Lightning current distributions in a vertical earthing electrode

This paper presents a model for calculating current distribution in a vertical electrode and to the surrounding ground resulted by lightning. The model is based on electromagnetic field theory for calculating the response of the step wave-pair model. The physical parameters of the electrode such as the radius and length of the electrode is considered. Furthermore, characteristics of the ground such as the conductivity, permittivity and the propagation velocity of the currents in the ground are also being considered. The model is based on dividing the electrode into finite sections. Then, the "Compensating Currents", ground leakage currents and the electrode's currents are calculated for each section at all times. The model is applied by a MATLAB code for the calculation of the above-mentioned currents' distributions. The results show that for soils of high conductivities shorter electrodes are needed for dissipating lightning currents. Furthermore, the soil conductivity parameter is the more sensitive parameter in comparison to the other parameters.