30th International Conference on Lightning Protection - ICLP 2010

(Cagliari, Italy - September 13th -17th, 2010)

CHARACTERISTICS OF INDUCED VOLTAGE ON OVERHEAD

TRANSMISSION LINE PRODUCED BY LIGHTNING
Yijun Zhang [1], Shaodong Chen [2], Shaojie Yang [2], Weitao Lu [1], Dong Zheng [1], Bin Li [2],
Wansheng Dong [1]
[1] Laboratory of Lightning Physics and Protection Engineering, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences，
Beijing,10081
[2]Guangdong Lightning Protection Center, Guangzhou, 510080
zhangyj@cams.cma.gov.cn

ABSTRACT interaction of rocket-triggered and natural lightning with

Observations of voltages on transmission lines induced by
natural lightning and artificially triggered lightning are
investigated. The result shows that the initial continuous
current (ICC) of one artificially triggered lightning
produced a significant induced voltage with a maximum
value of -2.2kV and lasting time of 75.6ms on the
transmission line. Waveform of the induced voltage and
ICC has a same variation tendency. Induced voltages
produced by return strokes of artificially triggered lightning
on transmission line exhibit bipolar pulses, with positive-
polarity dominating. The positive and negative peak
voltages produced by return strokes are 4.6kV and 10.3kV
respectively. Induced voltages on the transmission lines
produced by negative natural return strokes at near
distances are also bipolar pulses, but when the lightning
struck at a far distance, the induced voltages are mainly
unipolar. More than 90% first return strokes produce
larger induced voltages than subsequent return strokes of
natural cloud-to-ground(CG) lightning. The amplitudes of
induced voltages produced by first return strokes are
typically 2-3kV, with durations of about 200us, which are
longer than those produced by subsequent return strokes
(about 100us). The wavefront time is about 18us, which is
about 1/3-1/2 of the wavetail time. The induced voltage on
the transmission lines produced by lightning is linearly
correlated with the ratio of lightning current to the distance
between lightning and the transmission line.
1 INTRODUCTION
High induced voltages on transmission lines produced
by nearby lightning often affect the regular operations of
apparatus and even cause damages, so induced voltages
on transmission lines caused by lightning and the
protection of apparatus is always an important research
topic. However, because of temporal and spatial
randomicity of natural lightning, high voltage discharges
are usually employed to do imitations. Artificially
triggered lightning offers an effective way to investigate
these impacts and examine the behaviors of lightning
protection apparatus because the place and time of
occurrence of triggered lightning are predetermined. The
power transmission lines has previously been
investigated in studies conducted in different area of the
world[1-7].
In countryside of China, the electric devices are
usually damaged by the induced voltage originated by
natural lightning on the transmission line. In order to
protect the system of electronic apparatus from lightning
strikes more effectively, we conducted researches on
characteristics of induced voltages on actual transmission
lines produced by natural lightning and artificially
triggered lightning in Guangzhou, China in 2008.
2 OBSERVATION AND EQUIPMENT
We conducted observational experiments on lightning
induced voltages on transmission lines in the summer of
2008. Figure 1 shows the configuration of examination of
induced voltages on transmission lines. The transmission
line is an overhead circuit, composed of live wire (L) and
null wire (N) and supported about 2.5m above the surface
by some wooden poles. The null line is higher 0.3m than
live line. The distant end is about 1300m away from the
supply transformer. The near end is buried 52m
underground and serves as power supply for the collector
of automatic weather station. The overhead circuit is a
distribution and transmission line for countryside use,
with the voltage of 220V and without any protection
devices. The circuit is winding, but it mainly goes from
south to north.
In order to measure induced voltages produced on the
transmission line by nearby lightning (including
artificially triggered lightning and natural lightning), we
installed impact dividers at both live wire and null wire.
As shown in figure 1, two dividers are resistance-
capacitance style, with one end connecting live wire and
null wire, and the other end connecting the ground. The
ground resistance is about 14.1Ω. The model number of
the transformer is S11-M-50/10. The dividing voltage
ratios of the dividers are 205.4 and 204.9 respectively,
obtained from the testing in high voltage laboratory. The

