Investigation on Antenna Material and Operational Amplifier Model for Measuring Electric Fields from Lightning Flashes

The lightning measurement system employs an antenna as a sensor to capture the electric fields created by lightning flashes. It is connected to an electronic circuit associated with an operational amplifier (op-amp) to transfer the signal into a recording system. The present antenna for lightning measurement at the University of Technology Sarawak (UTS) is made of steel, and the model of the op-amp is OPA633KP. Hitherto, that has been the only type of antenna and op-amp used at the UTS for lightning research whose performance might be questionable. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine which antenna materials and op-amps are capable of performing effectively in a lightning measuring system. This research evaluated whether steel or aluminum is a better material for the antenna, as well as if OPA633KP or BUF634A is a better op-amp for the purpose of lightning measurement. Steel antenna with higher permeability and lower conductivity is found to be 13.86% more efficient than the aluminum antenna in this investigation. Meanwhile, BUF634A with a higher slew rate and lower bandwidth is 14.28% more efficient than OPA633KP.