Lighting locating system by using time of arrival technique and three broadband antennas

Abstract

Lightning locating system is an active research field in high voltage and high current applications. The lightning discharge processes radiate electromagnetic wave in broadband range of VLF through UHF. In the stepped-leader progression, stepped leader radiates electromagnetic field while it progresses. In this project, the location of lightning was estimated by using radiated electromagnetic field and employing the Time of Arrival technique (TOA). The measuring system was implemented at IVAT and lightning events were recorded for a period of about six months. The proposed system uses three broadband antennas perpendicular to each other to roughly estimate the azimuth and the elevation of lightning strikes. Two short base lines used in the system have a distance of 14.5 meters between them. Experimental results and signal simulations show that the system has a good accuracy for the detection of the azimuth and the less accuracy for the elevation. The simulation and reconstruction of lightning strikes has also been done by using the Lab View program.