature is at least -10 °C, at least -9 °C, at least -8 °C, at least -7 °C, at least -6 °C, at least -5 °C, at least -4 °C, at least -3 °C, at least -2 °C, at least -1 °C, or at least 0 °C. In some embodiments, the first atmospheric temperature is at most -10 °C, at most -9 °C, at most -8 °C, at most -7 °C, at most -6 °C, at most -5 °C, at most -4 °C, at most -3 °C, at most -2 °C, at most -1 °C, or at most 0 °C.

[0236] In some embodiments, the second atmospheric temperature is between -25 °C and -10 °C, -25 °C and -18 °C, -24 °C and -11 °C, -24 °C and -19 °C, -23 °C and -12 °C, -23 °C and -20°C, -22 °C and -13 °C, -22 °C and -21 °C, -21 °C and -14 °C, -20 °C and -15 °C, -19 °C and -16°C, -18 °C and -17 °C, -18 °C and -10 °C, -17 °C and -11 °C, -16 °C and -12 °C, or -15 °C and -13 °C. In some embodiments, the second atmospheric temperature is at least -25 °C, at least -24°C, at least -23 °C, at least -22 °C, at least -21 °C, at least -20 °C, at least -19 °C, at least -18 °C, at least -17 °C, at least -16 °C, at least -15 °C, at least -14 °C, at least -13 °C, at least -12 °C, at least -11 °C, or at least -10 °C. In some embodiments, the second atmospheric temperature is at most -25 °C, at most -24 °C, at most -23 °C, at most -22 °C, at most -21 °C, at most -20 °C, at most -19 °C, at most -18 °C, at most -17 °C, at most -16 °C, at most -15 °C, at most -14 °C, at most -13 °C, at most -12 °C, at most -11 °C, or at most -10 °C.

[0237] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes a predicted number of lightning strikes per square mile associated with the region 902 during the period of time. In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters includes an estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of some or all of the payload 308.

[0238] In some embodiments, the estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload 308 is a percent (%) lightning production, which is a comparison of a number of lightning strikes observed per square mile for a period of time including during and / or after disposing a payload 308 against a number of lightning strikeshistorically during similar meteorological conditions. For instance, in some embodiments, the estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile is 0 and 80 % lightning production, 0 and 40 % lightning production, 3 and 77 % lightning production, 3 and 37 % lightning production, 5 and 75 % lightning production, 5 and 35 % lightning production, 8 and 72 % lightning production, 8 and 32 % lightning production, 10 and 70 % lightning production, 10 and 30 % lightning production, 13 and 67 % lightning production, 13 and 27 % lightning production, 15 and 65 % lightning production, 15 and 25 % lightning production, 18 and 62 % lightning production, 18 and 22 % lightning production, 21 and 59 % lightning production, 23 and 57 % lightning production, 26 and 54 % lightning production, 28 and 52 % lightning production, 31 and 49 % lightning production, 34 and 46 % lightning production, 36 and 44 % lightning production, 39 and 41 % lightning production, 40 and 80 % lightning production, 43 and 77 % lightning production, 45 and 75 % lightning production, 48 and 72 % lightning production, 50 and 70 % lightning production, 53 and 67 % lightning production, 55 and 65 % lightning production, or 58 and 62 % lightning production. In some embodiments, the estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload 308 is at least 0 % lightning production, at least 3 % lightning production, at least 5 % lightning production, at least 8 % lightning production, at least 10 % lightning production, at least 13 % lightning production, at least 15 % lightning production, at least 18 % lightning production, at least 21 % lightning production, at least 22 % lightning production, at least 23 % lightning production, at least 25 % lightning production, at least 26 % lightning production, at least 27 % lightning production, at least 28 % lightning production, at least 30 % lightning production, at least 31 % lightning production, at least 32 % lightning production, at least 34 % lightning production, at least 35 % lightning production, at least 36 % lightning production, at least 37 % lightning production, at least 39 % lightning production, at least 40 % lightning production, at least 41 % lightning production, at least 43 % lightning production, at least 44 % lightning production, at least 45 % lightning production, at least 46 % lightning production, at least 48 % lightning production, at least 49 % lightning production, at least 50 % lightning production, at least 52 % lightning production, at least 53 % lightning production, at least 54 % lightning production, at least 55 % lightning production, at least 57 % lightning production, at least 58 % lightning production, at least 59 % lightning production, at least 62 % lightning production, at least 65 % lightning production, at least 67 % lightning production, at least 70 % lightningproduction, at least 72 % lightning production, at least 75 % lightning production, at least 77 % lightning production, or at least 80 % lightning production. In some embodiments, the estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload 308 is at most 0 % lightning production, at most 3 % lightning production, at most 5 % lightning production, at most 8 % lightning production, at most 10 % lightning production, at most 13 % lightning production, at most 15 % lightning production, at most 18 % lightning production, at most 21 % lightning production, at most 22 % lightning production, at most 23 % lightning production, at most 25 % lightning production, at most 26 % lightning production, at most 27 % lightning production, at most 28 % lightning production, at most 30 % lightning production, at most 31 % lightning production, at most 32 % lightning production, at most 34 % lightning production, at most 35 % lightning production, at most 36 % lightning production, at most 37 % lightning production, at most 39 % lightning production, at most 40 % lightning production, at most 41 % lightning production, at most 43 % lightning production, at most 44 % lightning production, at most 45 % lightning production, at most 46 % lightning production, at most 48 % lightning production, at most 49 % lightning production, at most 50 % lightning production, at most 52 % lightning production, at most 53 % lightning production, at most 54 % lightning production, at most 55 % lightning production, at most 57 % lightning production, at most 58 % lightning production, at most 59 % lightning production, at most 62 % lightning production, at most 65 % lightning production, at most 67 % lightning production, at most 70 % lightning production, at most 72 % lightning production, at most 75 % lightning production, at most 77 % lightning production, or at most 80 % lightning production.

[0239] Block 406. Referring to block 406, in some embodiments, the method 400 includes identifying, during the period of time, at least one storm cell 1010 associated with the region 902 based, at least in part, on some or all of the plurality of environmental parameters, thereby evaluating lightning control of the at least one storm cell 1010. For instance, in some embodiments, the evaluating lightning control of the at least one storm cell 1010 is provided in form of the identification of each storm cell 1010 in the at least one storm cell 1010 from a plurality of storm cells 1010 that satisfy a threshold risk criteria and / or a threshold probability criteria when the plurality of storm cells 1010 are not within the region 902. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0240] In some embodiments, each respective storm cell 1010 of the at least one storm cell 1010 associated with the region 902 is identified in accordance with a determination the electric field of the respective storm cell 1010 satisfied a threshold electric field condition. For instance, in some embodiments, an amount of the threshold electric field condition is adjusted in accordance with a risk-adjusted. By way of non-limiting example, in some embodiments, in accordance with a determination the risk of significant wildfire at the region satisfies a first threshold condition and an electric field associated with the respective storm cell 1010 does not satisfy a second threshold condition, the first threshold condition is weighted higher over the second threshold condition and / or the second threshold condition is ignored if the first threshold condition is satisfied.

[0241] In some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition at an amount between 50 kV / m and 350 kV / m (e.g., the second threshold condition is about 72 kV / m). For instance, in some embodiments, a cloud 302 and / or storm cell 1010 that satisfies both a first threshold electric field condition and a threshold distance condition is identified as a respective cloud 302 and / or storm cell 1010 that will likely exceed a second threshold electric field condition greater than the first threshold electric field condition. By way of non-limiting example, in some embodiments, if, during a period of time, the respective storm cell 1010 and / or cloud 0302 satisfies a first threshold distance condition of within 10 kilometers (km) of a first location and further satisfies a second threshold electric field condition of an electric fields between 50 kV / m and 100 kV / m, the respective storm cell 1010 and / or cloud 302 is determined to likely to surpass 350 kV / m after elapse and / or during the period of time. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, a respective storm cell 1010 and / or corresponding cloud 302 associated with the respective storm cell 1010 is considered to have sufficient to charge to generate a lightning strike if the threshold electric field condition is satisfied, such as in accordance with a determination the electric field of the respective storm cell 1010 and / or the corresponding cloud 302 is greater than or equal to about 50 kV / m. For instance, in some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition is between 40 and 350 kV / m, 40 and 195 kV / m, 50 and 350 kV / m, 50 and 340 kV / m, 50 and 185 kV / m, 60 and 330 kV / m, 60 and 175 kV / m, 70 and 320 kV / m, 70 and 165 kV / m, 80 and 310 kV / m, 80 and 155 kV / m, 90 and 300 kV / m, 90 and 145 kV / m, 100 and 290 kV / m, 100 and 135 kV / m, 110 and 280 kV / m, 110 and 125 kV / m, 120 and 270 kV / m, 130 and 260 kV / m, 140 and 250 kV / m, 150 and 240 kV / m, 160and 230 kV / m, 170 and 220 kV / m, 180 and 210 kV / m, 190 and 200 kV / m, 195 and 350 kV / m, 205 and 340 kV / m, 215 and 330 kV / m, 225 and 320 kV / m, 235 and 310 kV / m, 245 and 300 kV / m, 255 and 290 kV / m, or 265 and 280 kV / m. In some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition is at least 40 kV / m, at least 50 kV / m, at least 60 kV / m, at least 70 kV / m, at least 80 kV / m, at least 90 kV / m, at least 100 kV / m, at least 110 kV / m, at least 120 kV / m, at least 125 kV / m, at least 130 kV / m, at least 135 kV / m, at least 140 kV / m, at least 145 kV / m, at least 150 kV / m, at least 155 kV / m, at least 160 kV / m, at least 165 kV / m, at least 170 kV / m, at least 175 kV / m, at least 180 kV / m, at least 185 kV / m, at least 190 kV / m, at least 195 kV / m, at least 200 kV / m, at least 205 kV / m, at least 210 kV / m, at least 215 kV / m, at least 220 kV / m, at least 225 kV / m, at least 230 kV / m, at least 235 kV / m, at least 240 kV / m, at least 245 kV / m, at least 250 kV / m, at least 255 kV / m, at least 260 kV / m, at least 265 kV / m, at least 270 kV / m, at least 280 kV / m, at least 290 kV / m, at least 300 kV / m, at least 310 kV / m, at least 320 kV / m, at least 330 kV / m, at least 340 kV / m, or at least 350 kV / m. In some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition is at most 40 kV / m, at most 50 kV / m, at most 60 kV / m, at most 70 kV / m, at most 80 kV / m, at most 90 kV / m, at most 100 kV / m, at most 110 kV / m, at most 120 kV / m, at most 125 kV / m, at most 130 kV / m, at most 135 kV / m, at most 140 kV / m, at most 145 kV / m, at most 150 kV / m, at most 155 kV / m, at most 160 kV / m, at most 165 kV / m, at most 170 kV / m, at most 175 kV / m, at most 180 kV / m, at most 185 kV / m, at most 190 kV / m, at most 195 kV / m, at most 200 kV / m, at most 205 kV / m, at most 210 kV / m, at most 215 kV / m, at most 220 kV / m, at most 225 kV / m, at most 230 kV / m, at most 235 kV / m, at most 240 kV / m, at most 245 kV / m, at most 250 kV / m, at most 255 kV / m, at most 260 kV / m, at most 265 kV / m, at most 270 kV / m, at most 280 kV / m, at most 290 kV / m, at most 300 kV / m, at most 310 kV / m, at most 320 kV / m, at most 330 kV / m, at most 340 kV / m, or at most 350 kV / m.

