On the Representation of the Lightning Return Stroke Process as a Current Pulse Propagating Along a Transmission Line

Assuming that the representation of the lightning return stroke as a current pulse propagating along a transmission line is valid, the effects of different transmission line parameters both on the channel current and the electromagnetic fields are investigated. The transmission line parameters that are incorporated into the study are the spatial variation of the inductance and the capacitance, the channel resistance and its temporal variation and the finite conductance of the line. The results show that the introduction of the time varying channel resistance and the finite conductance will change the predictions of the model in such a direction that they will come closer to the experimental observations.