CHARACTERISTICS ANALYSIS OF THE INDUCED OVERCURRENT GENERATED BY CLOSE TRIGGERED LIGHTNING ON THE OVERHEAD TRANSMISSION POWER LINE

Techniques of artificially-triggered lightning have provided a significantly useful means to directly measure various physical parameters of lightning discharge and to conduct research on protection methods of lightning electromagnetic pulses.In this study,using capacitive and resistive dividers,current probes and optical fiber transmission devices,we measured and analyzed the induced overvoltage on the overhead transmission line and the overcurrent through Surge Protective Devices(SPD) when a lightning discharge was artificially triggered nearby on August 12,2008 at Conghua Field Lightning Experiment Site.The triggered lightning discharge contained an initial current stage and eight return strokes whose peak currents ranged from 6.6kA to 26.4kA.We found that overcurrents through SPD were induced on the power line both during the initial continuous current stage and the return stroke processes.During the return strokes,the residual voltage and the current through the SPD lasted up to the ms(millisecond) range,and the overcurrents exhibited a mean waveform up to 22/69μs with a peak value of less than 2kA.Based on the observed data,simple calculations show that the corresponding single discharge energy was much greater than the values of the high voltage pulse generators commonly used in the experiments regulated for SPD.The SPD discharge current peak was not synchronous to that of the residual voltage with the former obviously lagging behind the latter.The SPD discharge current peak was well correlated with the triggered lightning current peak and the wave-front current gradient.The long duration of the SPD current is one of the major reasons why the SPD was damaged even with a big nominal discharge current.

On the Absurdity of " Mobile Phone Triggered Lightning "

That making phone calls had nothing to do with lightning strike was proved from the aspects of radio wave characteristics,receiving and transmitting frequency,power as well as the electromagnetic induction of mobile phones. And through assuming mobile phone could trigger lightning,the probable death toll disproved the absurdity of mobile phone triggered lightning. And we concluded that making phone calls in thundery days would not increase the probability of lightning stroke,and calls could be made in thundery days as long as in the safe position.

Optical and Electrical Observations of an Abnormal Triggered Lightning Event with two Upward Propagations

This study investigates an abnormal artificially triggered lightning event that produced two positive upward propagations： one during the initial stage （i.e., the upward leader （UL）） and the other after a negative downward aborted leader （DAL）. The triggered lightning was induced in a weak thunderstorm over the experiment site and did not produce a return stroke. All of the intra-cloud lightning around the experiment site produced positive changes in the electric field. The initial stage was a weak discharge process. A downward dart leader propagated along the channel produced by the first UL, ending at a height of approximately 453 m and forming a DAL. Under the influence of the DAL, the electric field at a point located 78 m from the rod experienced a steady reduction of about 6.8 kV m-1 over 5.24 ms prior to the initiation of a new upward channel （i.e., the second upward propagation （UP））. The second UP, which started approximately 4.1 ms after the termination of the DAL and propagated along the original channel, was triggered by the DAL and sustained for approximately 2.95 ms. Two distinct current pulses were superimposed on the current of the second UP. The first pulse, which was related to the sudden initiation of the second UP, was characterized by a more rapid increase and decrease and a larger peak value than the second pulse, which was related to the development of the second UP into the area affected by the DAL. The second UP contained both a similar-to-leader process and a following neutralization process. This study introduces a new type of triggering leader, in which a new upward discharge is triggered in an established channel by an aborted leader propagating along the same channel with opposite polarity and propagation direction.

A Review of Advances in Lightning Observations during the Past Decade in Guangdong, China

This paper reviews recent advances in understanding the physical processes of artificially triggered light- ning and natural lightning as well as the progress in testing lightning protection technologies, based on a series of lightning field campaigns jointly conducted by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences and Guangdong Meteorological Bureau since 2006. During the decade-long series of lightning field experi- ments, the technology of rocket-wire artificially triggered lightning has been improved, and has successfully triggered 94 lightning flashes. Through direct lightning current waveform measurements, an average return stroke peak current of 16 kA was obtained. The phenomenon that the downward leader connects to the lateral surface of the upward leader in the attachment process was discovered, and the speed of the upward leader during the connection process being significantly greater than that of the downward leader was re- vealed. The characteristics of several return strokes in cloud-to-ground lighting have also been unveiled, and the mechanism causing damage to lightning protection devices （i.e., ground potential rise within the rated current） was established. The performance of three lightning monitoring systems in Guangdong Province has also been quantitatively assessed.

Low-frequency E-field Detection Array(LFEDA)-Construction and preliminary results

In recent years, locating total lightning at the VLF/LF band has become one of the most important directions in lightning detection. The Low-frequency E-field Detection Array(LFEDA) consisting of nine fast antennas was developed by the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences in Guangzhou between 2014 and 2015. This paper documents the composition of the LFEDA and a lightning-locating algorithm that applies to the low-frequency electric field radiated by lightning pulse discharge events(LPDEs). Theoretical simulation and objective assessment of the accuracy and detection efficiency of LFEDA have been done using Monte Carlo simulation and artificial triggered lightning experiment, respectively. The former results show that having a station in the network with a comparatively long baseline improves both the horizontal location accuracy in the direction perpendicular to the baseline and the vertical location accuracy along the baseline. The latter results show that detection efficiencies for triggered lightning flashes and return strokes are 100% and 95%, respectively. The average planar location error for return strokes of triggered lightning flashes is 102 m. By locating LPDEs in thunderstorms, we find that LPDEs are consistent with convective regions as indicated by strong reflectivity columns, and present a reasonable distribution in the vertical direction.In addition, the LFEDA can reveal an image of lightning development through mapping the channels of lightning. Based on three-dimensional locations, the vertical propagation speed of the preliminary breakdown and the changing trend of the leader's speed in an intra-cloud and a cloud-to-ground flash are investigated. The research results show that the LFEDA has the capability for three-dimensional location of lightning, which provides a new technique for researching lightning development characteristics and thunderstorm electricity.