Mobipax, LLC

12/31/2025

According to NOAA, Thundersnow
“Thundersnow” is a rare weather phenomenon in which thunder and lightning are accompanied predominantly by snow rather than rain. Thundersnow occurs where there is relatively strong instability and abundant moisture above the surface of the Earth, such as above a warm front. The ingredients that create thundersnow are similar to the dynamics of a typical thunderstorm -- moisture, instability, and a lifting mechanism.

The good news is that the Mobipax LLC Lightning Detection and Reporting System monitors its surrounding area to detect lightning any time of the year. The system immediately warns people in outdoor venues via lights and sirens, then reports to mobile apps and BACnet/SCADA enabled smart-city municipal IT systems, and verifies the detected lightning with NOAA GOES and EUMETSAT satellite data to enhance accuracy and reliability.

From thundersnow to upwards striking lightning, weather on Planet Earth can get pretty weird and NOAA’s fleet of satellites has…

09/30/2025

Lightning Detection meets AI

After a Lightning Detector detects and verifies a nearby lightning strike, sounds alarms and flashes lights, what happens next?

This is where AI comes in. In an environment having interconnected IoT systems via AI, the level of service and performance could be higher than each IoT system can provide alone.

Using AI, depending on many factors like: time of day, type of outdoor venue, lightning strike distance and rate of strikes, the number of people estimated to be at the venue, etc, an integrated AI system could cause many things to happen.

For example, emergency services could be alerted to be ready for possible injuries from people quickly exiting a venue while seeking shelter, or actual lightning-strike related injuries; Traffic flow could be adjusted (traffic light timings could be temporarily altered) to allow for people exiting a venue; transportation (busses, taxicabs, shuttles) could be positioned as needed; nearby businesses could be alerted that people might be seeking inside shelter at their restaurants or stores; Announcements could be broadcast directing people toward shelter, News broadcasts could be made to warn people away from the area of danger.

Smart Cities with integrated AI would create a new paradigm for safety.

Schneider Electric Siemens Smart PLC Siemens Honeywell Honeywell Home National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Australian Space Agency EUMETSAT
Smart Cities & Smart Urban Development Smart Cities

07/26/2025

DID THEY KNOW? I often wonder how many people who have been struck by lightning knew lightning was in their area?

Conceivably, some number of people could have heard thunder rumbling or could have seen flashes of lightning, while the others might have been totally unaware of existing lightning danger.

For Mobipax LLC, makers of Lightning Detection and alerting systems, the percentages are important. If, for example, 100% of the people struck by lightning knew of the imminent danger, would alerts from a Lightning Detection system make a difference? If 0% knew of imminent lightning danger, could sirens and flashing lights make a huge difference?

I have been unable to find any data to answer this question, so I will have to believe that, if timely Mobipax LLC Lightning Detector alerts save even a single life, whether because of the bright flashing colored lights or because the siren annoys the heck out of someone, I will be happy.

If you are a Lightning Strike Survivor, or if you have personal experience with a nearby strike, I’m interested to hear about it. Let me know what you think.

05/17/2025

April 7, 2025:
Today, having early access to the pre-operational GOES-19 data, I was digitally watching a thunderstorm around Tallahassee FL USA, comparing the GOES-16, GOES-18, GOES-19, AEM (via WeatherBug) and Vaisala XWeather (via API) lightning data. About 4:30PM east coast time the GOES-16 data suddenly stopped being logged. I knew it was being parked and replaced by GOES-19, but I still felt a little sad when it happened. Welcome GOES-19!

NOAA's GOES-19 and GOES-18 are the east and west satellites that provide lightning data that allow the Mobipax LLC Lightning Detection System detectors' to quickly verify their own self detected data, helping to increases accuracy and mitigate false alarms. This makes the Mobipax LLC Lightning Detection system the best way to get lightning alerts directly to people in outdoor venues.

We added the EUMETSAT system as augmentation in Europe and are working towards adding data from the Japan Meteorological satellite system, to cover that part of the world too.

Vaisala Xweather National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth Networks Siemens Schneider Electric JAXA(宇宙航空研究開発機構) Starlink SpaceX.Official ISRO - Indian Space Research Organisation EUMETSAT

02/03/2025

I was thrilled to give NOAA officials and data experts a demonstration of the Mobipax LLC Lightning Detection System. The unit displaying an alarm in this picture is entirely driven by NOAA GOES GLM Lightning data, indicating a storm near Dallas Texas.

