When it comes to lightning risk, the stakes are high – from potential loss of human life and critical infrastructure damage to costly operational downtime. Traditionally, a lightning risk assessment (LRA) is a time-consuming, complex, and manual process. It requires engineers to sift through extensive data, perform intricate calculations, and ensure compliance with ever-evolving global standards like IEC 62305-2. The margin for error is significant, and the process can take days, sometimes even weeks, to complete.
LRA Plus™ is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform from Skytree Scientific that changes everything. It’s designed to streamline lightning risk assessments by using artificial intelligence and real-time data. The platform enables engineers and risk professionals to move beyond outdated models, delivering fast, accurate, and standards-aligned reports that are both actionable and defensible. The result is a dramatically simplified workflow that saves time and reduces the risk of human error, all while ensuring a new level of precision.
Key Features of LRA Plus for Accurate Lightning Risk Analysis
LRA Plus is packed with features designed to take the guesswork out of lightning risk management. Here’s a breakdown of the core functionalities that set it apart.
Algorithm-Driven Risk Evaluation
The heart of LRA Plus is its sophisticated analytical engine powered by advanced algorithms. The platform analyzes historical lightning strike data, flash density maps, and ground strike point density through complex computational models and pattern recognition systems. By processing massive datasets rapidly using these refined algorithmic approaches, the system enables risk assessments that are not only highly precise but also up to 90% faster than traditional manual methods. This speed and accuracy allow for a more dynamic and responsive approach to risk management.
Current Data Integration
The platform accesses the most current lightning strike information available from leading providers at the time each LRA is executed. The system retrieves the latest available data during each assessment run, ensuring that risk evaluations reflect the most up-to-date conditions possible. This approach to current data integration allows for responsive and proactive risk management, giving you the ability to make informed decisions based on the freshest weather information available at the moment of analysis.
Standards Compliance Made Easy
Navigating complex regulations is a key pain point for engineers. LRA Plus automates this process by applying global lightning protection standards – such as IEC 62305-2 – during risk calculation and report generation. This removes the need for manual regulatory research and significantly reduces compliance errors, ensuring your projects meet all necessary requirements.
AI Guidance & Design Support
Embedded within the platform is an AI Assistant that offers real-time guidance. This assistant can clarify complex calculations, advise on compliance issues, and even suggest protective design improvements for high-risk zones, acting as a valuable co-pilot for your projects.
Professional, Multilingual Reporting
Generating professional, comprehensive reports is a critical part of the assessment process. LRA Plus creates these reports automatically in over 55 languages, formatted to be industry-compliant and visually professional. This is a huge benefit for global teams and multilingual stakeholders, ensuring clear communication and a consistent, professional output every time.
Step-by-Step Lightning Risk Calculation Using LRA Plus
Performing a lightning risk assessment with LRA Plus is a streamlined, five-step process.
- Create an account. Then, create a new project by selecting the appropriate standard, entering general details, and defining the project scope and client information.
- Location. Enter the site’s coordinates to pull the flash density from Skytree’s weather partners. This data is critical for accurate risk calculations.
- Structures. Define single or multiple structures and follow the wizard to complete the necessary information. You’ll add the specific risks you want to include, assign loss values, and input other relevant data.
- Apply protection measures. You can manually apply protection measures or use the AI Assistant to find the best combination for your project. The assistant provides data-driven recommendations that optimize protection and cost-effectiveness.
- Generate report. Once all the necessary data is entered and protection measures are in place, the platform will automatically generate a professional, standards-compliant report.
Benefits for Engineers: Streamlined Compliance and Reporting
For engineers, the benefits of adopting a platform like LRA Plus go far beyond simple convenience. The software directly addresses some of the most persistent challenges in the field, allowing for a strategic shift from reactive to proactive risk management.
Reduced Time and Cost: By automating complex calculations and data analysis, LRA Plus drastically cuts down the time required to complete an assessment. This efficiency allows engineers to take on more projects, increase their profitability, and deliver results to clients faster than ever before. It’s a fundamental change from a labor-intensive, time-consuming process to a lean, automated workflow.
Increased Accuracy and Reliability: Human error is an inherent risk in manual calculations. The AI engine in LRA Plus minimizes this risk by performing precise, data-driven analysis every time. With real-time data and automated standards checks, the platform ensures that every report is not only accurate but also fully defensible, building a new level of trust and confidence with clients.
Simplified Compliance: Staying current with international and local standards can be a full-time job. LRA Plus takes this burden off your shoulders by automatically integrating and applying the latest standards, ensuring your work is always compliant. This frees up valuable time for engineers to focus on higher-level problem-solving and client strategy.
Enhanced Collaboration: The platform’s collaborative tools streamline communication and workflows within and across teams. This means less time spent on administrative tasks and more time on meaningful work, improving project outcomes and team efficiency. The ability to share, review, and approve assessments in a centralized hub makes project management seamless.
In short, LRA Plus transforms the lightning risk assessment process from a tedious, high-risk task into an efficient, precise, and strategic advantage. It empowers engineers to deliver superior results, improve client relationships, and focus on what they do best: designing a safer world.
