Estimation of Lightning Current and Return Stroke Velocity Profile Using Measured Electromagnetic Fields

Abstract

To evaluate lightning current using measured electromagnetic fields, an inverse procedure algorithm is proposed in this article, where the variation of return velocity stroke velocity is considered as opposed to previous methods where the velocity is set at a constant value. The proposed algorithm considers all electromagnetic fields components directly in the time domain without needing to apply any extra conversions. Moreover, it can support the wide range of current models based on the general form of engineering current models. The proposed method is validated using a sample of triggered lightning data and measured electromagnetic fields at two stations with different distances from the lightning channel. The results illustrate that the proposed method could estimate the behavior of current along the channel and can thus be used for preparing a data bank to record lightning current parameters of a wide range of lightning occurrences based on measured fields.