[0242] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes. For instance, in some embodiments, the period of time is between 10 and 180 min, 10 and 95 min, 15 and 175 min, 15 and 90 min, 21 and 169 min, 21 and 84 min, 26 and 164 min, 26 and 79 min, 32 and 158 min, 32 and 73 min, 37 and 153 min, 37 and 68 min, 43 and 147 min, 43 and 62 min, 48 and 142 min, 48 and 57 min, 54 and 136 min, 59 and 131 min, 65 and 125 min, 70 and 120 min, 76 and 114 min, 81 and 109 min, 87 and 103 min, 92 and 98 min, 95 and 180 min, 100 and 175 min, 106 and 169 min, 111 and 164 min, 117 and 158 min, 122 and 153 min, 128 and 147 min, or 133 and 142 min. In some embodiments, the period of time is at least 10 min, at least 15 min,at least 21 min, at least 26 min, at least 32 min, at least 37 min, at least 43 min, at least 48 min, at least 54 min, at least 57 min, at least 59 min, at least 62 min, at least 65 min, at least 68 min, at least 70 min, at least 73 min, at least 76 min, at least 79 min, at least 81 min, at least 84 min, at least 87 min, at least 90 min, at least 92 min, at least 95 min, at least 98 min, at least 100 min, at least 103 min, at least 106 min, at least 109 min, at least 111 min, at least 114 min, at least 117 min, at least 120 min, at least 122 min, at least 125 min, at least 128 min, at least 131 min, at least 133 min, at least 136 min, at least 142 min, at least 147 min, at least 153 min, at least 158 min, at least 164 min, at least 169 min, at least 175 min, or at least 180 min. In some embodiments, the period of time is at most 10 min, at most 15 min, at most 21 min, at most 26 min, at most 32 min, at most 37 min, at most 43 min, at most 48 min, at most 54 min, at most 57 min, at most 59 min, at most 62 min, at most 65 min, at most 68 min, at most 70 min, at most 73 min, at most 76 min, at most 79 min, at most 81 min, at most 84 min, at most 87 min, at most 90 min, at most 92 min, at most 95 min, at most 98 min, at most 100 min, at most 103 min, at most106 min, at most 109 min, at most 111 min, at most 114 min, at most 117 min, at most 120 min, at most 122 min, at most 125 min, at most 128 min, at most 131 min, at most 133 min, at most 136 min, at most 142 min, at most 147 min, at most 153 min, at most 158 min, at most 164 min, at most 169 min, at most 175 min, or at most 180 min.

[0243] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0244] In some embodiments, the determining the plurality of environmental parameters includes obtaining a first environmental parameter in the plurality of environmental parameters using a first sensor 1916-1 coupled to an aerospace vehicle 300. For instance, in some embodiments, the first sensor 1916-1 is utilized to obtain a data feed, data signal, and / or data set associated with an electric field and / or electric intensity at or near the region 902 or a location 910 associated with the region 902, such as within a threshold distance of a storm cell 1010. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0245] In some embodiments, the first sensor 1916-1 is a radar sensor or an electric field sensor, which allows for determining one or more parameters associated with disposing a payload 308 at or near the region 902 or the location 910.

[0246] In some embodiments, the determining the plurality of environmental parameters includes obtaining a second environmental parameter in the plurality of environmentalparameters using a second sensor disposed at or substantially at ground level. For instance, in some embodiments, the computer system 100 includes a plurality of sensors (e.g., sensor 1916 of Figure 1, etc.) configured to collect a variety of local weather data, such as an ambient air temperature, an atmospheric pressure, a wind direction, and / or the like. By way of example, in some embodiments, the second sensor 1916-2 includes a temperature sensor (e.g., a thermistor, a thermometer, etc.), a humidity sensor (e.g., capacitive humidity sensor, resistive humidity sensor, etc.), a pressure sensor (e.g., barometer, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensor, a velocity sensor (e.g., a wind vane, an anemometer, etc.), a precipitation sensor, a piezoelectric sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0247] Accordingly, the second sensor 1916-2 allows for obtaining data and information at ground level, such as for comparative purposes against similar measurements obtained by an aerospace vehicle 300 comprising a similar or the same sensor as the second sensor. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0248] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, as the environmental parameters of method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500, or a combination thereof.

[0249] In some embodiments, the method 400 bypasses the determining of block 404 and proceeds to the identify.

[0250] Block 408. Referring to block 408, in some embodiments, the method 400 includes traversing an aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc.) to a location 910 proximate to a first storm cell 1010-1 in the at least one storm cell 1010.

[0251] For instance, in some embodiments, a respective storm cell 1010 and / or a location of desired dispersal of the pay load 308, such as an updraft, is disposed within an interior of thecloud 302. In some such embodiments, traversing the aerospace vehicle 300 includes operation of the aerospace vehicle 300 using instrument flight reference (IFR) conditions. In some such embodiments, disposing some or all of the payload at or near a center of the respective storm cell 1010 and / or the updraft area provides increased payload dispersion within the interior of the cloud 302 in comparison to seeding form a bottom portion of the cloud such as at an area of inflow. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0252] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is configured to traverse to the location before elapse of the period of time.

[0253] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is airborne during the determining the plurality of environmental parameters and / or the identifying the at least one storm cell 1010, which allows for performing the method 400 is close proximity to the at least one storm cell 1010 to readily disposing of the payload at and / or near the location before elapse of the period of time.

[0254] In some embodiments, the traversing the aerospace vehicle 300 is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 706 of method 700 of Figure 7, block 804 of method 800 of Figure 8, block 1506 of method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0255] Block 410. Referring to block 410, in some embodiments, the method 400 includes disposing some or all of a payload coupled to the aerospace vehicle 300 when the aerospace vehicle 300 traverses to the location.

[0256] Methods for Selecting an Aerospace Vehicle

[0257] Block 502. Referring to block 502 of Figure 5, in some embodiments, a method 500 for selecting an aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc. is provided.

[0258] Block 504. Referring to block 504, the method 500 includes evaluating a plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 associated with a region 902.

[0259] In some embodiments, the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 includes between 2 and 20,000 aerospace vehicles. In some embodiments, the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 includes between 2 and 500 aerospace vehicles, 2 and 251 aerospace vehicles, between 5 and 500 aerospace vehicles, 18 and 484 aerospace vehicles, 18 and 235 aerospace vehicles, 34 and468 aerospace vehicles, 34 and 219 aerospace vehicles, 50 and 452 aerospace vehicles, 50 and203 aerospace vehicles, 66 and 436 aerospace vehicles, 66 and 187 aerospace vehicles, 82 and420 aerospace vehicles, 82 and 171 aerospace vehicles, 98 and 404 aerospace vehicles, 98 and155 aerospace vehicles, 114 and 388 aerospace vehicles, 114 and 139 aerospace vehicles, 131 and 371 aerospace vehicles, 147 and 355 aerospace vehicles, 163 and 339 aerospace vehicles, 179 and 323 aerospace vehicles, 195 and 307 aerospace vehicles, 211 and 291 aerospace vehicles, 227 and 275 aerospace vehicles, 243 and 259 aerospace vehicles, 251 and 500 aerospace vehicles, 267 and 484 aerospace vehicles, 283 and 468 aerospace vehicles, 299 and 452 aerospace vehicles, 315 and 436 aerospace vehicles, 331 and 420 aerospace vehicles, 347 and 404 aerospace vehicles, or 363 and 388 aerospace vehicles. In some embodiments, the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 includes at least 2 aerospace vehicles, at least 5 aerospace vehicles, at least 7 aerospace vehicles, at least 18 aerospace vehicles, at least 34 aerospace vehicles, at least 50 aerospace vehicles, at least 66 aerospace vehicles, at least 82 aerospace vehicles, at least 98 aerospace vehicles, at least 114 aerospace vehicles, at least 131 aerospace vehicles, at least 139 aerospace vehicles, at least 147 aerospace vehicles, at least 155 aerospace vehicles, at least 163 aerospace vehicles, at least 171 aerospace vehicles, at least 179 aerospace vehicles, at least 187 aerospace vehicles, at least 195 aerospace vehicles, at least 203 aerospace vehicles, at least 211 aerospace vehicles, at least 219 aerospace vehicles, at least 227 aerospace vehicles, at least 235 aerospace vehicles, at least 243 aerospace vehicles, at least 251 aerospace vehicles, at least 259 aerospace vehicles, at least 267 aerospace vehicles, at least 275 aerospace vehicles, at least 283 aerospace vehicles, at least 291 aerospace vehicles, at least 299 aerospace vehicles, at least 307 aerospace vehicles, at least 315 aerospace vehicles, at least 323 aerospace vehicles, at least 331 aerospace vehicles, at least 339 aerospace vehicles, at least 347 aerospacevehicles, at least 355 aerospace vehicles, at least 363 aerospace vehicles, at least 371 aerospace vehicles, at least 388 aerospace vehicles, at least 404 aerospace vehicles, at least 420 aerospace vehicles, at least 436 aerospace vehicles, at least 452 aerospace vehicles, at least 468 aerospace vehicles, at least 484 aerospace vehicles, or at least 500 aerospace vehicles 300. In some embodiments, the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 includes at most 2 aerospace vehicles, at most 18 aerospace vehicles, at most 34 aerospace vehicles, at most 50 aerospace vehicles, at most 66 aerospace vehicles, at most 82 aerospace vehicles, at most 98 aerospace vehicles, at most 114 aerospace vehicles, at most 131 aerospace vehicles, at most 139 aerospace vehicles, at most 147 aerospace vehicles, at most 155 aerospace vehicles, at most 163 aerospace vehicles, at most 171 aerospace vehicles, at most 179 aerospace vehicles, at most 187 aerospace vehicles, at most 195 aerospace vehicles, at most 203 aerospace vehicles, at most 211 aerospace vehicles, at most 219 aerospace vehicles, at most 227 aerospace vehicles, at most 235 aerospace vehicles, at most 243 aerospace vehicles, at most 251 aerospace vehicles, at most 259 aerospace vehicles, at most 267 aerospace vehicles, at most 275 aerospace vehicles, at most 283 aerospace vehicles, at most 291 aerospace vehicles, at most 299 aerospace vehicles, at most 307 aerospace vehicles, at most 315 aerospace vehicles, at most 323 aerospace vehicles, at most 331 aerospace vehicles, at most 339 aerospace vehicles, at most 347 aerospace vehicles, at most 355 aerospace vehicles, at most 363 aerospace vehicles, at most 371 aerospace vehicles, at most 388 aerospace vehicles, at most 404 aerospace vehicles, at most 420 aerospace vehicles, at most 436 aerospace vehicles, at most 452 aerospace vehicles, at most 468 aerospace vehicles, at most 484 aerospace vehicles, or at most 500 aerospace vehicles 300.