Our lightning detection system uses big-data weather sources, like NOAA GOES satellite, EUMETSAT satellite, and Vaisala Xweather, to provide accurate weather that augments locally detected lightning. That augmentation provides the ultimate in accuracy, false alarm mitigation, and safety redundancy, directly to the folks in outdoor venues who need it most.

01/21/2025

Cool photo of detector in action!

Mobipax, LLC detectors announce lightning in the area by blinking ALL lights, then they resolve and indicate approximate distance from the lightning. These detectors:
* Sense lightning strikes at the speed of light and quickly report the events to nearby folks via lights and sirens.

* Report the events to Mobipax LLC Mobile Apps (Android, iPhone, and Chromebook), and report to Municipal BACnet IT Systems using ODIN Building Automation Systems remote BACnet infrastructure.

* Query the strikes' data from one of: NOAA GOES satellites, EUMETSAT Satellites, or Vaisala Xweather Weather data, to get and display updated strike location information.

Siemens Schneider Electric Vaisala Xweather Earth Networks NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory EUMETSAT EUMETSAT Johnson Controls NOAA Satellite and Information Service Smart Cities & Smart Urban Development Smart Cities NASA's Johnson Space Center GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - R Series)

01/14/2025

. Mobipax LLC Is Taking Europe By Storm!
Well, I mean we can now bring European folks EUMETSAT Satellite storm lightning data directly to our Mobipax LLC lightning detectors at outdoor venues, to quickly and accurately warn of existing lightning!

How it works: Our on-site Lightning Detectors immediately sense lightning and, using our built in sirens and lights, quickly warn people to the presence of lightning danger in the area. Then, our Real Time Update system queries the EUMETSAT Geostationary Lightning Imager’ data to verify the approximate distance to the lightning strike. The EUMETSAT satellites detect lightning from northern-most EU all the way down to South Africa, which gives amazing coverage well beyond land-based lightning systems.

Combining Big-Data weather with our on-site instant reporting, gives these Mobipax MP Lightning Detectors unparalleled accuracy, safety and distance-redundancy.

This is BIG! Many folks might think of the EUMETSAT satellites as being something far-away, up-there, that do not help people directly in day-to-day living. But, by quickly bringing the EUMETSAT satellite lightning data to neighborhood on-site Mobipax Lighting Detectors, the important lightning information produced by the EUMETSAT Lightning Imager’s 4 cameras is delivered directly to our Lightning Detectors protecting neighborhood school yards, playgrounds, sportfields, golf courses, water areas, parking lots, and other outdoor venues.

Mobipax MP Lightning Detectors are rugged safety devices designed for personal, corporate, municipal, and smart-city environments where people gather outside.

With our communications package, the Mobipax LLC system is 'SMART-CITY ready' with industry standard BACnet protocol to allow municipal and corporate IT teams control of the devices. The MP Lightning Detectors have been verified to work smoothly and integrate with ODIN Building Automation Systems, a remote access BACnet IT system, allowing any IT department control of all their BACnet devices including these MP Lightning Detectors. Our solar version gives people in remote areas access to important lightning safety.

Early detection can save lives by allowing people to seek shelter as early as possible. This detector should be part of any and all lightning awareness programs to provide an additional means to identify danger, especially when lightning cannot be seen or thunder heard.

TODO:
Add SpaceX Starlink communications to our Cellular and WiFi communication options.
Add Satellite data from the Japan/Asia and Australia areas to provide the same amazing reliability, redundancy, and accuracy of the NOAA and EUMETSAT covered areas.

Ken Kelly CTO
Mobipax LLC

Schneider Electric Electric Alliance Partner Program Electric Industrial Automation Infrastructure Johnson Controls EUMETSAT NOAA Satellite and Information Service Vaisala Xweather Earth Networks International Cooperation Agency (JICA) SpaceX FrontPage Starlink

08/23/2024

The quicker, the better... With input from its local, built-in, lightning sensor and Real Time Updating from the NASA/NOAA GOES-16/18 Global Lightning Mappers data, the Mobipax Lightning Detector is indicating approximately 8 miles to the nearest strike. Weatherbug, used here just as an example, which is sensing about 1/2 mile away from the lightning detector, shows 7.4 Miles. While this great distance accuracy is important, the timeliness of the alert is important too. Our sensors detect local lightning at the speed of light, and within seconds, alert local users to the danger via sirens and lights. This quick response can occur minutes before some of the many online weather applications calculate and display new lightning strikes. Siemens, Schneider Electric, Johnson Controls, Smart PLC Siemens and other Smart City infrastructure providers could outfit municipalities with on-site, BACnet IT controllable via ConnectWithODIN, Mobipax Lightning Detectors, to enhance safety in outdoor venues. Smart Cities, Smart Cities Council - ANZ, Smart City ODIN Building Automation Systems

