On the Lightning Electromagnetic Fields due to Channel with Variable Return Stroke Velocity

Numerical field expressions are proposed to evaluate the electromagnetic fields due to the lightning channel with variable values of return stroke velocity. Previous calculation methods generally use an average value for the return stroke velocity along a lightning channel. The proposed method can support different velocity profiles along a lightning channel in addition to the widely used channel-base current functions and also the general form of the engineering current models directly in the time domain without the need to apply any extra conversions. Moreover, a sample of the measured lightning current is used to validate the proposed method while the velocity profile is simulated by the general velocity function. The simulated fields based on constant and variable values of velocity are compared to the corresponding measured fields. The results show that the simulated fields based on the proposed method are in good agreement with the corresponding measured fields.