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Characterization of Vertical Electric Fields and Associated Voltages Induced on an Overhead Power Line from Close Artificially Initiated Lightning

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6009213

We characterize measurements, obtained during the Summer of 1986 at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, of simultaneous vertical electric fields and voltages induced at both ends of a 448 m overhead power line by artificially-initiated lightning return strokes. The lightning discharges struck ground about 20 m from one end of the line. The measured line voltages could be grouped into two categories: (1) those in which multiple, similarly shaped, evenly spaced pulses were observed, which we call "oscillatory'', and (2) those dominated by a principal pulse with subsidiary oscillations of much smaller amplitude, which we call "impulsive''. Observed voltage amplitudes range from tens of kilovolts for oscillatory voltages to hundreds of kilovolts for impulsive voltages.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Federal Energy Management Program Office
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
6009213
Report Number(s):
CONF-9104163--6; ON: DE91010781
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English