Improved method of calculating lightning stroke rate to large-sized transmission lines based on electric geometry model

The characteristics of the lightning shielding of large-sized transmission lines have been calculated based on an electric geometry model (EGM) proposed by Armstrong and Whitehead. However, the characteristics of lightning strokes to large-sized transmission lines observed in recent years differed from calculation results, hence the present study was conducted to improve the conventional calculation method. First, the relationship between the striking distance and the lightning current was reviewed. Specifically, the air gap discharge characteristics based on test data with complementing the large gap region were applied. In addition, the return stroke velocity distribution obtained by actual measurement was newly applied. Second, the distribution of lightning waveforms was reviewed; the distribution of peak values of lightning current with the distribution of front duration was used in this study. With these improvements, the calculated lightning stroke rate to power lines and ground wires differs less from actual observations than that calculated by the conventional method.