A nonlinear transmission line model of the lightning return stroke

A nonlinear model of the lightning channel is presented. The model is based on the description of the channel by a nonuniform, lossy, transmission line. A nonlinear model for the losses, first developed by S.I. Braginskii (1958), is used with additional upper and lower limits. The termination at the cloud is modeled by an RC network. A numerical technique known as transmission-line modeling is used to solve the network model of lightning. The results show the strong effect of losses, cloud termination. and numerical approach on the simulated current waveshapes.>