[0260] In some embodiments, each aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 is located within a distance of a center of the region 902 (e.g., a geographic center, a capital, etc.) and / or a boundary of the region 902, such as a border of the region 902, which allows for ensuring each aerospace vehicle 300 evaluated is available for use within or near the region 902. In some embodiments, each aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 is disposed with the region 902, which ensures each aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 is qualified and / or licensed to operate in the region 902.

[0261] In some embodiments, when a respective aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 satisfies a first threshold condition in a plurality of threshold conditions,the method 500 includes selecting the respective aerospace vehicle 300 for inclusion in a subset of aerospace vehicles 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles.

[0262] In some embodiments, when no aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 satisfies the first threshold condition, the method 500 includes repeating the evaluating of the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300 (e.g., block 504 of Figure 5) using a second threshold condition in the plurality of threshold conditions until the subset of aerospace vehicles 300 includes at least one aerospace vehicle 300. For instance, in some embodiments, the second threshold condition is less than the first threshold condition or shorter than the first threshold condition.

[0263] By way of example, in some embodiments, in accordance with a determination the first threshold condition includes a minimum payload capacity of 3 kg for a respective aircraft and the maximum payload capacity of each aerospace vehicle 300 in the plurality of aerospace vehicles is 2 kg, the method repeats the evaluating using the second threshold condition of 1.5 kg minimum payload capacity. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0264] By way of another non-limiting example, referring briefly to Figure 9, a first threshold condition is associated with a first range 500 km and / or 90 min flight time and a second threshold condition is associated with a second range of 300 km and / or 45 min flight time. Moreover, a first subset of aerospace vehicles have a third range 904-1 of 400 km or 70 min and a second subset of aerospace vehicles 300 have a fourth range 900-2 of 200 km or 30 min. Accordingly, each aerospace vehicle 300 in the first subset of aerospace vehicles 300 is selected for inclusion in the subset of aerospace vehicles (e.g., for deploying of block 506 of Figure 5), but not the second subset of aerospace vehicles 300 based on the second threshold condition being satisfied by the first subset of aerospace vehicles 300 but not the second subset of aerospace vehicles 300. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0265] In some embodiments, the plurality of threshold conditions includes a number of aerospace vehicles 300 in the subset of aerospace vehicles 300, a classification of aerospace vehicles, a ground resource availability associated with a respective aerospace vehicle 300, or a combination thereof.

[0266] In some embodiments, a first condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a first distance between a current location of the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0267] In some embodiments, a second condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a second distance between a base associated with the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0268] In some embodiments, a third condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a minimum distance between the first storm cell and the aerospace vehicle.

[0269] In some embodiments, a fourth condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a failure to predict one or more lightning strikes associated with the region during a period of time.

[0270] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0271] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, as the environmental parameters of method 400 of Figure 4, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0272] Block 506. Referring to block 506, the method 500 further includes deploying a first aerospace vehicle 300-1, in the subset of the plurality of aerospace vehicles 300, to a first location proximate to a first storm cell 1010-1 associated with the region 902.

[0273] In some embodiments, the repeating of the evaluating occurs for a plurality of instances. In some embodiments, the plurality of instances includes performing between 2 and 100 instances of the evaluating before ceasing to perform the deploying of the first aerospace vehicle 300-1.

[0274] In some embodiments, the deploying the first aerospace vehicle 300-1 is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 408 of method 400 of Figure 4, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 706 of method 700 of Figure 7, block 804 of method 800 of Figure 8, block 1506 of method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0275] Methods for Deploying Multiple Payloads

[0276] Block 602. Referring to block 602 of Figure 6, in some embodiments, a method 600 for deploying multiple payloads 308 is provided.

[0277] In some embodiments, the method 600 is utilized to deploy between 2 and 100 payloads, 2 and 51 payloads, 5 and 97 payloads, 5 and 48 payloads, 8 and 94 pay loads, 8 and 45 payloads, 11 and 91 payloads, 11 and 42 payloads, 15 and 87 payloads, 15 and 38 payloads, 18 and 84 payloads, 18 and 35 payloads, 21 and 81 payloads, 21 and 32 payloads, 24 and 78 payloads, 24 and 29 payloads, 27 and 75 payloads, 30 and 72 payloads, 34 and 68 payloads, 37 and 65 payloads, 40 and 62 pay loads, 43 and 59 pay loads, 46 and 56 payloads, 49 and 53 payloads, 51 and 100 payloads, 54 and 97 payloads, 57 and 94 payloads, 60 and 91 payloads, 64 and 87 payloads, 67 and 84 payloads, 70 and 81 payloads, or 73 and 78 payloads 308. In some embodiments, the method 600 deploys at least 2 payloads, at least 5 payloads, at least 8 payloads, at least 11 payloads, at least 15 pay loads, at least 18 payloads, at least 21 payloads, at least 24 payloads, at least 27 payloads, at least 29 payloads, at least 30 payloads, at least 32 payloads, at least 34 payloads, at least 35 pay loads, at least 37 payloads, at least 38 payloads, at least 40 payloads, at least 42 payloads, at least 43 payloads, at least 45 payloads, at least 46 payloads, at least 48 payloads, at least 49 payloads, at least 51 payloads, at least 53 payloads, at least 54 payloads, at least 56 payloads, at least 57 payloads, at least 59 payloads, at least 60 payloads, at least 62 payloads, at least 64 payloads, at least 65 payloads, at least 67 payloads, at least 68 payloads, at least 70 payloads, at least 72 payloads, at least 73 payloads, at least 75 payloads, at least 78 payloads, at least 81 pay loads, at least 84 payloads, at least 87 payloads, at least 91 payloads, at least 94 payloads, at least 97 payloads, or at least 100 payloads 308. The weights range from at most 2 payloads, at most 5 payloads, at most 8 payloads, at most 11 payloads, at most 15 payloads, at most 18 payloads, at most 21 payloads, at most 24 payloads, at most 27 payloads, at most 29 payloads, at most 30 payloads, at most 32 payloads, at most 34 payloads, at most 35 payloads, at most 37 payloads, at most 38 payloads, at most 40 payloads, at most 42 payloads, at most 43 payloads, at most 45 payloads, at most 46 payloads, at most 48 payloads, at most 49 payloads, at most 51 payloads, at most 53 payloads, at most 54 payloads, at most 56 payloads, at most 57 payloads, at most 59 payloads, at most 60 payloads, at most 62 payloads, at most 64 payloads, at most 65 payloads, at most 67 payloads, at most 68 payloads, at most 70 payloads, at most 72 payloads, at most 73 payloads, at most 75 payloads, at most 78 payloads, at most 81 payloads, at most 84 payloads, at most 87 payloads, at most 91 payloads, at most 94 payloads, at most 97 payloads, or at most 100 payloads 308.

[0278] In some embodiments, the method 600 allows for deploying a plurality of payloads 308, in which each payload 308 in the plurality of payloads 308 is removably coupled to a corresponding aerospace vehicle 300. In some embodiments, the plurality of payloads 308 includes a first subset in the plurality of payloads 308 removably coupled to a first aerospace vehicle 300-1 and a second subset in the plurality of payloads 308 removably coupled to a second aerospace vehicle 300-2, which allows for diversity how a respective pay load 308 is utilized to target the respective storm cell 1010, when the respective payload 308 is utilized to target the respective storm cell 1010, where the respective pay load 308 is utilized to target the respective storm cell 1010, and what respective payload 308 is utilized to target the respective storm cell 1010.

[0279] Block 604. Referring to block 604, in some embodiments, the method 600 includes deploying a first aerospace vehicle 300-1 (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc. to a first location 910-1 proximate to a first storm cell 1010-1 associated with a region 902.

[0280] In some embodiments, the deploying the first aerospace vehicle 300-1 is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 408 of method 400 of Figure 4, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 706 of method 700 of Figure 7, block 804 of method 800 of Figure 8, block 1506 of method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0281] Block 606. Referring to block 606, in some embodiments, the method 600 includes disposing, during a first period of time, a first payload 308-1 of the first aerospace vehicle 300-1 at or near the first location 910-1. By way of non-limiting example with reference to Figure 12, in some embodiments, the first location 910-1 is a boundary region (e.g., edge portion) of an updraft or inflow of the first storm cell 1010-1 and / or a cloud 302 associated with region 902. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0282] In some embodiments, the first period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes. For instance, in some embodiments, the first period of time is between 10 and 180 min, 10 and95 min, 15 and 175 min, 15 and 90 min, 21 and 169 min, 21 and 84 min, 26 and 164 min, 26 and79 min, 32 and 158 min, 32 and 73 min, 37 and 153 min, 37 and 68 min, 43 and 147 min, 43 and62 min, 48 and 142 min, 48 and 57 min, 54 and 136 min, 59 and 131 min, 65 and 125 min, 70 and 120 min, 76 and 114 min, 81 and 109 min, 87 and 103 min, 92 and 98 min, 95 and 180 min, 100 and 175 min, 106 and 169 min, 111 and 164 min, 117 and 158 min, 122 and 153 min, 128 and 147 min, or 133 and 142 min. In some embodiments, the first period of time is at least 10 min, at least 15 min, at least 21 min, at least 26 min, at least 32 min, at least 37 min, at least 43 min, at least 48 min, at least 54 min, at least 57 min, at least 59 min, at least 62 min, at least 65 min, at least 68 min, at least 70 min, at least 73 min, at least 76 min, at least 79 min, at least 81 min, at least 84 min, at least 87 min, at least 90 min, at least 92 min, at least 95 min, at least 98 min, at least 100 min, at least 103 min, at least 106 min, at least 109 min, at least 111 min, at least 114 min, at least 117 min, at least 120 min, at least 122 min, at least 125 min, at least 128 min, at least 131 min, at least 133 min, at least 136 min, at least 142 min, at least 147 min, at least 153 min, at least 158 min, at least 164 min, at least 169 min, at least 175 min, or at least 180 min. In some embodiments, the first period of time is at most 10 min, at most 15 min, at most 21 min, at most 26 min, at most 32 min, at most 37 min, at most 43 min, at most 48 min, at most 54 min, at most 57 min, at most 59 min, at most 62 min, at most 65 min, at most 68 min, at most 70 min, at most 73 min, at most 76 min, at most 79 min, at most 81 min, at most 84 min, at most 87 min, at most 90 min, at most 92 min, at most 95 min, at most 98 min, at most 100 min, at most103 min, at most 106 min, at most 109 min, at most 111 min, at most 114 min, at most 117 min, at most 120 min, at most 122 min, at most 125 min, at most 128 min, at most 131 min, at most 133 min, at most 136 min, at most 142 min, at most 147 min, at most 153 min, at most 158 min, at most 164 min, at most 169 min, at most 175 min, or at most 180 min.

