Horizontal fields generated by return strokes

Horizontal fields generated by return strokes play an important role in the interaction of lightning‐generated electromagnetic fields with overhead power lines. In many of the recent investigations on the interaction of lightning electromagnetic fields with power lines, the horizontal field was calculated by employing the expression for the tilt of the electric field of a plane wave propagating over the finitely conducting Earth. In this paper we show that the horizontal field generated by return strokes over the finitely conducting ground can be obtained to a high accuracy by using the expression for the surface impedance of the finitely conducting Earth. The method is suitable to calculate horizontal fields generated by return strokes at distances as close as 200 m. At these close ranges the use of the wave tilt expression can cause large errors.