Lightning Barotrauma and Lightning Dysbarism: A Laboratory Study

Lightning strikes normally results in injuries or fatalities during thunderstorm. Lightning strikes produces blast wave similar to explosive event. The pressure wave and its associated overpressure produced by lightning blast has been generally unknown. A scaled representation of lightning experiment was conducted using a current impulse generator. The pressure was measured using electrically isolated face on pressure sensors positioned around the spark. The measured over pressure ranged from 242 to 759 kPa from 5 kA 10 kA and 15 kA impulses. This overpressure would have exceeded the minimum threshold for the produce minor eardrum ruptures.