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Measurements of lightning rod responses to nearby strikes
Author(s) -
Moore C. B.,
Aulich G. D.,
Rison W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl011053
Subject(s) - rod , lightning (connector) , lightning strike , geology , meteorology , physics , thunderstorm , medicine , power (physics) , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics
Following Benjamin Franklin's invention of the lightning rod, based on his discovery that electrified objects could be discharged by approaching them with a metal needle in hand, conventional lightning rods in the U.S. have had sharp tips. In recent years, the role of the sharp tip in causing a lightning rod to act as a strike receptor has been questioned leading to experiments in which pairs of various sharp‐tipped and blunt rods have been exposed beneath thunderclouds to determine the better strike receptor. After seven years of tests, none of the sharp Franklin rods or of the so‐called “early streamer emitters” has been struck, but 12 blunt rods with tip diameters ranging from 12.7 mm to 25.4 mm have taken strikes. Our field experiments and our analyses indicate that the strike‐reception probabilities of Franklin's rods are greatly increased when their tips are made moderately blunt.