Premium
On the transmission line model for lightning return stroke representation
Author(s) -
Baba Y.,
Rakov V. A.
Publication year - 2003
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 - 10.1029/2003gl018407
Subject(s) - transmission line , physics , lightning (connector) , radius , channel (broadcasting) , transverse plane , stroke (engine) , acoustics , optics , computational physics , mechanics , geology , electrical engineering , computer science , engineering , power (physics) , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , computer security , structural engineering
The widely used transmission‐line (TL) model of lightning return stroke in a vertical channel is most rigorously represented by a vertical phased array of current sources that produce a spherical transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave in the case of return‐stroke speed v equal to the speed of light c . If the radius of the lightning channel were equal to zero, the equivalent representation could be obtained by applying a hypothetical infinitesimal source of pure spherical TEM wave at the bottom of the channel. A non‐zero‐radius vertical wire above ground excited by a practical source at its bottom end cannot support unattenuated current waves, and the associated electromagnetic field structure is non‐TEM.