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Antonio Sunjerga

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Related publications (45)

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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

Multiple-Station Measurements of a Return-Stroke Electric Field From Rocket-Triggered Lightning at Distances of 68-126 km

Antonio Sunjerga, Quanxin Li

Far-field measurements of lightning-produced electromagnetic fields are of high importance for lightning location systems. Data from recorded lightning strokes can be, for example, used to assess the risk of lightning-induced damage in some geographical ar ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2019

Reduction of a Cone-Shaped Terrain Grounding Resistance by Remote Grounding

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

Tall structures such as wind turbines and mobile phone base stations are often installed in remote and hilly locations to gain more power or to have line of sight to end users. Those locations are usually very rocky and characterized by a low-conductivity ...

IEEE2019

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

Tower and Path-Dependent Voltage Effects on the Measurement of Grounding Impedance for Lightning Studies

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga, Hamidreza Karami, Keyhan Sheshyekani

We present an analysis aimed at evaluating the effect of the presence of the tower on the measurement of the grounding impedance. The Numerical Electromagnetics Code NEC-4 is used for the full-wave modeling of the structure including the tower and its foot ...

2019

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

High-frequency response of a hemispherical grounding electrode

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

The lightning discharge current is characterized by a high-frequency spectrum extending from DC to about 10 MHz. The calculation of the grounding impedance is one of the most important aspects of designing lightning protection systems. The search for analy ...

Elsevier2024

Mountaintop gamma ray observations of two TGFs at the Santis Tower, Switzerland with coincident radio waveforms characteristic of a RREA current pulse

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi

The electrodynamics of the Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flash (TGF) are not fully understood but the last decade has seen compelling observations in lightning leader (+IC) radio emission that have linked a subset of TGF satellite observations with unique waveform ...

2021

An experimental field study of the grounding system response of tall wind turbines to impulse surges

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga, Nicolas Mora Parra

In this work, an experimental investigation of the grounding system behavior of tall wind turbines in both time and frequency domains is presented. Two scenarios were considered: in the first one, measurements were carried out on the grounding system embed ...

Elsevier2018

On Wind Turbine Impedance Analysis via Different Approaches

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Antonio Sunjerga

Lightning is one of the main causes of damage to wind turbines. The continuous increase in the wind turbine heights makes these structures even more vulnerable against lightning. As a result, the design of proper lightning protection system is of high impo ...

Ieee2017

Lorentz Force from a Current-Carrying Wire on a Charge in Motion under the Assumption of Neutrality in the Symmetrical Frame of Reference

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

It is commonly assumed that a wire conducting an electric current is neutral in the laboratory frame of reference (the rest frame of the lattice of positive ions). Some authors consider that the wire is neutral only in a symmetrical frame of reference, in ...

2018

Meteorological Aspects of Self-Initiated Upward Lightning at the Santis Tower (Switzerland)

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

Interest in exploring the meteorological conditions favoring upward lightning from tall man-made structures has grown in recent years, largely due to the worldwide expansion of wind energy. To this end, instrumented towers existing around the world are the ...

2019

On the Influence of an Elevated Terrain on the Grounding Resistance of a Vertical Rod

Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

In this paper, we analyze the grounding resistance of a vertical grounding rod located in an elevated terrain. Tall structures such as wind turbines and mobile phone base stations are often installed in remote and hilly locations to gain more power or to f ...

2019

Laser-guided lightning

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

Lightning discharges between charged clouds and the Earth’s surface are responsible for considerable damages and casualties. It is therefore important to develop better protection methods in addition to the traditional Franklin rod. Here we present the fir ...

Nature Publishing Group2023

Laser-guided lightning using kHz filamentation at 1030 nm

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

Controlling lightning is a long-time dream of mankind. Along with the rapid evolution of laser technologies, the idea to develop lightning protection based on filamentation of high-power ultrashort-pulse lasers emerged in the 1990s [1]. The goal of the Las ...

2023

Calculation of the Grounding Resistance of Structures Located on Elevated Terrain

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

We present an analysis of the response of a grounding electrode located on the top of a mountain. Specifically, we derive an analytical solution for the low-frequency response of a hemispheric grounding electrode buried on the top of a cone-shaped mountain ...

2019

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

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

Säntis Lightning Research Facility Instrumentation

Mario Paolone, Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Davide Pavanello, Mohammad Azadifar, Antonio Sunjerga, Amirhossein Mostajabi, Abraham Rubinstein, Carlos Alberto Romero Romero

The Säntis Tower was instrumented in May 2010 to measure currents of lightning discharges striking the tower. Since then the system has been recurrently updated and expanded. Currently, data associated with lightning strikes to the tower are collected at f ...

2021

X-rays associated with the stepping of upward negative leaders at the Säntis Tower: Preliminary results

Farhad Rachidi-Haeri, Marcos Rubinstein, Antonio Sunjerga

2022