06/25/2024

The new GOES-U (GOES-19) satellite launch is great news for us at Mobipax, LLC Our Lightning Detectors use the current lightning data from GOES satellite Lightning Mappers to make our local on-site detectors more accurate and reliable, quickly alerting people at parks, playgrounds, golf courses, and water areas, to existing lightning danger. We will add support for this new GOES satellite when it is online.

05/02/2024

Bringing Satellite GOES-18 and GOES-19
Lightning Data To Your Neighborhood!

Mobipax has started testing the addition of NASA/NOAA satellites GOES-16 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mappers’ data to Mobipax’s selection of Real-Time-Update data providers. Real-Time-Update (RTU) is a feature that uses weather data from some of the world’s top lightning data providers to augment the local built-in lightning sensor.

How it works: Our on-site Mobipax Lightning Detectors quickly sense lightning and, using our built in sirens and lights, quickly warn people to the presence of lightning danger in the area. Then, our system queries the NASA/NOAA GOES-16 and GOES-18 Geostationary Lightning Mappers’ data to verify the approximate distance to the lightning strike.

Combining Big-Data weather with our on-site instant reporting, gives these Mobipax MP Lightning Detectors unparalleled accuracy, safety and distance-redundancy.

This is BIG! Many folks might think of the GOES satellites as being something far-away, up-there, that do not help people directly in day-to-day living. But, by bringing the GOES satellite data to neighborhood on-site Mobipax Lighting Detectors, the important lightning information produced by each GOES Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), is delivered directly to the Mobipax Lightning Detectors protecting neighborhood school yards, playgrounds, sportfields, golf courses, water areas, parking lots, and other outdoor venues.

Mobipax MP Lightning Detectors are rugged safety devices designed for personal, corporate, municipal, and smart-city environments where people gather outside.

With our communications package, the MP Lightning Detector system is 'SMART-CITY ready' with industry standard BACnet and SCADA protocols to allow municipal and corporate IT teams control of the devices. The MP Lightning Detectors have been verified to work smoothly and integrate with “Connect with ODIN”, a remote access BACnet IT system, allowing any IT department control of all their BACnet devices including these MP Lightning Detectors.

Early detection can save lives by allowing people to seek shelter as early as possible. This detector should be part of any and all lightning awareness programs to provide an additional means to identify danger, especially when lightning cannot be seen or thunder
heard. Users must seek appropriate shelter as defined by https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/lightning/lightning-safety upon any of the earliest indications:
 an alarm indicated by this detector
 or when lightning is seen
 or when thunder is heard.

Siemens Schneider Electric Earth Networks Vaisala Xweather NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

03/07/2024

09/29/2023

To be ready for ubiquitous WiFi, Mobipax LLC has added WiFi communications as an option to the current Verizon cellular communications support, with the same BACNet and SCADA control available to Corporate and Municipal IT departments.

This WiFi support means that Mobipax LLC Lightning Detectors can now leverage existing municipal, corporate or home WiFi networks to reduce the costs of detector monitoring and control. Companies like Siemens, Schneider, and other smart-city infrastructure companies, can incorporate these devices into their existing smart-city sales.

In remote areas, where cellular communications are unavailable, the addition of Satellite→WiFi hotspots, or other WiFi presence, will allow warning people in those remote areas of imminent lightning danger. As an extreme example, remote areas of Bangladesh and nearby Nepal have an amazingly high lightning strike fatality rate, such that their governments are adding Lightning Detection networks in those areas. On-site Loud Sirens and Bright Lights produced by the Mobipax LLC Lightning Detectors could save lives. Combined with our Solar/Battery powered unit options, these tough Mobipax LLC Lightning Detector devices are designed for those tough environments.

These same detectors, whether using WiFi and Cellular communications, or operating as stand-alone devices, can help alert people in corporate parking lots, sports fields, playgrounds, water areas, golf courses, school campuses, and anywhere people gather outside.

[email protected]