The implications of the electrogeometric model regarding effect of height of structure on the median amplitude of collected lightning strokes

Abstract

M. Sargent (1972) concluded that the median current of the lightning strokes collected by a structure increases when the height of the structure is increased. In the present work, it is shown that Sargent's conclusion is applicable only to the case of equal striking distances, and that Sargent's use of too low a median current to flat ground has inadvertently exaggerated the effect of height on median current. For the realistic case of unequal striking distances, the median current versus height relation is a U-curve which is relatively flat. It is found that the electrogeometric model is not incompatible with the median findings of R.B. Anderson and A.J. Eriksson (1980), and that the median amplitude of the strokes collected by power lines is practically constant over the typical height range.