After successful completion of the course, students are able to understand the various processes involved in a lightning strike and to assess the effects of the essential lightning parameters. Students are familiar with the basic principles of lightning location and the applications of lightning location data. The measures for external and internal lightning protection systems are understood and the students can assess the necessity for lightning protection at various technical facilities such as transmission line networks, aircrafts or renewable energy systems (wind power, photovoltaics).
Ligthning discharge, measurement techniques and instrumentation, ALDIS (Austrian Lightning and Information System), lightning parameters, lightning protection systems (LPS), Rolling sphere method, standards, practical problems
The different types of flashes and the physical processes involved in a lightning strike are first explained and then demonstrated using videos of real lightning strikes taken with a high-speed camera.
In the case of lightning protection, the most relevant paragraphs from the international lightning protection standard, e.g. (EN 62305), are explained and the practical implementation is shown by photos of real installations. Examples of lightning damage to buildings or technical equipment are shown in orfer to demonstrate the effects of missing lightning protection.
Lecture notes are available as PDF in the TISS system.
M.A.Uman: The Lightning Discharge
V.A. Rakow and M.A. Uman: Lightning (Physics and Effects), Cambridge University Press, 2003
Kern und Wettingfeld: Blitzschutzsysteme 1 (VDE Verlag, Band 44)
Cooray Vernon: An Introduction to Lightning, Springer 2015
V.A. Rakov: Fundamentals of Lightning, Cambridge University Press, 2016
