TDOA measurement for P-Static source location on aircraft

Static charging of an aircraft surface can lead to electromagnetic disturbances on aircraft radio and avionic systems. This phenomenon is called Precipitation Static. Arc discharges are the main causes, and they often occur when there is a bonding defect on the surface of the aircraft. In order to find these bonding defects, in most cases the whole aircraft has to be scanned. This paper presents a novel approach that aims at reducing the time needed for the search of outer bonding issues. The system is composed of an instrumentation to be used inflight, that measures the electromagnetic emissions of P-Static sources using several sensors placed on the surface of the aircraft. Then, given several signals measured from sensors and using a time domain location method based on delay estimation, it is possible to compute the source position. This article is focused on the instrumentation and measurement considerations allowing a proper determination of time delays.