Analysis on influence of tall tower on lightning current measurement

Most of the measurements of nature lightning current time-domain waveforms were taken at the tall towers and tall buildings. In order to study the influence of tall towers on lightning current measurement, the transmission line (TL) model of the lightning return stroke was applied to calculate the lightning current at different positions of the tower. This paper also analyzed the factors which influence the results of lightning current measurement on tall towers. Simulation result shows that the current obtained at the top of the tower is most close to the real lightning current, and the amplitude of lightning current is influenced by a few factors, such as the height of the tower, the reflectance of the ground and the rise-time of the lightning current waveform. However, the lightning current waveforms measured at different positions of low towers are almost the same.