Concept

Lightning detection

Related publications (30)

Direct observations of X-rays produced by upward positive lightning

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga, Thomas Chaumont

X-rays have been observed in natural downward cloud-to-ground lightning for over 20 years and in rocket-triggered lightning for slightly less. In both cases, this energetic radiation has been detected during the stepped and dart leader phases of downward n ...

Nature Publishing Group2024

Computation of the attenuation function of the lightning return-stroke current from electromagnetic fields measured in a short-duration time-window — Part II: Numerical implementation

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

In the present paper, we show, by means of numerical simulations, that electromagnetic field data obtained from the radiation of a return-stroke lightning discharge and measured over a short-duration time-window can be exploited to reconstruct the attenuat ...

Elsevier2023

Modeling lightning strikes to tall towers

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

In this chapter, we present a review of recent progress in the modeling of lightning strikes to tall structures. Since some tall structures are struck by lightning several tens of times per year, they can be used as ground-truth to measure and calibrate th ...

IET2023

Computation of the attenuation function of the lightning return-stroke current from electromagnetic fields measured in a short-duration time-window, Part I: Theoretical investigation

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

In a recent paper, a procedure to reconstruct the attenuation function of a return-stroke current from the simultaneous measurements of the channel-base current and the radiated electromagnetic fields was presented. One of the assumptions of the whole fram ...

Elsevier2023

A Self-Consistent Return Stroke Model That Includes the Effect of the Ground Conductivity at the Strike Point

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

A current generation type return stroke model which can take into account the possible modifications of the return stroke properties by the soil conductivity at the strike point of the lightning flash is introduced. The model is also capable of incorporati ...

2022

Comment on “Straight lightning as a signature of macroscopic dark matter”

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

In the discussed paper [N. Starkman, H. Winch, J. S. Sidhu, and G. Starkman, Straight lightning as a signature of macroscopic dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 103, 063024 (2021)], the authors have made several assumptions and statements concerning the initiation ...

2022

Augmenting the performance of impoverished sensor networks using machine learning and time reversal: Application to lightning nowcasting and location

Amirhossein Mostajabi

Lightning is formed in the atmosphere through the combination of intricate dynamic and microphysical processes. Mainly due to this complexity, attempts to solve the important problem of lightning prediction have generally failed to yield accurate results. ...

EPFL2021

Estimation of the Lightning Performance of Overhead Lines Accounting for Different Types of Strokes and Multiple Strike Points

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri

Dealing with lightning performance computation, researchers usually consider only negative downward first return strokes and the relevant channel-base peak current distribution. The aim of this article is to account for the lightning flash mechanism, which ...

2021

On the Initiation of Upward Negative Lightning by Nearby Lightning Activity: An Analytical Approach

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

Upward lightning occurs generally from tall structures. The mechanism of the initiation of upward lightning is not yet fully understood. Upward lightning can be classified into two categories based on either the absence or the presence of other lightning a ...

2021

Incidence of Upward Lightning Triggered by Nearby Lightning: A Monte Carlo Simulation

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

Upward lightning is the dominant type of lightning discharge to tall structures. It has been observed that a significant number of these upward flashes are initiated by nearby lightning activity. The aim of this study is to estimate the incidence of upward ...

2021

Bidirectional Recoil Leaders in Upward Lightning Flashes Observed at the Säntis Tower

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi

We report the observation of three negative upward flashes recorded by a high-speed camera at the Säntis Tower during the Summer of 2019. The camera was operating at 10,000 fps and an exposure time of 99 μs. Simultaneous measurements of the lightning curre ...

2021

Lightning to tall structures: Characterization, Modeling and Protection

Antonio Sunjerga

Lightning physics is highly multidisciplinary, involving areas such as plasma physics, electrical engineering, meteorology, thermodynamics and particle physics. Upward lightning is a special type of lightning initiated from tall structures that has attract ...

EPFL2021

An Efficient Methodology for the Evaluation of the Lightning Performance of Overhead Lines

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri

This article proposes a method for the derivation of a formula that links the maximum lightning-induced-overvoltage occurring on an overhead distribution line with the variables that characterize the lightning return stroke, such as the peak current, front ...

2021

A Characterisation of Alpine Mesocyclone Occurrence

Alexis Berne, Marco Gabella, Monika Feldmann

This work presents a characterisation of mesocyclone occurrence and frequency in the Alpine region, as observed from the Swiss operational radar network; 5 years of radar data are processed with a thunderstorm detection and tracking algorithm and subsequen ...

2021

The laser lightning rod project

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi

Lightning is highly destructive due to its high power density and unpredictable character. Directing lightning away would allow to protect sensitive sites from its direct and indirect impacts (electromagnetic perturbations). Up to now, lasers have been una ...

EDP Sciences2021

LMA observations of upward lightning flashes at the Santis Tower initiated by nearby lightning activity

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi, Jacopo Grazioli, Nikola Besic

We present in this paper lightning current measurements, LMA (Lightning Mapping Array) data and fast antenna electric fields associated with upward flashes observed at the Santis Tower during summer of 2017. The LMA network consists of six stations that we ...

Elsevier2020

Latitude and Topographical Dependence of Lightning Return Stroke Peak Current in Natural and Tower-Initiated Negative Ground Flashes

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein

Experimental data show that the peak currents of first and subsequent lightning return strokes in negative ground flashes increase with decreasing latitude. In this paper, the reason for this dependence of peak return stroke current on latitude is explaine ...

2020

Analysis of the lightning production of convective cells

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi, Jacopo Grazioli, Nikola Besic

This paper presents an analysis of the lightningproduction of convective cells. The cells were detected by the MeteoSwiss Thunderstorms Radar Tracking (TRT) algorithm in the course of a lightning measurement campaign thattook place in the summer of 2017 in ...

2019

Polarimetric radar characteristics of lightning initiation and propagating channels

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi, Jacopo Grazioli, Nikola Besic

In this paper we present an analysis of a large dataset of lightning and polarimetric weather radar data collected in the course of a lightning measurement campaign that took place in the summer of 2017 in the area surrounding Säntis, in the northeastern p ...

2019

Meteorological conditions during self-initiated upward lightning at the Säntis tower (Switzerland)

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi, Jacopo Grazioli, Nikola Besic

Meteorological conditions favoring the initiation of upward lightning from tall structures have been only poorly investigated so far. In addition to the scientific interest in this subject, it has practical applications to risk assessment for lightning occ ...

2019