Lightning current measurements on real installations by a mobile measurement system

For decades measurements of real lightning currents have been performed for basic scientific research on lightning current test fields all over the world. Based on the scientific background of these measurements the measuring systems used for this research is highly sophisticated and rather complex. Therefore it is quite difficult to use these systems flexibly on different locations. In contrast, the system introduced in this report is designed rather compact for use in different locations and different types of installations. In this paper the measurement technique and the corresponding different sensors are introduced. Also the different methods of data transmission and data analysis are explained. Finally first results of comparison tests are presented. Measurement results gained by the new mobile measurement system are compared with data which was provided by the scientific lightning current measurement station operated by the Austrian research group ALDIS. These co-operation measurements were done at the Gaisberg Telecommunication Tower close to Salzburg. It is the aim of the authors to introduce the first results of lightning current measurements with the new system gained at the Gaisberg tower in a poster presentation at ICLP 2010. This poster will also include a brief technical description of the measurement system and describes its actual implementation at the telecommunication site.