Electromagnetic compatibility studies require knowledge of transient voltages that may be developed near earthing systems during lightning discharge, since such voltages may be coupled to sensitive electronic circuits. For such purpose, accurate evaluation of the transient electric field near to and/or at the surface of the grounding conductors is necessary. In this paper, a procedure for computation of transient fields near large earthing systems, as a response to a typical lightning current impulse, based on computational methodology developed in the field of antennas, is presented. Computed results are favorably compared with published measurement results. The model is applied to check the common assumption that the soil ionization can be neglected in case of large earthing systems. Presented results show that the soil ionization threshold is met and exceeded during typical lightning discharge in a large earthing system.
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