[0283] In some embodiments, the disposing of the first payload 308-1 by the first aerospace vehicle 300-1 is configured to change and / or induce a change in an electric parameter, such as an field and / or capacitance associated with the first location 910-1, the first storm cell 1010-1, or the corresponding cloud 302 associated with the first storm cell 1010-1. For instance, in some embodiments, the first payload 308-1 is configured to dampen the electric field associated with the first location 910-1 but not reduce the electric field to that of or near atmospheric conditions.By way of another non-limiting example, in some embodiments, the disposing of the first payload 308-1 is configured to dissipate some or all of the electric field, satisfy a baseline electric field condition, neutralize the electric field, balance the electric field, limit the electric field, or a combination thereof in order to dissipate energy of the first storm cell 1010-1 and, thus, prevent lightning strikes from a corresponding cloud 302. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0284] Block 608. Referring to block 608, in some embodiments, the method 600 further includes determining, at the first aerospace vehicle 300-1, a plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 and / or a corresponding cloud 302 associated with the first storm cell 1010-1. For instance, in some embodiments, one or more environmental parameters in the plurality of environmental parameters is utilized to determine an efficacy of the disposing of the first payload 308 (e.g., block 606 of method 600 of Figure 6, etc.}. In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters obtained at the first aerospace vehicle 300-1 is utilized in order to determine if a respective storm cell 1010 and / or a respective cloud 302 has satisfied a threshold condition to prevent lightning strikes and / or wildfires at the region 902. In some embodiments, in accordance with a determination the plurality of environmental parameters satisfy the threshold condition, the method 600 ceases to continue determining the plurality of environmental factors and / or disposing of a respective payload 308. In some embodiments, in accordance with a determination the plurality of environmental parameters fail to satisfy the threshold condition, the method 600 continues to determine the plurality of environmental factors and / or disposing of the respective payload 308. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0285] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300-1 includes a plurality of sensors (e.g., sensor 1916 of Figure 1, sensor 2916 of Figure 2, etc. . In some embodiments, the plurality of sensors 1916 is configured to provide data for determining the plurality of environmental parameters and / or supplemental to the plurality of environmental parameters, such as locational information associated with the aerospace vehicle 300-1 and / or the like. For instance, in some embodiments, the plurality of sensors 1916 includes an electric field sensor, a radar sensor, an electromagnetic radiation sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0286] In some embodiments, the method 600 includes identifying a change in the first storm cell 1010-1 using some or all of the plurality of environmental parameters. For instance, in some embodiments, the change in the first storm cell 1010-1 includes a change of mass flow rate, volumetric flow rate, cross-sectional area, thickness, height, distance to a nearest storm cell 1010, altitude, velocity, convective available potential energy, electric field, capacitance, shape, size, color, density, optical parameter, or a combination thereof. By way of example, in some embodiments, the change in the first storm cell 1010 is identified as a threshold change of mass flow rate, volumetric flow rate, cross-sectional area, thickness, height, distance to a nearest storm cell 1010, altitude, velocity, convective available potential energy, electric field, capacitance, shape, size, color, density, optical parameter, or a combination thereof to satisfy in order to proceed with further disposing of a respective payload 308 (e.g., block 610).

[0287] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, as the environmental parameters of method 400 of Figure 4, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0288] Block 610. Referring to block 610, in some embodiments, the method 600 further includes disposing, during a second period of time after the first period of time, a second payload 308-2 at or near to a second location proximate to the first storm cell 1010-1 and different from the first location.

[0289] In some embodiments, the second payload 308-2 is selected based at least in part on the change in the first storm cell 1010-1. For instance, in some embodiments, in accordance with a determination an electric field of the first storm cell 1010-1 satisfies a threshold electric field condition, an amount of the second payload 308-2 is adjusted based on the determination. By way of example, in some embodiments, a first threshold electric field condition is associated with a change in electric field of greater than 100 kV / m during a period of time of 10 minutes and a first storm cell 1010-1, after interfacing with some or all of the first payload 302-1 having a first mass, has an electric field of 320 kV / m after previously having an electric field of 100 kV / m prior to interfacing with some or all of the first payload 302-1. Accordingly, in some such embodiments, a second mass of the second pay load 302-1 is increased to ensure the second payload 308-2 is effective at dissipating energy of the first storm cell 1010-1. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto. By way of another example, in some embodiments, the first threshold electric field condition is associated with the change in electric field of greater than 100 kV / m during the period of time of 10 minutes and the first storm cell 1010-1, after interfacing with some or all of the first payload 302-1 having the first mass, has the electric field of 120 kV / m after previously having an electric field of 100 kV / m prior to interfacing with some or all of the first payload 302-1. Accordingly, in some such embodiments, the second mass of the second pay load 302-1 is decreased or maintained at an amount to ensure the second payload 308-2 is effective at dissipating energy of the first storm cell 1010-1 without wasting materials or causing environmental harm.

[0290] In some embodiments, the second pay load 308-2 is disposed by the first aerospace vehicle 300-1, which allows for using the same aerospace vehicle 300 for multiple deployments of various pay loads towards one more ore storm cells 1010. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the second payload 308-2 is disposed by a second aerospace vehicle 300-2 different from the first aerospace vehicle 300-1, which allows for varying delivery of the payload based on various parameters of the respective aerospace vehicles 300 and corresponding payloads 308 utilized by the respective aerospace vehicles 300.

[0291] In some embodiments, the second period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes. For instance, in some embodiments, the second period of time is between 10 and 180 min, 10 and 95 min, 15 and 175 min, 15 and 90 min, 21 and 169 min, 21 and 84 min, 26 and 164 min, 26 and 79 min, 32 and 158 min, 32 and 73 min, 37 and 153 min, 37 and 68 min, 43 and 147 min, 43 and 62 min, 48 and 142 min, 48 and 57 min, 54 and 136 min, 59 and 131 min, 65 and125 min, 70 and 120 min, 76 and 114 min, 81 and 109 min, 87 and 103 min, 92 and 98 min, 95 and 180 min, 100 and 175 min, 106 and 169 min, 111 and 164 min, 117 and 158 min, 122 and 153 min, 128 and 147 min, or 133 and 142 min. In some embodiments, the second period of time is at least 10 min, at least 15 min, at least 21 min, at least 26 min, at least 32 min, at least 37 min, at least 43 min, at least 48 min, at least 54 min, at least 57 min, at least 59 min, at least 62 min, at least 65 min, at least 68 min, at least 70 min, at least 73 min, at least 76 min, at least 79 min, at least 81 min, at least 84 min, at least 87 min, at least 90 min, at least 92 min, at least 95 min, at least 98 min, at least 100 min, at least 103 min, at least 106 min, at least 109 min, at least111 min, at least 114 min, at least 117 min, at least 120 min, at least 122 min, at least 125 min, at least 128 min, at least 131 min, at least 133 min, at least 136 min, at least 142 min, at least 147min, at least 153 min, at least 158 min, at least 164 min, at least 169 min, at least 175 min, or at least 180 min. In some embodiments, the second period of time is at most 10 min, at most 15 min, at most 21 min, at most 26 min, at most 32 min, at most 37 min, at most 43 min, at most 48 min, at most 54 min, at most 57 min, at most 59 min, at most 62 min, at most 65 min, at most 68 min, at most 70 min, at most 73 min, at most 76 min, at most 79 min, at most 81 min, at most 84 min, at most 87 min, at most 90 min, at most 92 min, at most 95 min, at most 98 min, at most100 min, at most 103 min, at most 106 min, at most 109 min, at most 111 min, at most 114 min, at most 117 min, at most 120 min, at most 122 min, at most 125 min, at most 128 min, at most 131 min, at most 133 min, at most 136 min, at most 142 min, at most 147 min, at most 153 min, at most 158 min, at most 164 min, at most 169 min, at most 175 min, or at most 180 min.

[0292] In some embodiments, the first storm cell 1010-1 remains at lower lightning activity for a third period of time, such as for a remaining duration of the storm. In some embodiments, the third period of time includes some or all of the first period of time. In some embodiments, the third period of time includes some or all of the second period of time. In some embodiments, the third period of time includes some or all of the first period of time and the entirety of the second period of time. In some embodiments, the third period of time includes the first period of time and the second period of time.

[0293] In some embodiments, the method 600 includes determining an efficacy of the first payload 308-1 prior to disposing of the second payload 308-2. For instance, in some embodiments, the method 600 determines the efficacy of the first payload 308-1 at least in part by determining an impact of the first pay load 308-2, such as a maximum reduction of the electric field associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 during the first period of time, a minimum reduction of the electric field associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 during the first period of time, a regeneration of the electric field associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 during the first period of time, a regeneration of the electric field associated with the first storm cell 1010-1 during the second period of time, or a combination thereof.

[0294] Moreover, in some embodiments, the method 600 determines the efficacy of the first payload 308-1 at least in part by evaluating an amount of the first payload 308-1 received by the first storm cell 1010-1. For instance, in some embodiments, the method 600 determines a first volume and / or a first mass of the first payload 308-1 that is received by an interior of the firststorm cell 1010-1, such as an updraft and / or a downdraft of the first storm cell 1010-1, such as in comparison to a second volume and / or a second mass of the first payload 308-1 disposed by the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0295] In some embodiments, the method 600 determines the efficacy of the first payload 308-1 at least in part by evaluating a morphology of the first storm cell 1010-1 for a fourth period of time interposing between the first period of time and the second period of time, such as after disposing of the first payload 308-1 and prior to disposing of the second payload 308-2.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0296] In some embodiments, the method bypasses blocks 602-610 and performs a process of delivering a first mass of lightning suppression material to a storm cell; measuring an electric field potential in the storm cell after the delivering the first mass; and when the electric field satisfies a threshold electric field potential, delivering a second mass of lightning suppression material to the storm cell.

[0297] Methods for Targeting a Cloud

[0298] Block 702. Referring to block 702 of Figure 7, in some embodiments, a method 700 for targeting a cloud (e.g., first cloud 302-1 of Figure 3, second cloud 302-2 of Figure 3, etc.) is provided.

[0299] Block 704. Referring to block 704, in some embodiments, the method 700 includes predicting a source of a lightning strike. For instance, in some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike is the cloud 302 that during a period of time satisfies a threshold number of predicted lightning strikes. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike is a ground region 902 (e.g., ground 304 of Figure 3), such as a topographical and / or geographic region 902.

[0300] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a cumulonimbus cloud 302. For instance, in some embodiments, the cumulonimbus cloud 302 is a cloud 302 in a plurality of clouds 302 that satisfies a threshold average water content and / or droplet dimension (e.g., a first threshold droplet dimension of at least 100 micron hydraulic diameter, etc.).

[0301] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a region (e.g., first region 310-1 of Figure 3) associated with the cloud 302, such as a boundary region of the cloud 302, a first region adjacent to the cloud 302, a second region proximate to the cloud 302, and / or the like. As a non-limiting example, in some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a first region 310-1 below a lower end portion of the cloud 302, a second region 310-2 within an interior of the cloud 302, a third region 310-1 above an upper end portion of the cloud, 302 a fourth region 310-4 adjacent to a vertical edge of the cloud 302, or a combination thereof. For instance, in some embodiments, the region 902 of the cloud is associated with an updraft and / or a downdraft of the cloud 302, such as a flow or current of air towards the cloud 302, such as an updraft associated with the first region 310-1 below the cloud 302. In some embodiments, a lightning suppression payload 308 is disposed at the region 902 associated with the updraft, which allows for using the updraft to traverse some or all of the lightning suppression payload 308 towards and / or into the cloud 302. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0302] in some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a storm cell of the cumulonimbus cloud 302. For instance, in some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a first region 310-1 below a lower end portion of the storm cell of the cloud 302, a second region 310-2 within an interior of the storm cell of the cloud 302, a third region 310-1 above an upper end portion of the storm cell of the cloud 302, a fourth region 310-4 adjacent to a vertical edge of the storm cell of the cloud 302, or a combination thereof. For instance, in some embodiments, the region 902 of the cloud is associated with an updraft and / or a downdraft of the storm cell of the cloud 302, such as a flow or current of air towards the cloud 302, such as an updraft associated with the first region 310-1 below the cloud 302.

