Simulation of an early streamer emission air terminal for application to lightning protection

The ESE concept represents an attempt to improve the zone of protection offered by a conventional Franklin rod air terminal. The premise on which ESE lightning protection relies is this: the earlier an air terminal is able to launch an upward leader, during the attachment phase of a lightning discharge, the larger the zone of protection offered by that air terminal. In this paper, the authors have adopted a methodical approach for examining, under laboratory conditions, the extent to which the discharge emanating from an air terminal can be influenced by voltage application to the tip of the air terminal-since such voltage application is one technique employed by ESE air terminals to expedite upward leader inception relative to a Franklin rod. The experimental method used and the preliminary observations of the study are reported here.