How is lightning detected?

Strikes come from the Vaisala global lightning detection network, delivered through Xweather. Lumen Sites looks for strikes within 100 km of each site and compares their distance with your stop and warning distances.

Does it replace our lightning detector or TARP?

No. Lumen Sites is decision support. Use it alongside your site’s procedures, any on-site detection and your supervisors’ judgement.

Can we set our own limits?

Yes. Every site has its own lightning stop and warning distances, WBGT caution and stop levels, gust limits and rain thresholds.

Anywhere you can give a latitude and longitude. It is built for remote Australian sites, from the Pilbara and Goldfields to the Bowen Basin, and the forecast and lightning data are global.

How many sites can we add?

Up to 5 sites per subscription, each with its own forecast, limits and lightning check. For more sites, email support@engsitetools.com.

How much does it cost?

A$999 a month for up to 5 sites, billed monthly in Australian dollars. Cancel any time.

Lumen Sites

Weather decisions for remote sites.

Lightning alerts, heat stress, wind and rain monitoring for mine and construction sites across Australia, checked hour by hour against your own limits, with live lightning from the Vaisala detection network.

Lightning stand-downs

Strikes inside your warning and stop distances, with a 30-minute all-clear countdown.

Heat stress

Estimated WBGT for the next 48 hours against your caution and stop levels.

Cranes and work at height

Gust forecasts against the wind limits you set for each site.

Haul roads

Rainfall over the next 24 hours against your road-closure thresholds.

Blasting conditions

Temperature inversions with light wind that can trap fumes and dust.

Storm outlook

Thunderstorm risk from the latest forecast models, hour by hour.

Built for remote sites

Lumen Sites is for crews working outdoors far from town, where a storm, a hot afternoon or a gusty change decides whether work goes ahead.

Mine sites: open-cut pits, processing plants, camps and haul roads in the Pilbara, Goldfields, Bowen Basin and beyond.
Construction and civil works: cranes, work at height, concrete pours and earthworks.
Wind and solar farm construction: large, exposed sites where lightning and gusts stop work.
Exploration and drilling camps: small crews without an on-site weather station.
Contractors: drill and blast, haulage and shutdown crews moving between client sites.

How lightning stand-downs work

Each site has two distances you set to match your trigger action response plan (TARP): a stop distance, 10 km by default, and a warning distance, 30 km by default. Lumen Sites checks the Vaisala global lightning detection network, delivered by Xweather, for strikes within 100 km of every site, every 5 minutes while storms are forecast or strikes are nearby.

A strike inside the stop distance turns the site to Stop, and one inside the warning distance to Caution. The status holds until 30 minutes after the last strike inside that ring, with the all-clear time shown. A map shows each site with its rings and the latest strikes, and the dashboard refreshes every minute.

Heat stress forecasts (WBGT)

Lumen Sites estimates the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) for every hour of the next 48 hours from forecast temperature and humidity, using the Bureau of Meteorology’s simplified method. Set caution and stop levels for each site, 28 °C and 32 °C by default, to plan work-rest cycles, hydration breaks and early starts. A forecast WBGT is a planning tool and does not replace measurement on site.

Wind, rain and blasting

Hourly gust forecasts are compared with your crane and work-at-height limits, 38 and 50 km/h by default. Rainfall over the next 24 hours is checked against your haul-road thresholds. For blasting, Lumen Sites flags temperature inversions, where the air 120 m above the ground is at least 1 °C warmer than at the surface, combined with light wind: conditions that can hold fumes and dust close to the ground.

More on gust forecasts for cranes and work at height

Lumen Sites

A$999/month

Up to 5 sites
Live lightning distance, stop and warning rings, 30-minute all-clear
Heat stress, wind gusts, haul-road rain, blasting conditions and storm outlook
Your own limits for every site

More than 5 sites? Email us.

Questions

How is lightning detected?: Strikes come from the Vaisala global lightning detection network, delivered through Xweather. Lumen Sites looks for strikes within 100 km of each site and compares their distance with your stop and warning distances.
Does it replace our lightning detector or TARP?: No. Lumen Sites is decision support. Use it alongside your site’s procedures, any on-site detection and your supervisors’ judgement.
Can we set our own limits?: Yes. Every site has its own lightning stop and warning distances, WBGT caution and stop levels, gust limits and rain thresholds.
Where does it work?: Anywhere you can give a latitude and longitude. It is built for remote Australian sites, from the Pilbara and Goldfields to the Bowen Basin, and the forecast and lightning data are global.
How many sites can we add?: Up to 5 sites per subscription, each with its own forecast, limits and lightning check. For more sites, email support@engsitetools.com.
How much does it cost?: A$999 a month for up to 5 sites, billed monthly in Australian dollars. Cancel any time.

Prices in Australian dollars, billed monthly, cancel any time. Lumen Sites is decision support: forecasts and estimates can be wrong, and it does not replace your site’s procedures, response plans or on-site monitoring. Lightning data by Xweather (Vaisala). Forecast data by Open-Meteo.com.