[0303] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike is predicted based on a plurality of environmental factors.

[0304] In some embodiments, the plurality of environmental parameters is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, as the environmental parameters of method 400 of Figure 4, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0305] In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a first attitude, such as an altitude associated with a corresponding threshold voltage gradient. In some embodiments,the source of the lightning strike includes an electric field associated with the altitude. In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes a voltage gradient associated with a change in altitude associated with a volumetric region of the cloud 302 and / or the storm cell of the cloud 302. In some embodiments, the source of the lightning strike includes an electric field associated with the volumetric region of the cloud 302 and / or the storm cell of the cloud 302.

[0306] In some embodiments, the lightning strike includes a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, an intra-cloud lightning strike, an inter-cloud lightning strike, or a combination thereof.

[0307] In some embodiments, the predicting includes selecting the source of the lightning strike from a plurality of potential sources of a lightning strike.

[0308] Block 706. Referring to block 706, the method 700 further includes communicating, via a communication network, one or more instructions for operating an aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc. to dispose a lightning suppression payload (e.g., payload 308 of Figure 3) at a location 910 associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0309] In some embodiments, the location 910 associated with the source of the lightning includes an interior of the cloud 302, an edge of the cloud 302, an updraft associated with the cloud 302, an inflow associated with the cloud 302, a downdraft associated with the cloud 302, a volume surrounding some or all of the cloud, an interior of the storm cell 1010, an edge of the storm cell 1010, an updraft associated with the storm cell 1010, an inflow associated with the storm cell 1010, a downdraft associated with the storm cell 1010, a volume surrounding some or all of the storm cell 1010, or a combination thereof. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0310] In some embodiments, the location associated with the source of the lightning is a distance from a center and / or edge of the cloud 302 or storm cell 101 between 1 and 20 km, 1 and 10 km, 2 and 19 km, 2 and 9 km, 3 and 18 km, 3 and 8 km, 4 and 17 km, 4 and 7 km, 5 and16 km, 5 and 6 km, 6 and 15 km, 7 and 14 km, 8 and 13 km, 9 and 12 km, 10 and 11 km, 10 and 20 km, 11 and 19 km, 12 and 18 km, 13 and 17 km, or 14 and 16 km. In some embodiments, the distance from a center and / or edge of the cloud 302 or storm cell 101 and the location associated with the source of the lightning is between at least 1 km, at least 2 km, at least 3 km, at least 4 km, at least 5 km, at least 6 km, at least 7 km, at least 8 km, at least 9 km, at least 10 km, at least 11 km, at least 12 km, at least 13 km, at least 14 km, at least 15 km, at least 16 km, at least 17 km, at least 18 km, at least 19 km, or at least 20 km. In some embodiments, the distance from a center and / or edge of the cloud 302 or storm cell 101 and the location associated with the source of the lightning is at most 1 km, at most 2 km, at most 3 km, at most 4 km, at most 5 km, at most 6 km, at most 7 km, at most 8 km, at most 9 km, at most 10 km, at most 11 km, at most 12 km, at most 13 km, at most 14 km, at most 15 km, at most 16 km, at most 17 km, at most 18 km, at most 19 km, or at most 20 km.

[0311] In some embodiments, the communicating includes using a first communication module associated with the UAS to communicate, via the communication network, the one or more instructions to a second communication module associated with the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0312] In some embodiments, the UAS includes the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0313] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is a fixed-wing aircraft, a flapping wing aircraft, a single-rotor aircraft, a multi-rotor aircraft, a cyclo-aircraft, a hybrid aircraft, a projectile, or a combination thereof.

[0314] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle 300 is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

[0315] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to reduce an electric field associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0316] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 is configured to create an electron path.

[0317] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 comprises a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

[0318] In some embodiments, the conductive material includes a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

[0319] In some embodiments, the metal material includes aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

[0320] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload includes a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

[0321] In some embodiments, the location associated with the source of the lightning strike is at an elevation (e.g., Hl of Figure 3) greater than 500 meters (m), such as greater than 500 m with respect to a ground elevation or a sea level. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For instance, referring to Figure 3, in some embodiments, the elevation Hl of the location associated with the lightning strike is between 50 m and 1 km, 50 m and 500 m, 50 m and 2 km, 100 m and 16 kilometers (km), 1 km and 15 km, 1 km and 10 km, 1 km and 5 km, 2 km and 16 km, 2 km and 15 km, 2 km and 10 km, 2 km and 5 km, 4 km and 16 km, 4 km and 15 km, 4 km and 10 km, 4 km and 5 km, 7 km and 16 km, 7 km and 15 km, 7 km and 10 km, 12 km and 16 km, 12 km and 15 km, 14 km and 16 km with respect to a ground elevation or a sea level. In some embodiments, the elevation Hl of the location associated with the lightning strike is at least at least 50 m, at least 500 m, 1 km, at least 2 km, at least 3 km, at least 4 km, at least 5 km, at least 6 km, at least 7 km, at least 8 km, at least 9 km, at least 10 km, at least 11 km, at least 12 km, at least 13 km, at least 14 km, at least 15 km, or at least 16 km with respect to a ground elevation or a sea level. In some embodiments, the elevation Hl of the location associated with the lightning strike is at most 50 m, at most 500 m, at most 1 km, at most 2 km, at most 3 km, at most 4 km, at most 5 km, at most 6 km, at most 7 km, at most 8 km, at most 9 km, at most 10 km, at most 11 km, at most 12 km, at most 13 km, at most 14 km, at most 15 km, or at most 16 km with respect to a ground elevation or a sea level. Accordingly, the method 400 is capable of performing at a wide domain of latitudes and elevations, including updrafts realized with the wide domain.

[0322] In some embodiments, the one or more instructions includes a flight path for traversing from an initial location associated with the aerospace vehicle 300 to the location associated with the source of the lightning strike. In some embodiments, the initial location associated with the aerospace vehicle 300 is a location of the aerospace vehicle 300 when performing the predicting of the source of the lightning strike. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For instance, in some embodiments, the flight path for traversing the aerospace vehicle includes one or more target addresses (e.g., a location of a region 902 associated with the cloud 302) and / orone or more control instructions for adapting to dynamic obstructions when traversing to the location associated with the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0323] In some embodiments, the one or more instructions includes one or more coordinates associated with the location associated with the source of the lightning strike. As a non-limiting example, in some embodiments, the one or more coordinates include a GPS address, a GLONASS address, a Galileo address, or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates associated with the location includes a first location associated with the source of the lightning strike at which data elements characterizing the first location are captured. In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates associated with the location includes a second location associated with the source of the lightning strike during an epoch after which the data elements characterizing the first location are captured. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0324] In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates includes a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate, an elevation coordinate, or a combination thereof.

[0325] In some embodiments, the one or more coordinates includes a time coordinate.

[0326] In some embodiments, the operating the aerospace vehicle 300 is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 408 of method 400 of Figure 4, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 604 of method 600 of Figure 6, block 804 of method 800 of Figure 8, block 1506 of method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0327] Methods for Dissipating stored Energy Withing a Cloud

[0328] Block 802. Referring to block 802 of Figure 8, in some embodiments, a method 800 for dissipating stored energy within a cloud 302 is provided.

[0329] Block 804. Referring to block 804, in some embodiments, the method 800 includes using an aerospace vehicle 300 (e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc. to traverse a lightning suppression pay load 308 to a first location proximate to the cloud 302.

[0330] In some embodiments, the using the aerospace vehicle 300 is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 408 of method 400 of Figure 4, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 604 of method 600 of Figure 6, block 706 of method 700 of Figure 7, block 1506 of method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof.

[0331] Block 806. Referring to block 806, in some embodiments, the method 800 includes disposing of the lightning suppression payload at a portion of the cloud, thereby reducing an electric field between a first volume of a first charge associated with the cloud and a second volume of a second charge associated with the cloud and inducing a transfer of charge from the first volume to the second volume with the cloud, in which the first charge and the second charge are inversely electrically charged

[0332] In some embodiments, the reducing the resistance between the first volume and the second volume includes deploying a resistance reduction mechanism into a third volume of the cloud. In some embodiments, the third volume is between the first volume and second volume.

[0333] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression payload 308 includes one or more of: an electrical conductor; a substance that interacts with the third volume to reduce an electric field of the third volume; and a substance that interacts with the third volume to reduce a dielectric strength of the third volume.

[0334] In some embodiments, the method includes deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 into the third volume of the cloud 302. In some embodiments, the deploying the lightning suppression pay load 308 includes navigating an aerospace vehicle 300 carrying the deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 into the third volume of the cloud 302 and deploying the deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 from the aerospace vehicle 300.

[0335] In some embodiments, the deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 includes loading the deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 into a terrestrial cannon and propelling the lightning suppression pay load 308 into the third volume of the cloud 302 with the terrestrial cannon.

[0336] In some embodiments, the deploying the lightning suppression payload 308 includes loading the lightning suppression payload 308 into a self-propelled projectile and launching the self-propelled projectile into the third volume of the cloud 302.

[0337] Methods for Identifying a Target for Active Lightning Control.

[0338] Block 1502. Referring to block 1502 of Figure 15, in some embodiments, the present disclosure provides a method 1500 for identifying a target for active lightning control.

[0339] In some embodiments, the target is a storm cell 1010 and / or a cloud 302 associated with a region 902. In some embodiments, the target is the region 902. In some embodiments, the target is a location 910 associated with the region, such as a structure of the region 902.However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0340] Block 1504. Referring to block 1504, in some embodiments, the method 1500 includes identifying at least one storm cell 1010 satisfying lightning potential criteria that is forecast to be over a region 902 satisfying disaster potential criteria during a period of time.

[0341] In some embodiments, the lightning potential criteria includes one or more meteorological parameters.

[0342] In some embodiments, the disaster potential criteria includes a risk threshold. In some embodiments, the risk threshold considers at least (i) one or more meteorological parameters and (ii) one or more geographic parameters. In some embodiments, the risk threshold considers between one and 1,000 meteorological parameters and between one and 1,000 meteorological parameters one or more geographic parameters.

[0343] In some embodiments, the method further includes flying an aerospace vehicle e.g., aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 2, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300-U of Figure 3, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 408 of Figure 4, first aerospace vehicle of block 604 of Figure 6, second aerospace vehicle of block 610 of Figure 6, aerospace vehicle 300 of block 804 of Figure 8, aerospace vehicle 300-1 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-2 of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300-T of Figure 9, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 10, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 11, aerospace vehicle 300 of Figure 12, aerospacevehicle 300 of Figure 13, etc.) to a location proximate to a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0344] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is flown to the location before elapse of the period of time.