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measuring signals of induced voltages are collected and
recorded by data acquisition system and transmitted
through fibers, with a sampling rate of 5MSa/s and a
recording length of 0.8s. Observations of negative natural
lightning near the transmission line and negative
artificially triggered lightning within 30m of the near end
of the transmission line were made during the experiment.
Figure 1 Sketch of measurement of induced voltage on the
transmission line
3 ANALYSIS AND RESULT
3.1 Artificially triggered lightning
The experiments discussed in this paper were
performed during Guangdong Comprehensive
Observation Experiment on Lightning Discharge
(GCOELD) at Guangzhou Field Experiment Site for
Lightning Research and Testing, which is an outdoor
facility occupying located in north Guangdong province.
At the site, lightning is triggered from natural overhead
thunderclouds for a variety of purposes using the rocket-
and-wire technique [8,9,10]. Triggered lightning is typically
composed of an initial stage involving a steady current of
the order of 100 A with a duration of hundreds of
milliseconds followed by one or more dart leader-return
stroke sequences which are very similar to the strokes
following the first stroke in natural lightning.
The artificially triggered lightning on August 12th,
2008 (T080812) comprised ICC and 8 return strokes.
Figure 2 shows the current waveform of this artificially
triggered lightning. The negative peak value of ICC
involved in T080812 was -5.6kA. The lasting time of
ICC was about 165ms and it neutralized about -26.0C
charges. The average value of the current is about 122A.
The average interval of 8 return strokes is 101ms, with
the minimum of 35.1ms and the maximum of 395.5ms.
First 7 return strokes last about 311.8ms. The interval
between the 7th and 8th return strokes is 395.5ms. The
geometrical mean of the peak currents of 8 return strokes
is -16.4kA (the arithmetical mean is -18.0kA), with the
minimum of -6.6kA and the maximum of -26.4kA. The
geometrical mean of neutralized charges is -0.95C (the
arithmetical mean is -1.0C). Total neutralized charges are
-8.4C. The geometrical mean of half-peak width of return
strokes is 24.9us. The geometrical mean of 10%-90% rise
time of the current is 0.4us, with the gradient of the
current of -30kA/us. These results are agreement with the
previous some reports [10].
Figure 2 Current waveform of T080812 measured at the
channel base
Figure 3 shows the induced voltage measured on the
transmission line after T080812 was triggered. The
measured induced voltage comprises ICC and 7 return
strokes. The eighth return stroke was not recorded due to
the limitation of the recording length. Waveform of
induced voltage produced on the transmission line by
nearby triggered lightning is complex, showing both
positive and negative polarity pulses. The maximum
negative voltage is 10.3kV, produced by the third return
stroke. The maximum positive voltage is 4.6kV,
produced by the fourth return stroke. The positive peak
value of induced voltage is well correlated with the peak
current of triggered lightning. The correlation coefficient
is 0.72.
5
0
Voltage (kV)
-5
-10
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Time (ms)
Figure 3 Waveform of induced voltage produced by
triggered lightning T080812
Figure 4 shows that induced voltages produced by
different return strokes were obvious differences. Their
durations are short. Pulse voltages show a positive peak
at first and then decrease abruptly, followed by a negative
peak. The interval between positive and negative peaks is
only several microseconds. Negative overshoot voltage
recovers in two different waveform structures. The first
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type shows few large pulses and the voltage changes
slowly, such as sections d-e in figure 4 for R1. This type
is called slow-recovering structure. The 1st and 7th return
strokes belong to this type. The other type shows one or
more processes of rapid oscillations after the negative
peak, such as sections d-e in figure 4 for R3. Slow
recovering process follows an oscillation at point e. This
type is called oscillating-recovering structure. The 2nd
and 6th return strokes belong to this type. Both of two
types show positive pulse after the recovering.
involved in 6 return strokes according to the data of fast and
slow electric field, magnetic field changes. Lightning location
system located first return stroke and following 3 subsequence
return strokes, their peak currents are -23.8kA, -20.6kA, -
13.6kA and -12.8kA respectively. Figure 5 shows induced
voltage on the transmission line and electric field change
produced by first, third and forth return strokes. It can be seen
that different return strokes of the same lightning flash
produced different waveforms of induced voltage. The
waveform N080731-1 was bipolar, beginning with larger
negative polarity pulse, followed by positive polarity voltage,
with more oscillations at the end, and the peak value of negative
pulse was larger than that of positive pulse. The waveform
N080731-3 was unipolar. Its peak of the induced voltage was
much lower than that produced by other return strokes. The
waveform N080731-4 was also bipolar, but there were no
oscillations after the positive peak, and the peak values of
positive and negative pulses are approximately equivalent.
According to the record of lightning location system, return
stroke current of N080731-2 is about 20.6kA and comparable to
that of T080812-6. But waveforms of induced voltages of the
two events are both bipolar. Because the distance of the latter is
smaller, its induced voltage is larger. From the induced voltage
records produced by a number of natural lightning, it is found
that the induced voltage on the transmission line is usually
unipolar, and the induced voltage produced by the first return
stroke is larger than that produced by subsequent return strokes.
However, when the lightning strikes near the transmission line
or with a large amplitude of current, the waveform of the
induced voltage will be bipolar.

