Title :
Calculation of electromagnetic fields in free space when lightning strikes a tall object
Author :
Helin Zhou ; Thottappillil, Rajeev ; Diendorfer, Gerhard
Author_Institution :
Div. of Electromagn. Eng., KTH R. Inst. of Technol., Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract :
We calculate vertical electric field and azimuthal magnetic field at different elevation angles and distances associated with lightning strikes a tall object. Simple and exact expressions for electromagnetic fields are derived when the current reflection coefficient at tall object top is zero and return stroke propagation speed in the lightning channel is equal to the speed of light. Further, we investigate the effects of current reflection coefficient at tall object top being not zero and the propagation speed is less than the speed of light (e.g., one half) on electromagnetic fields. Interestingly, we find that the vertical electric field has its largest peak value either at the smallest elevation angle or at the largest elevation angle. While for the azimuthal magnetic field, we note that its largest peak value is always at the smallest elevation angle or relatively small elevation angles.
Keywords :
electromagnetic fields; lightning; azimuthal magnetic field; current reflection coefficient effects; electromagnetic field exact expression; electromagnetic field simple expression; elevation angles; elevation distances; free space electromagnetic field calculation; largest elevation angle; largest peak value; light speed; lightning channel; relatively small elevation angles; smallest elevation angle; stroke propagation speed; tall object lightning strikes; tall object top current reflection coefficient; vertical electric field calculation; Electric fields; Lightning; Magnetic fields; Poles and towers; Reflection coefficient; electromagnetic fields; free space; lightning; tall object;
Conference_Titel :
Lightning Protection (XII SIPDA), 2013 International Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Belo Horizonte
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4799-1343-5
DOI :
10.1109/SIPDA.2013.6729189