SECTION I.

Introduction
The the transmission line (TL) model of the lightning return stroke (Uman and
McLain, 1969 [1]) has been widely used in various lightning electromagnetic pulse
(LEMP) calculations. This model assumes that a current wave, injected at the lightning
channel base, propagates upward along the channel without attenuation or distortion.

The resultant longitudinal channel current at any

height ' and any time is related to current at the

channel base by a simple equation:

, where is the return stroke wavefront

speed. The TL model is often visualized (e.g., Rakov and Uman, 1998 [2]; Gomes and
Cooray, 2000 [3]; Thottappillil and Uman, 2002 [4]) as incorporating a lumped
current source at the channel base, which injects a specified current into the channel.
The primary reason for the assumption of a lumped current source at the channel base
is a desire to use directly the channel-base current, known from measurements for
both natural and triggered lightning, as an input parameter of the model.
Recently, considerable attention has been attracted to the interaction of lightning with
tall grounded strike objects (e.g., Motoyama et al., 1996 [5]; Guerrieri et al., 1998 [6];
Shostak et al., 1999 [7]; Rachidi et al., 2002 [8]; Bermudez et al., 2003 [9];
Pavanello et al., 2004 [10]; Miyazaki and Ishii, 2004 [11]; Baba and Rakov, 2005 [12]).
When a model is generalized to include a tall grounded object, it is necessary to
consider reflections, which requires specification of appropriate reflection coefficients
at the top and bottom of the strike object. In this case, the use of an ideal current
source at the channel attachment point, inserted in series between the channel and
strike object (e.g., Motoyama et al., 1996 [5]), does not allow one to obtain a self-
consistent solution. This is because the ideal current source has an infinitely large
impedance, and hence the lightning channel is electrically isolated from the strike
object (transient processes in the lightning channel and in the tall object are totally
decoupled). In order to avoid the problem with lumped current sources, Rachidi et
al. (2002 [8]) have proposed a distributed-shunt-current-source representation of the
lightning channel, and Baba and Rakov (2005 [12]) have proposed the TL model
incorporating a lumped series voltage source at the junction point.

In this paper, we use a lumped voltage source in the TL model of the lightning return
stroke generalized to include both a grounded strike object and an upward connecting
leader launched from the top of the strike object. The structure of this paper is as
follows. In section II.A, based on the lossless transmission line representation of a
lightning strike to a tall grounded object launching an electrically long upward
connecting leader, we derive expressions for current along the strike object and along
the lightning channel (both above and below the leader junction point), as a function of
the lightning short-circuit current. In sections II.B, C, and D, we also derive
expressions for current along the lightning channel and/or the strike object for the
special cases of negligible upward connecting leader length, of negligible strike object
height, and of negligible both upward connecting leader length and strike object
height, respectively.

SECTION II.
Models for Computing Lightning Electric and Magnetic
Fields
A. Lightning Strike to a Grounded Object Launching an Upward

Connecting Leader
In this section, we will derive expressions for current along a grounded strike object
launching an upward-connecting leader and along the lightning channel using a
configuration shown in Fig. 1(a). It comprises three lossless uniform transmission lines

representing the lightning channel (whose characteristic impedance is

both above and below the junction point between the descending leader and an
upward-connecting leader launched from the top of the grounded object) and the

grounded object (whose characteristic impedance is ), a lumped

grounding impedance ( ), and a lumped ideal (zero-impedance) voltage

source generating an arbitrary voltage waveform

. Although in reality the equivalent impedance of the lightning channel varies with
time and both the lightning channel and the strike object are nonuniform transmission
lines, we employ the constant characteristic impedance assumptions. The influence of
these assumptions on calculated electric and magnetic fields is briefly discussed by
Baba and Rakov (2005 [13], Fig. 14). We assume that the current propagation speed

along the grounded object is equal to the speed of light and is equal to along
the lightning channel. Note that there is no impedance discontinuity at the junction
point between the descending and upward-connecting leaders (current reflection
coefficient at this junction is zero). The current reflection coefficient at the bottom of

the object ) and the current reflection coefficient at the top

of the object for upward-propagating waves are given by

View Source
The current transmission coefficient at the top of the object for upward-propagating

waves is given by . The current reflection and

transmission coefficients at the top of the object for downward-propagating waves are

given by - and , respectively.

As a result, current equations involve the summations of multiple waves bouncing
between the bottom and top of the object. Note that the current initially injected into

the channel is given by

Fig. 1. Lightning strikes (a) to a grounded object of height launching an upward-

connecting leader of length , (b) to a grounded object of height without an upward-

connecting leader, (c) to flat ground launching an upward-connecting leader of length , and
(d) to flat ground without an upward-connecting leader, represented by lossless transmission
lines connected in series with a lumped voltage source generating an arbitrary voltage

waveform,

, or , and a

lumped grounding impedance , is the characteristic

impedance of the transmission line representing the lightning channel both above and below the

junction point between the descending and upward-connecting leaders, and is

that representing the grounded strike object. is the current reflection

coefficient at the top of the strike object for upward-propagating waves, is

the current reflection coefficient at the bottom of the strike object, and is the
current reflection coefficient at the channel base for the flat-ground case.
View All

Currents along the lightning channel above the junction point between the descending

and upward connecting leaders , along the

lightning channel below the junction point

, and along the strike object are given by the

following three equations:
View Source where is an index representing the successive multiple reflections

occurring at the ends of the strike object, and is the return stroke wavefront speed
that is equal to the current wave propagation speed along the transmission lines
representing the lightning leader channels considered here [see Fig. 1(a)]. Note that in
deriving (2a), (2b), and (2c) we used the definition of the lightning short-circuit
current given by

View Source The lightning short-circuit current is the lightning current that would be

measured at an ideally grounded object ( or

) having a negligible height and launching

an upward-connecting leader of negligible length . This current

represents lightning discharge regardless of the impedance “seen” by this discharge at
its termination point and therefore can be used for comparison of lightning strikes to
flat ground and to strike objects with or without upward-connecting leaders.
B. Lightning Strike to a Grounded Object Without an Upward

Connecting Leader
Current along the lightning channel in the absence of

upward-connecting leader is obtained by setting in (2a),

View Source Current at the top of the object can be

obtained by setting in (2b) (or setting in (4a)),

View Source Current along the strike object is

given by setting in (2c),

View Source At , (4c) reduces to (4b). Note that (4a) and (4c) are
the same as (6b) and (6a) of Baba and Rakov (2005 [12]), respectively, which were
derived for the configuration of Fig. 1(b).