Lightning Stroke Localization – A Time-Domain Approach Based on Evolutionary Optimization

In this article we analyze a localization problem based on evolutionary optimization algorithms and an analytical electromagnetic-field-to-line coupling model. A computationally efficient, analytical model for calculating time-domain lightning-induced voltages serves as the forward solver in the optimization process. The model takes into account electric permittivity and conductivity of a lossy ground. The inverse problem is solved with the aid of a single-objective global optimization algorithm. It is demonstrated that the covariant matrix adaptation - evolution strategy algorithm shows the best performance among considered state-of-the-art algorithms. The influence of other problem parameters, e.g., the size of the search space, the fluctuation of the return-stroke pulsewidth and amplitude, and the presence of noise, on the localization error is discussed. While the growing size of the search domain has a significant impact on the convergence properties of the optimization process, this is not the case for the signal distortion, whose influence can be virtually neglected.