Zhang Visits Uganda to Help with Installation of Lightning Protection Systems

Figure 1. LPSs installation at the St. Victor Mulabana Primary School. PHOTO: Daile Zhang
Figure 1. LPSs installation at the St. Victor Mulabana Primary School. PHOTO: Daile Zhang

ESSIC/CISESS scientist, Daile Zhang, who also serves as a Board of Directors of an NGO – African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network (ACLENet) visited Uganda last week. She and the team helped install lightning protection systems (LPSs) at the St. Victor Mulabana Primary School in Kalangala district, an Island on the Lake Victoria. Uganda experiences more than two million lightning strikes per year. The installation will protect 400+ students, teachers, and the nearby community from these lightning strikes.

 

In addition, the team is currently working on paperwork and waiting for LPS materials to be shipped to Uganda for another school – Bumangi Primary School in Kalangala. The installation is scheduled to be in July/August and will protect a couple hundreds of students, teachers, and nearby community.

 

Zhang also met with staff from the Uganda Natural Disaster and Preparedness. She discussed with the staff about the mission of ACLENet, educational programs at the primary schools, and the upcoming International Lightning Safety Day program.

 

Zhang’s work at ESSIC focuses on evaluating and assessing space-based lightning sensors such as the GLM. She is a part of the ESSIC/CISESS Geostationary Lightning Team, which also includes Scott Rudlosky, Guangyang Fang, and Joseph Patton.

Figure 2. Zhang and the team with the teachers and children at the St. Victor Mulabana Primary School
Figure 2. Zhang and the team with the teachers and children at the St. Victor Mulabana Primary School. PHOTO: Daile Zhang