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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D17, 4542, doi:10.1029/2003JD003398, 2003

Application of the antenna theory model to a tall tower struck by lightning

Behzad Kordi

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Rouzbeh Moini

Department of Electrical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran


Wasyl Janischewskyj

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada


Ali M. Hussein

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada


Volodymyr O. Shostak

Department of Electrical Engineering, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine


Vladimir A. Rakov

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA


Abstract

The interaction of lightning with the 553-m high CN Tower in Toronto is modeled using the antenna theory model. A simple lossless wire structure is used to represent the tower. The return-stroke channel is modeled as a lossy vertical antenna attached to the tower top. The lossy antenna and the wire structure representing the tower are assumed to be fed at their junction point by a voltage source. The voltage waveform of this source is selected so that the source current resembles a typical lightning current waveform not influenced by the presence of the tall strike object. An electric field integral equation in the time domain is employed to calculate the lightning return stroke current distribution along the CN Tower and along the lightning channel. The equation is solved numerically using the method of moments. The lightning current flowing in the tower at the 474-m level above ground, predicted by the antenna theory (AT) model, compares favorably with the measurements conducted at the CN Tower. Once the temporal and spatial distributions of the current along the tower and along the lightning channel are determined, the corresponding remote electromagnetic fields are computed. Waveshapes of model-predicted electric and magnetic fields at a distance of 2 km from the tower are in good agreement with measurements. The contribution of the tower to the electric and magnetic fields at 2 km is about four to five times the contribution of the lightning channel.

Received 10 January 2003; accepted 21 May 2003; published 9 September 2003.

Index Terms: 3304 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Atmospheric electricity; 3324 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Lightning; 3367 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Theoretical modeling.

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Citation: Kordi, B., R. Moini, W. Janischewskyj, A. M. Hussein, V. O. Shostak, and V. A. Rakov (2003), Application of the antenna theory model to a tall tower struck by lightning, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D17), 4542, doi:10.1029/2003JD003398.