F0731-1 F0731-3 F0731-4

5 5 5
Voltage (kV)

Voltage (kV)

Voltage (kV)
0 0 0

-5 -5 -5

0 50 100 0 50 100 0 50 100

Time (microscend) Time (microscend) Time (microscend)

150 150 150

100 100 100

ΔE(V/m)

ΔE(V/m)

ΔE(V/m)

50 50 50

Figure 4 Waveforms of induced voltage produced by return
strokes of a triggered lightning (R1-R7 denote 1st -7th
return stroke)
3.2 Natural lightning
We made observations of natural lightning near the
transmission line as well. A number of data on induced voltages
of the transmission line were acquired. The analyzed results
reveal that more than 90% first return strokes of natural CG
lightning produced induced voltages that were larger than those
produced by subsequent return strokes. Waveforms of induced
voltages produced by first return strokes typically had an
amplitude of 2-3kV and last about 200us, which was longer
than that produced by subsequent return strokes (about 100us).
The wavefront time was about 18us, which was only 1/3-1/2 of
wavetail time.
There was a natural lightning near the observation point at
about 13:13:22 on July 31st, 2008 (N080731). It is about 3km
away from the observation site. The lightning discharge
0 0 0
F0731-1 F0731-3 F0731-4
-50 -50 -50
0 50 0 50 0 50
Time (microscend) Time (microscend) Time (microscend)
Figure 5 Waveforms of induced voltages on the
transmission line and electric field changes produced by
three return strokes of natural lightning N080731
Based on the records of lightning location system, it is
also found that the initial polarity of induced voltage
produced on the transmission line by negative return
strokes changes with the strike position and its intensity.
Waveforms of induced voltages produced by 12 natural
negative lightning flashes were recorded on August 10th,
2008, of which 7 (19 return strokes) were initially
positive polarity and 5 (16 return strokes) were initially
negative polarity. Waveforms of both positive and
negative induced voltages are extremely similar except
that they have different polarities.

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 For 21 return strokes of natural lightning flashes on
August 10th were located by the lightning location
system, figure 6 shows the relationship between peak
values of induced voltages and ratio of distance between
the flashes and the transmission line to peak current of
return strokes (I/y). It can be seen that they have good
linear relation, with the correlation coefficient of 0.785.
This is consistent with the result of transmission line
induced voltage model based on electric wave equations
and return stroke models [11].
5
4
单位/kV
3
2 [1] H.M. Schneider andH. R. Stillwell, “Measurement of
1
y = 0.2826x - 0.4195
0
R2 = 0.785
0 5 10 15 20
I/y(kA/km)
Figure 6 Linear correlation between peak values of induced
voltages on the transmission line produced by 21 return
strokes of natural lightning and I/y
4 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
1) The induced voltage produced on the transmission
line by ICC involved in an artificially triggered lightning
had a peak value of -2.2kV and lasted about 75.6ms.
Waveforms of induced voltage and ICC had the same
variation tendency. ICC pulses also produced significant
induced voltage.
2) Waveforms of induced voltages produced on the
transmission line by return strokes of the artificially
triggered lightning were bipolar, with positive polarity
induced voltages dominating. The maximum peak values
of positive and negative voltages in return stroke
processes were 4.6kV and 10.3kV, respectively.
3) Waveforms of induced voltages produced on the
transmission line by near natural negative return strokes
were also bipolar. However, when the flash was far away,
the induced voltages were mainly unipolar. Polarities of
unipolar induced voltages produced by distant return
strokes depended on the position of the return stroke.
When the negative return stroke was on the north of the
transmission line, it produced positive induced voltage,
otherwise it produced negative induced voltage. More
than 90% first return strokes produced induced voltages
that were larger than those produced by subsequent return
strokes. Waveforms of induced voltages produced by first
return strokes typically had an amplitude of 2-3kV and
last about 200us, which was longer than that produced by
subsequent return strokes (about 100us). The wavefront
time was about 18us, which was only 1/3-1/2 of wavetail
time.
4) Induced voltages produced on the transmission line
by return strokes involved in lightning flashes were
linearly correlated with the ratio of the return stroke
currents to the distance between the lightning flashes and
the transmission line.
Acknowledgements: This work was supported by The
Special Project for Commonweal Industry Scientific
Research of China(GYHY2007622) and the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (40605004).
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