[0345] In some embodiments, the disaster potential criteria includes a risk threshold for: a wildfire, a damage to a structure, a lightning strike in a populated area, a cessation in a utility transmission, an interruption in a transportation network, a delay in the transportation network, a damage to the transportation network, a decrease in a population density, a formation of a landslide, or a combination thereof, which allows for the method 1500 to consider an outcome of a predicted lightning strike from the at least one storm cell 1010. In some embodiments, the disaster potential includes a threshold monetary damages to repair a structure. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the disaster potential criterial allows for the method 1500 to consider a possibility and / or intensity of a hazard caused by a lightning strike and / or a wildfire by the lightning strike. By way of example, in some embodiments the disaster potential criteria incudes a first risk threshold that is satisfied if a human receives any injury from the lightning strike and the wildfire caused by the lightning strike. By way of another example, in some embodiments the disaster potential criteria incudes a second risk threshold that is satisfied if an airport is required to cease operations for a period of time that exceeds 10 minutes, or about 10 minutes. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0346] In some embodiments, the one or more geographic parameters comprises an environmental parameter and / or a locational parameter.

[0347] In some embodiments, the environmental parameter includes one or more climate parameters, one or more weather parameters, one or more topography parameters, one or more landform parameters, one or more vegetation parameters, one or more land cover parameters, one or more soil type parameters, one or more ground conductivity parameters, one or more proximity to water parameters, or a combination thereof, which allow for identifying the at least one storm cell 1010 based, at least in part, on one or more environmental parameters that affect a hazard caused by a lightning strike and / or a wildfire by the lightning strike. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0348] In some embodiments, the one or more locational parameters includes a structure height parameter, a structure density parameter, a population density parameter, a utility infrastructure parameter, an isolated structure parameter, an urbanization parameter, and recreational parameter, a population exposure parameter, a construction zone parameter, an emergency services availability parameter, a safeguard utility parameter, a population preparedness parameter, or a combination thereof, which allows for the method 1500 to consider locational parameters that create and / or mitigate the hazard caused by the lightning strike and / or the wildfire by the lightning strike. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0349] In some embodiments, the lightning potential criteria includes a threshold electric field potential. In some embodiments, the threshold electric field potential is based on the location.

[0350] In some embodiments, the aerospace vehicle is airborne during the identifying of the at least one storm cell.

[0351] In some embodiments, the method further comprises disposing some or all of an electric potential suppression payload from the aerospace vehicle at the location.

[0352] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprises a hydrodynamic parameter forecast for some or all of the region during the period of time.

[0353] In some embodiments, the threshold electric field condition comprises a presence or forecast for an electric field of between 50 kilovolts per meter (kV / m) and 350 kV / m in the storm cell.

[0354] In some embodiments, the lightning potential criteria comprises a criterion that is satisfied when the storm cell comprises a cloud classification of cumulonimbus and / or pyrocumulus.

[0355] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a mass flow rate and / or a volumetric flow rate of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

[0356] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise cross- sectional area of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

[0357] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted distance between a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell and a second storm cell, different from the first storm cell, in the at least one storm cell.

[0358] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted altitude one of the storm cell.

[0359] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted velocity of the updraft and / or the inflow of the storm cell.

[0360] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a convective available potential energy of an updraft and / or an inflow of the storm cell.

[0361] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a shape of a cloud corresponding to the storm cell, a color of the corresponding cloud, a density of the corresponding cloud, an optical parameter of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0362] In some embodiments, the shape of the corresponding cloud comprises a curvature associated with a portion of the corresponding cloud, a uniformity associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, a normalization associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0363] In some embodiments, the one or more environmental parameters comprise one or more landscape parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0364] In some embodiments, the one or more landscape parameters comprises one or more fuel parameters and / or one or more topographic parameters.

[0365] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a ground temperature for the region, an atmospheric temperature for the region, a relative humidity for the region, an absolute humidity for the region, or a combination thereof.

[0366] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a predicted number of lightning strikes per square mile associated with the region during the period of time.

[0367] In some embodiments, the one or more meteorological parameters comprises an estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload.

[0368] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes.

[0369] In some embodiments, the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0370] In some embodiments, a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a first sensor coupled to an aerospace vehicle.

[0371] In some embodiments, the first sensor is a radar sensor or an electric field sensor.

[0372] In some embodiments, a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a second sensor disposed at or substantially at ground level.

[0373] In some embodiments, the second sensor comprises a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, a velocity sensor, a precipitation sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0374] In some embodiments, an area of the region is between 10 square miles (mi2) and 50 mi2, between 500 mi2 and 1,500 mi2, or between 10,000 mi2 and 100,000 mi2.

[0375] In some embodiments, the meteorological and / or geographic parameters is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, as the environmental parameters of method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, or a combination thereof.

[0376] Block 1506. Referring to block 1506, in some embodiments, the method further includes delivering a lightning suppression material to a storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0377] In some embodiments, the delivering the lighting suppression material is the same or substantially the same, or includes some or all of, block 408 of method 400 of Figure 4, block 506 of method 500 of Figure 5, block 604 of method 600 of Figure 6, block 804 of method 800 of Figure 8, or a combination thereof.

[0378] In some embodiments, the lightning suppression material is a payload 302 of an aerospace vehicle 300.

[0379] Illustration of Subject Technology as Clauses

[0380] Various examples of aspects of the disclosure are described as numbered clauses (1, 2, 3, etc.) for convenience. These are provided as examples, and do not limit the subject technology.

[0381] Clause 1. A method for identifying at least one storm cell satisfying lightning potential criteria that is forecast to be over a region satisfying disaster potential criteria during a period of time, wherein the lightning potential criteria comprises one or more meteorological parameters and the disaster potential criteria comprises a risk threshold that considers at least (i) one or more meteorological parameters and (ii) one or more geographic parameters.

[0382] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein the method further comprises flying an aerospace vehicle to a location proximate to a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0383] Clause 3. The method of Clause 2, wherein the aerospace vehicle is flown to the location before elapse of the period of time.

[0384] Clause 4. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the aerospace vehicle is airborne during the identifying of the at least one storm cell.

[0385] Clause 5. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the method further comprises disposing some or all of an electric potential suppression payload from the aerospace vehicle at the location.

[0386] Clause 6. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprises a hydrodynamic parameter forecast for some or all of the region during the period of time.

[0387] Clause 7. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the threshold electric field condition comprises a presence or forecast for an electric field of between 50 kilovolts per meter (kV / m) and 350 kV / m in the storm cell.

[0388] Clause 8. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the lightning potential criteria comprises a criterion that is satisfied when the storm cell comprises a cloud classification of cumulonimbus and / or pyrocumulus.

[0389] Clause 9. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a mass flow rate and / or a volumetric flow rate of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

[0390] Clause 10. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise cross-sectional area of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

[0391] Clause 11. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted distance between a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell and a second storm cell, different from the first storm cell, in the at least one storm cell.

[0392] Clause 12. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted altitude one of the storm cell.

[0393] Clause 13. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted velocity of the updraft and / or the inflow of the storm cell.

[0394] Clause 14. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a convective available potential energy of an updraft and / or an inflow of the storm cell.

[0395] Clause 15. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a shape of a cloud corresponding to the storm cell, a color of the corresponding cloud, a density of the corresponding cloud, an optical parameter of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0396] Clause 16. The method of Clause 15, wherein the shape of the corresponding cloud comprises a curvature associated with a portion of the corresponding cloud, a uniformity associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, a normalization associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

[0397] Clause 17. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more environmental parameters comprise one or more landscape parameters associated with some or all of the region.

[0398] Clause 18. The method of Clause 17, wherein the one or more landscape parameters comprises one or more fuel parameters and / or one or more topographic parameters.

[0399] Clause 19. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a ground temperature for the region, an atmospheric temperature for the region, a relative humidity for the region, an absolute humidity for the region, or a combination thereof.

[0400] Clause 20. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a predicted number of lightning strikes per square mile associated with the region during the period of time.

[0401] Clause 21. The method of Clause 20, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprises an estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the pay load.

[0402] Clause 22. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes.

[0403] Clause 23. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0404] Clause 24. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a first sensor coupled to an aerospace vehicle.

[0405] Clause 25. The method of Clause 24, wherein the first sensor is a radar sensor or an electric field sensor.

[0406] Clause 26. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a second sensor disposed at or substantially at ground level.

[0407] Clause 27. The method of Clause 26, wherein the second sensor comprises a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, a velocity sensor, a precipitation sensor, or a combination thereof.

[0408] Clause 28. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein an area of the region is between 10 square miles (mi2) and 50 mi2, between 500 mi2 and 1,500 mi2, or between 10,000 mi2 and 100,000 mi2.

[0409] Clause 29. A method for selecting an aerospace vehicle, the method comprising: A) evaluating a plurality of aerospace vehicles associated with a region, wherein when a respective aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies a first threshold condition in a plurality of threshold conditions, selecting the respective aerospace vehicle for inclusion in a subset of aerospace vehicles in the plurality of aerospace vehicles, and when no aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies the first threshold condition, repeating the evaluating A) using a second threshold condition in the plurality of threshold conditions until the subset of aerospace vehicles comprises at least one aerospace vehicle; and B) deploying a first aerospace vehicle, in the subset of the plurality of aerospace vehicles, to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with the region.

[0410] Clause 30. The method of Clause 29, wherein the plurality of aerospace vehicles comprises between 2 and 10,000 aerospace vehicles.

[0411] Clause 31. The method of either of Clause 29 or 30, wherein a first condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a first distance between a current location of the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0412] Clause 32. The method of any one of Clauses 29-31, wherein a second condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a second distance between a base associated with the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

[0413] Clause 33. The method of any one of Clauses 29-32, wherein a third condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a minimum distance between the first storm cell and the aerospace vehicle.

[0414] Clause 34. The method of any one of Clauses 29-33, wherein a fourth condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a failure to predict one or more lightning strikes associated with the region during a period of time.

[0415] Clause 35. The method of Clause 34, wherein the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

[0416] Clause 36. The method of any one of Clauses 29-33, wherein the repeating the evaluating occurs for a plurality of instances comprises between 2 and 100 instances before ceasing to perform the deploying B).

[0417] Clause 37. A method for deploying multiple payloads, the method comprising: A) deploying a first aerospace vehicle to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with a region; B) disposing, during a first period of time, a first payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near the first location; C) determining, at the first aerospace vehicle, a plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first storm cell, thereby identifying a change in the first storm cell; and D) disposing, during a second period of time after the first period of time, a second payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near to a second location proximate to the first storm cell and different from the first location, wherein the second payload is selected based at least in part on the change in the first storm cell.

[0418] Clause 38. The method of Clause 37, wherein the first location is within an interior of a cumulonimbus cloud.

[0419] Clause 39. The method of either of Clause 37 or 38, wherein the plurality of environmental parameters comprises radar data obtained using a first sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

[0420] Clause 40. The method of Clause 39, wherein the radar data comprises one or more radar signals reflected from some or all of the first payload and received by the sensor.

[0421] Clause 41. The method of any one of Clauses 37-40, wherein the plurality of environmental parameters comprises electric field data obtained using a second sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

[0422] Clause 42. The method of any one of Clauses 37-41, wherein the change comprises a difference between an electric field of the first storm cell prior to the disposing B) and after the disposing B).

[0423] Clause 43. The method of any one of Clauses 37-41, wherein the change comprises a difference between an electric field of a second storm cell different from the first storm cell prior to the disposing B) and after the disposing B).

