Two unprecedented experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of lightning protection systems

This paper describes two unprecedented experiments that will answer two of the most fundamental and outstanding questions that remain today regarding the lightning attachment process, namely: (1) Ultra-long, free-ranging sparks that replicate typical “sneak” lightning discharges are used to evaluate and quantify the interception efficiency of the most common LPS's used around the world, and (2) Lightning flash counters and high-speed video cameras are used to make optical observations of natural lightning strikes to a tall structure in order to measure the striking distance and to compare it with current and past models of the lightning attachment process. The quantified outcomes expected from the test campaigns are both profound and of great importance to lightning protection practice, particularly with respect to quantifying the effectiveness of air terminals and lightning protection systems.