Use of the originpro application for lightning wave spectrum analysis.

The spectrum analyzer measures the input signal magnitude versus the frequency in the full frequency range of the instrument. Its main use is to measure the spectrum strength of both known and unknown signals. The input signal most commonly measured by spectrum analyzers is electricity; however, the spectral composition of other signals, such as acoustic pressure waves and optical light waves, can be considered through the use of suitable transducers. Spectrum analyzers for other signal types also exist, such as optical spectrum analyzers which use direct optical techniques such as a monochromator to take measurements. By analyzing the electric signal spectrum, the dominant frequency, power, distortion, harmonics, bandwidth, and other spectral components of the signal can be observed which are not easily detected in the time domain waveform. This parameter is useful in characterizing electronic devices, such as wireless transmitters. The spectrum analyzer display has the frequency on the horizontal axis and the amplitude displayed on the vertical axis. To the casual observer, a spectrum analyzer looks like an oscilloscope, and some laboratory instruments can function as an oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer. The lightning wave signal that is detected using a digital oscilloscope is processed with the OriginPro application to obtain the lightning wave pattern that occurs, the spectrum analysis itself uses FFT (fast Fourier transform) calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]