[0424] Clause 44. A method for targeting a cloud, the method comprising A) predicting a source of a lightning strike; and B) communicating, via a communication network, one or more instructions for operating an aerospace vehicle to dispose a payload at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0425] Clause 45. The method of Clause 44, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a cumulonimbus cloud and / or pyrocumulus cloud.

[0426] Clause 46. The method of Clause 45, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a storm cell of the cumulonimbus cloud.

[0427] Clause 47. The method of any one of Clauses 44-46, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a boundary region of the cloud.

[0428] Clause 48. The method of any one of Clauses 44-47, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a voltage gradient associated with an altitude.

[0429] Clause 49 . The method of any one of Clauses 44-48, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises an electric field associated with the altitude.

[0430] Clause 50. The method of any one of Clauses 44-49, wherein the lightning strike comprises a cloud-to-ground lightning strike, an intra-cloud lightning strike, an inter-cloud lightning strike, or a combination thereof.

[0431] Clause 51. The method of any one of Clauses 44-50, wherein the predicting comprises selecting the source of the lightning strike from a plurality of potential sources of a lightning strike.

[0432] Clause 52. The method of any one of Clauses 44-51, wherein the predicting comprises using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) and / or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to predict the source of the lightning strike.

[0433] Clause 53. The method of Clause 52, wherein the communicating comprises using a first communication module associated with the UAS to communicate, via the communication network, the one or more instructions to a second communication module associated with the aerospace vehicle.

[0434] Clause 54. The method according to either of Clause 52 or 53, wherein the UAS comprises the aerospace vehicle.

[0435] Clause 55. The method of any one of Clauses 44-54, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aircraft, a flapping wing aircraft, a single-rotor aircraft, a multi-rotor aircraft, a cycloaircraft, a hybrid aircraft, a projectile, or a combination thereof.

[0436] Clause 56. The method of any one of Clauses 44-55, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

[0437] Clause 57. The method of any one of Clauses 44-56, wherein the payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0438] Clause 58. The method of any one of Clauses 44-57, wherein the payload is configured to create an electron path.

[0439] Clause 59. The method any one of Clauses 44-58, wherein the payload comprises a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

[0440] Clause 60. The method of Clause 59, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

[0441] Clause 61. The method of Clause 60, wherein the glass material comprises a glass-fiber material.

[0442] Clause 62. The method of Clause 60 or 61, wherein the glass material comprises between 50 weight percent (w%) and 70 w% glass-fiber material and between 30 w% and 50 w% aluminum or an alloy thereof.

[0443] Clause 63. The method of any one of Clauses 44-62, wherein the payload comprises chaff.

[0444] Clause 64. The method of any one of Clauses 44-63, wherein a length of the payload is between 0.2 inches and 1.1 inches.

[0445] Clause 65. The method of any one of Clauses 44-64, wherein a diameter of the payload is between 20 microns (pm) and 30 pm.

[0446] Clause 66. The method of any one of Clauses 44-65, wherein the payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

[0447] Clause 67. The method of any one of Clauses 44-66, wherein the location associated with the source of the lightning strike is at an elevation greater than 50 meters with respect to a ground elevation.

[0448] Clause 68. The method of any one of Clauses 44-67, wherein the one or more instructions comprises a flight path for traversing from an initial location associated with the aerospace vehicle to the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0449] Clause 69. The method of any one of Clauses 44-68, wherein the one or more instructions comprises one or more coordinates associated with the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0450] Clause 70. The method of Clause 69, wherein the one or more coordinates comprises a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate, an elevation coordinate, or a combination thereof.

[0451] Clause 71. The method according to either of Clause 69 or 70, wherein the one or more coordinates comprises a time coordinate.

[0452] Clause 72. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method of any preceding Clause.

[0453] Clause 73. A computer system comprising one or more processors; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising one or more instructions for performing the method of any preceding Clause.

[0454] Clause 74. An aerospace vehicle comprising a payload attachment configured to deploy a lightning suppression payload during flight.

[0455] Clause 75. The aerospace vehicle of Clause 74, wherein the aerospace vehicle further comprises one or more processors, a communication module configured to receive and / or transmit a data element via a communication network, and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for operation of the aerospace vehicle and deployment of the lightning suppression payload.

[0456] Clause 76. The aerospace vehicle according to either of Clause 74 or 75, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aerospace vehicle, a flapping wing aerospace vehicle, a singlerotor aerospace vehicle, a multi-rotor aerospace vehicle, a cyclo-aerospace vehicle, a hybrid aerospace vehicle, or a combination thereof.

[0457] Clause 77. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-76, wherein the aerospace vehicle comprises a balloon.

[0458] Clause 78. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-77, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

[0459] Clause 79. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-78, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with a source of a lightning strike.

[0460] Clause 80. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-79, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to create an electron path.

[0461] Clause 81. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-80, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to retard or arrest heat generated at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

[0462] Clause 82. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-81, wherein the lightning suppression pay load comprises a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

[0463] Clause 83. The aerospace vehicle of Clause 82, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

[0464] Clause 84. The aerospace vehicle of Clause 83, wherein the glass material comprises a glass-fiber material.

[0465] Clause 85. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 82-84, wherein the metal material comprises aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

[0466] Clause 86. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-85, wherein the lightning suppression payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

[0467] Clause 87. The aerospace vehicle of any one of Clauses 74-86, wherein the aerospace vehicle comprises one or more central processing units, one or more graphics processing units, one or more tensor processing units, one or more neural processing units, or a combination thereof.

[0468] Clause 88. A method for dissipating stored energy within a cloud, the method comprising A) using an aerospace vehicle to traverse a lightning suppression payload to a first location proximate to the cloud; and B) disposing of the lightning suppression payload at a portion of the cloud, thereby reducing an electric field between a first volume of a first charge associated with the cloud and a second volume of a second charge associated with the cloud and inducing a transfer of charge from the first volume to the second volume with the cloud, wherein the first charge and the second charge are inversely electrically charged.

[0469] Clause 89. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method of Clause 88.

[0470] Clause 90. A computer system comprising one or more processors; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising one or more instructions for performing the method of Clause 88.

[0471] Clause 91. A method comprising delivering a first mass of lightning suppression material to a storm cell; measuring an electric field potential in the storm cell after the delivering the first mass; and when the electric field satisfies a threshold electric field potential, delivering a second mass of lightning suppression material to the storm cell.

[0472] Clause 92. The method of Clause 1 , the method further comprising delivering a lightning suppression material to a storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

[0473] Clause 93. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the disaster potential criteria comprises a wildfire, a damage to a structure, a lightning strike in a populated area, a cessation in a utility transmission, an interruption in a transportation network, a delay in the transportation network, a damage to the transportation network, a decrease in a population density, a formation of a landslide, or a combination thereof.

[0474] Clause 94. The method of any preceding Clause, wherein the one or more geographic parameters comprises an environmental parameter and / or a locational parameter.

[0475] Example 1: Systems, Methods, and Aerospace Vehicle(s) for Evaluating and / or Implementing Lightning Control

[0476] One or more systems 100, one or more aerospace vehicle(s) 300 (e.g., two more aerospace vehicles 300) were utilized to perform a method of the present disclosure (e.g., method 400 of Figure 4, method 500 of Figure 5, method 600 of Figure 6, method 700 of Figure 7, method 800 of Figure 8, method 1500 of Figure 15, or a combination thereof).

[0477] Example 2: Systems, Methods, and Aerospace Vehicle(s) for Evaluating Lightning Control

[0478] Referring to Figure 9, systems, methods, and aerospace vehicle(s) of the present disclosure were utilized for evaluating lightning control.

[0479] Example 3: Systems, Methods, and Aerospace Vehicle(s) for Dissipating Lightning

[0480] Figure 11 illustrates a chart depicting dissipation of stored energy within a storm cell 1010 and / or a corresponding cloud 302 of the storm cell 1010. In some implementations, for each storm cell 1010 and / or cloud 302 in a plurality of storm cells 1010 and / r clouds 302 with active lightning, the systems and methods of the present disclosure reduced lightning strikes at an amount between 61% to 100% in comparison to one or more control storm cells 1010. In some implementations, the one or more control cells 1010 were storm cells 1010 in the same atmospheric environment that were not targeted with a payload 306 for disposal. In Figure 11, control storm cells 1010 produced increased lightning strikes at an amount between 29 to 1,300% in a period of time for 4 of 5 implementations of the systems and methods of the present disclosure. In one case, we reduced lightning by 80% while the control cell reduced by 56%.

[0481] In some implementations, the amount of lightning strikes was determined based on data obtained from a lightning detection network within a region that included one or more storm cells, in which a targeted storm cell 1010 was compared to adjacent untreated storm cells in the same atmospheric environment. In some embodiments, such as Flight 5 of Figure 11, two or more storm cells 1010 merged during a period of time of 30 minutes.

[0482] Figure 12 illustrates a chart depicting a radar plat of a region including a flight path of an aerospace vehicle to a location proximate to one or more storm cells, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0483] Figure 13 illustrates a chart depicting a radar plot of a region including a plurality of storm cells and a plurality of lightning suppression payload deployments at the region using one or more aerospace vehicle, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0484] Figure 14A illustrates a chart of lightning strikes in the vicinity of the region of Figure 13.

[0485] Figure 14B illustrates a chart of a period of time between deployment of the plurality of lightning suppression payload at the region of Figure 13.

[0486] Example 4: Delivering Lightning Suppression Material and Measurements Therefrom

[0487] Systems and methods of the present disclosure delivered a first mass of lightning suppression material (e.g., first payload) to a storm cell 1010.

[0488] Systems and methods of the present disclosure measured an electric field potential in the storm cell 1010 after the delivering the first mass.

[0489] In some implementations, when the electric field satisfied a threshold electric field potential, a second mass of lightning suppression material was delivered to the storm cell.

[0490] In some implementations, the second mass was delivered by the same aerospace vehicle 300 that delivered the first mass.

[0491] In some implementations, the second mass was delivered by a different aerospace vehicle 300 than that of the first mass.

[0492] In some implementations, the second mass and the first mass were delivered by the same aerospace vehicle 300 during a single flight operation of the aerospace vehicle.REFERENCES CITED AND ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0493] All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and for all purposes to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

[0494] The present invention can be implemented as a computer program product that includes a computer program mechanism embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. For instance, the computer program product could contain instructions for operating the user interfaces disclosed herein and described with respect to the Figures. These program modules can be stored on a CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk storage product, USB key, or any other non-transitory computer readable data or program storage product.

[0495] Many modifications and variations of this invention can be made without departing from its spirit and scope, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The specific embodiments described herein are offered by way of example only. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. The invention is to be limited only by the terms of the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method for identifying a target for active lightning control, the method comprising identifying at least one storm cell satisfying lightning potential criteria that is forecast to be over a region satisfying disaster potential criteria during a period of time, wherein the lightning potential criteria comprises one or more meteorological parameters and the disaster potential criteria comprises a risk threshold that considers at least (i) one or more meteorological parameters and (ii) one or more geographic parameters.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising delivering a lightning suppression material to a storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises flying an aerospace vehicle to a location proximate to a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell.

4. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the aerospace vehicle is flown to the location before elapse of the period of time.

5. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the disaster potential criteria comprises a wildfire, a damage to a structure, aa lightning strike in a populated area, a cessation in a utility transmission, an interruption in a transportation network, a delay in the transportation network, a damage to the transportation network, a decrease in a population density, a formation of a landslide, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more geographic parameters comprises an environmental parameter and / or a locational parameter.

7. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the aerospace vehicle is airborne during the identifying of the at least one storm cell.

8. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the method further comprises disposing some or all of an electric potential suppression payload from the aerospace vehicle at the location.

9. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprises a hydrodynamic parameter forecast for some or all of the region during the period of time.

10. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the threshold electric field condition comprises a presence or forecast for an electric field of between 50 kilovolts per meter (kV / m) and 350 kV / m in the storm cell.

11. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the lightning potential criteria comprises a criterion that is satisfied when the storm cell comprises a cloud classification of cumulonimbus and / or pyrocumulus.

12. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a mass flow rate and / or a volumetric flow rate of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

13. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise cross-sectional area of an updraft and / or an inflow present in and / or predicted for the storm cell.

14. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted distance between a first storm cell in the at least one storm cell and a second storm cell, different from the first storm cell, in the at least one storm cell.

15. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted altitude one of the storm cell.

16. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a present and / or predicted velocity of the updraft and / or the inflow of the storm cell.

17. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a convective available potential energy of an updraft and / or an inflow of the storm cell.

18. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a shape of a cloud corresponding to the storm cell, a color of the corresponding cloud,a density of the corresponding cloud, an optical parameter of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the shape of the corresponding cloud comprises a curvature associated with a portion of the corresponding cloud, a uniformity associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, a normalization associated with the portion of the corresponding cloud, or a combination thereof.

20. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more environmental parameters comprise one or more landscape parameters associated with some or all of the region.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the one or more landscape parameters comprises one or more fuel parameters and / or one or more topographic parameters.

22. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a ground temperature for the region, an atmospheric temperature for the region, a relative humidity for the region, an absolute humidity for the region, or a combination thereof.

23. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprise a predicted number of lightning strikes per square mile associated with the region during the period of time.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the one or more meteorological parameters comprises an estimated number of lightning strikes per square mile after disposing of the some or all of the payload.

25. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the period of time is between 10 minutes and 180 minutes.

26. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

27. The method of any preceding claim, wherein a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a first sensor coupled to an aerospace vehicle.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the first sensor is a radar sensor or an electric field sensor.

29. The method of any preceding claim, wherein a respective meteorological parameter in the one or more meteorological parameters is determined using a second sensor disposed at or substantially at ground level.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the second sensor comprises a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a pressure sensor, a velocity sensor, a precipitation sensor, or a combination thereof.

31. The method of any preceding claim, wherein an area of the region is between 10 square miles (mi2) and 50 mi2, between 500 mi2and 1,500 mi2, or between 10,000 mi2and 100,000 mi2.

32. A method for selecting an aerospace vehicle, the method comprising:A) evaluating a plurality of aerospace vehicles associated with a region, wherein when a respective aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies a first threshold condition in a plurality of threshold conditions, selecting the respective aerospace vehicle for inclusion in a subset of aerospace vehicles in the plurality of aerospace vehicles, and when no aerospace vehicle in the plurality of aerospace vehicles satisfies the first threshold condition, repeating the evaluating A) using a second threshold condition in the plurality of threshold conditions until the subset of aerospace vehicles comprises at least one aerospace vehicle; andB) deploying a first aerospace vehicle, in the subset of the plurality of aerospace vehicles, to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with the region.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the plurality of aerospace vehicles comprises between 2 and 10,000 aerospace vehicles.

34. The method of either of claim 32 or 33, wherein a first condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a first distance between a current location of the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

35. The method of any one of claims 32-34, wherein a second condition in the plurality of threshold conditions defines a second distance between a base associated with the respective aerospace vehicle and the first location.

36. The method of any one of claims 32-35, wherein a third condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a minimum distance between the first storm cell and the aerospace vehicle.

37. The method of any one of claims 32-36, wherein a fourth condition in the plurality of threshold condition defines a failure to predict one or more lightning strikes associated with the region during a period of time.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the period of time is between 1 hour and 24 hours.

39. The method of any one of claims 32-36, wherein the repeating the evaluating occurs for a plurality of instances comprises between 2 and 100 instances before ceasing to perform the deploying B).

40. A method for deploying multiple payloads, the method comprising:A) deploying a first aerospace vehicle to a first location proximate to a first storm cell associated with a region;B) disposing, during a first period of time, a first payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near the first location;C) determining, at the first aerospace vehicle, a plurality of environmental parameters associated with the first storm cell, thereby identifying a change in the first storm cell; andD) disposing, during a second period of time after the first period of time, a second payload of the first aerospace vehicle at or near to a second location proximate to the first storm cell and different from the first location, wherein the second payload is selected based at least in part on the change in the first storm cell.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the first location is within an interior of a cumulonimbus cloud.

42. The method of either of claim 40 or 41, wherein the plurality of environmental parameters comprises radar data obtained using a first sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the radar data comprises one or more radar signals reflected from some or all of the first payload and received by the sensor.

44. The method of any one of claims 40-43, wherein the plurality of environmental parameters comprises electric field data obtained using a second sensor of the first aerospace vehicle.

45. The method of any one of claims 40-44, wherein the change comprises a difference between an electric field of the first storm cell prior to the disposing B) and after the disposing B).

46. The method of any one of claims 40-44, wherein the change comprises a difference between an electric field of a second storm cell different from the first storm cell prior to the disposing B) and after the disposing B).

47. A method for targeting a cloud, the method comprisingA) predicting a source of a lightning strike; andB) communicating, via a communication network, one or more instructions for operating an aerospace vehicle to dispose a payload at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a cumulonimbus cloud and / or pyrocumulus cloud.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a storm cell of the cumulonimbus cloud.

50. The method of any one of claims 47-49, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a boundary region of the cloud.

51. The method of any one of claims 47-50, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises a voltage gradient associated with an altitude.

52. The method of any one of claims 47-51, wherein the source of the lightning strike comprises an electric field associated with the altitude.

53. The method of any one of claims 47-52, wherein the lightning strike comprises a cloud- to-ground lightning strike, an intra-cloud lightning strike, an inter-cloud lightning strike, or a combination thereof.

54. The method of any one of claims 47-53, wherein the predicting comprises selecting the source of the lightning strike from a plurality of potential sources of a lightning strike.

55. The method of any one of claims 47-54, wherein the predicting comprises using an unmanned aerial system (UAS) and / or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to predict the source of the lightning strike.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the communicating comprises using a first communication module associated with the UAS to communicate, via the communication network, the one or more instructions to a second communication module associated with the aerospace vehicle.

57. The method according to either of claim 55 or 56, wherein the UAS comprises the aerospace vehicle.

58. The method of any one of claims 47-57, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aircraft, a flapping wing aircraft, a single-rotor aircraft, a multi-rotor aircraft, a cyclo-aircraft, a hybrid aircraft, a projectile, or a combination thereof.

59. The method of any one of claims 47-58, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

60. The method of any one of claims 47-59, wherein the payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with the source of the lightning strike.

61. The method of any one of claims 47-60, wherein the payload is configured to create an electron path.

62. The method any one of claims 47-61, wherein the payload comprises a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein the glass material comprises a glass-fiber material.

65. The method of claim 63 or 64, wherein the glass material comprises between 50 weight percent (w%) and 70 w% glass-fiber material and between 30 w% and 50 w% aluminum or an alloy thereof.

66. The method of any one of claims 47-65, wherein the payload comprises chaff.

67. The method of any one of claims 47-66, wherein a length of the payload is between 0.2 inches and 1.1 inches.

68. The method of any one of claims 47-67, wherein a diameter of the payload is between 20 microns (pm) and 30 pm.

69. The method of any one of claims 47-68, wherein the payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

70. The method of any one of claims 47-69, wherein the location associated with the source of the lightning strike is at an elevation greater than 50 meters with respect to a ground elevation.

71. The method of any one of claims 47-70, wherein the one or more instructions comprises a flight path for traversing from an initial location associated with the aerospace vehicle to the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

72. The method of any one of claims 47-71, wherein the one or more instructions comprises one or more coordinates associated with the location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein the one or more coordinates comprises a latitude coordinate, a longitude coordinate, an elevation coordinate, or a combination thereof.

74. The method according to either of claim 72 or 73, wherein the one or more coordinates comprises a time coordinate.

75. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method of any preceding claim.

76. A computer system comprising one or more processors; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising one or more instructions for performing the method of any preceding claim.

77. An aerospace vehicle comprising a payload attachment configured to deploy a lightning suppression payload during flight.

78. The aerospace vehicle of claim 77, wherein the aerospace vehicle further comprises one or more processors, a communication module configured to receive and / or transmit a data element via a communication network, and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for operation of the aerospace vehicle and deployment of the lightning suppression payload.

79. The aerospace vehicle according to either of claim 77 or 78, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a fixed-wing aerospace vehicle, a flapping wing aerospace vehicle, a single-rotor aerospace vehicle, a multi-rotor aerospace vehicle, a cyclo-aerospace vehicle, a hybrid aerospace vehicle, or a combination thereof.

80. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-79, wherein the aerospace vehicle comprises a balloon.

81. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-80, wherein the aerospace vehicle is a manned aircraft or an unmanned aircraft.

82. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-81, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to reduce an electric field associated with a source of a lightning strike.

83. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-82, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to create an electron path.

84. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-83, wherein the lightning suppression payload is configured to retard or arrest heat generated at a location associated with the source of the lightning strike.

85. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-84, wherein the lightning suppression payload comprises a plurality of ions and / or a conductive material.

86. The aerospace vehicle of claim 85, wherein the conductive material comprises a metal material, a plastic material, a glass material, or a combination thereof.

87. The aerospace vehicle of claim 86, wherein the glass material comprises a glass-fiber material.

88. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 85-87, wherein the metal material comprises aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

89. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-88, wherein the lightning suppression payload comprises a self-guided payload, an externally guided payload, or an unguided payload.

90. The aerospace vehicle of any one of claims 77-89, wherein the aerospace vehicle comprises one or more central processing units, one or more graphics processing units, one or more tensor processing units, one or more neural processing units, or a combination thereof.

91. A method for dissipating stored energy within a cloud, the method comprisingA) using an aerospace vehicle to traverse a lightning suppression payload to a first location proximate to the cloud; andB) disposing of the lightning suppression payload at a portion of the cloud, thereby reducing an electric field between a first volume of a first charge associated with the cloud and a second volume of a second charge associated with the cloud and inducing a transfer of charge from the first volume to the second volume with the cloud, wherein the first charge and the second charge are inversely electrically charged.

92. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform the method of claim 91.

93. A computer system comprising one or more processors; and memory coupled to the one or more processors, the memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising one or more instructions for performing the method of claim 91.

94. A method comprising delivering a first mass of lightning suppression material to a storm cell measuring an electric field potential in the storm cell after the delivering the first mass, when the electric field satisfies a threshold electric field potential, delivering a second mass of lightning suppression material to the storm cell.