11th International Conference on Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering (IcETRAN), Nis, 3-6 June 2024

Piece-Wise Fourier Transform of the Typical

Lightning Discharge Currents
Vesna Javor
Department of Power Engineering
Faculty of Electronic Engineering,
University of Nis
Nis, Serbia
vesna.javor@elfak.ni.ac.rs
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2356-8710

Abstract—Piece-Wise Fourier Transform (PWFT) procedure is for a1 = 20 the coefficient in the first and a2 = 0.0665 in the
presented in this paper and applied to the typical lightning second term, if there is a single current peak Im in the waveshape
discharge currents: 10/350 µs/µs of the positive stroke, 1/200 µs/µs at tm = 26µs. For waveshapes with multiple peaks, the function
of the first, and 0.25/100 µs/µs of the subsequent stroke, as defined NP-AEF(k1,…, kN+1) for N peaks [4] can be used:
in the IEC 62305 Standard. These currents are approximated by
the Analytically Extended Function (AEF) and their frequency
spectra are obtained. The same procedure is applied to the  k1  t a 1i
 t 
measured impulse currents represented by the double-exponential  I m1  b1i  exp 1    , 0  t  t m1 ,
functions. The PWFT procedure is suitable for the impulse  i 1  t m1  t m1  
waveshapes with multiple peaks which is often needed in the 
frequency analysis of lightning currents and fields.  n1 kn
 t  t m n1  t  t m n1  
a ni

 I m j  ( I m n  I m n1 ) b n i  exp 1    ,
Keywords—Fourier transform, lightning discharge currents, iNP AEF (t )   j 1 i 1  t m n  t m n1  t m n  t m n1  

amplitude spectrum, lightning electric field
 t m n1  t  t m n ,
 N a N 1 i
 I  b  t exp 1  t   ,
I. INTRODUCTION k N 1

The typical waveshapes from the IEC 62305 Standard [1]
that are often used to represent lightning strokes currents are
defined by the rise time T1 and the decay time T2 to the half of
the current peak value. Besides that, they are characterized by
other parameters such as: the current peak values, the maximum
current derivatives in the rising parts, the charges, the specific
energies, etc. Fourier transform of such currents is needed for the
computation of lightning electromagnetic fields and the induced
effects, for procedures to be carried out in the frequency domain,
as well as for the choice of frequency range of the measurement
equipment. Amplitude spectra of the typical lightning currents
are obtained by the Piece-Wise Fourier Transform (PWFT)
procedure [2] and presented in this paper. This procedure is
based on the approximation of currents’ waveshapes by the
Analytically Extended Function (AEF), proposed in [3] and [4].
II. TYPICAL LIGHTNING CURRENTS APPROXIMATED BY THE
ANALYTICALLY EXTENDED FUNCTION
A typical positive stroke current is defined in the IEC 62305
Standard as the impulse T1/T2 = 10/350 µs/µs. This current can
be approximated [3] by the 1P-AEF(1,1) with one term before,
and the other term after the single peak. It is given by:
 t  t 
a1
  I m  exp 1    , 0  t  tm , 
  t m  t 
 m  
iAEF (t )   a2
 t  t 
 I m  exp 1    , tm  t,
  t m  t m  
 
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Technological
Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia [grant number 451-03-
65/2024-03/200102].
  m j   N 1 i   t  t mN  t ,
 mN  
 j 1  i 1  t mN
 
𝒌𝒏
for the parameters ani and bni, so that ∑𝒊=𝟏 𝒃𝒏𝒊 . The number of
terms in the n-th interval of approximation between the peaks
tmn and tmn-1 is denoted by kn. Index m refers to the extreme
current value (minimum or maximum) or to the chosen current
value at the time moment, so that one term of the function
approximates the waveshape from Imn-1 to Imn, whereas Im0=0 as
the waveshape starts from zero value at t = 0.
A typical first negative stroke current is defined in the IEC
62305 Standard as the impulse T1/T2 = 1/200 µs/µs. This current
is approximated by the 1P-AEF(1,1) with the parameters a1 = 20,
a2 = 0.0096 and tm = 2.6µs [3]. In the IEC 62305 Standard, a
typical subsequent negative stroke current is defined as the
impulse T1/T2 = 0.25/100 µs/µs. This current is approximated in
[3] by the 1P-AEF(1,1) with the parameters a1 = 20, a2 = 0.00467
and tm = 0.65µs.
The waveshapes of the normalized currents are given by their
rising parts (up to the peak current Im at tm) and decaying parts in
Figs. 1-3 for the positive, the first negative and the subsequent
negative lightning strokes. The corresponding maximum current
derivatives are: for the positive stroke current diFP/dt≅25kA/µs
for LPL I (Lightning Protection Level I) and 𝐼m = 200kA, for
the first negative stroke current diFN/dt ≅125kA/µs for LPL I and
𝐼m = 100kA, and for the subsequent negative stroke diFS/dt
≅250kA/µs for LPL I and 𝐼m = 50kA. Maximum current values
for LPL I and their typical parameters are given in [5].

979-8-3503-8699-8/24/$31.00 ©2024 IEEE

iFP(t)/Im iSN(t)/Im
1.0 1.0

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

a) 5. 10 6 0.00001 0.000015 0.00002 0.000025

t [s] 1. 10 7 2. 10 7 3. 10 7 4. 10 7 5. 10 7 6. 10 7
a) t [s]

iFP(t)/Im iSN(t)/Im
1.0 1.0

0.8 0.8

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0.0002 0.0003 0.0004 0.0005 0.0006 0.0007 b) 0.00005 0.00010 0.00015 t [s]
b) t [s]

Fig. 1. a) Rising part and b) decaying part of the positive stroke current Fig. 3. a) Rising part and b) decaying part of the subsequent negative stroke
T1/T2 = 10/350 µs/µs current T1/T2 = 0.25/100 µs/µs

iFN(t)/Im III. PIECE-WISE FOURIER TRANSFORM OF THE TYPICAL

1.0 LIGHTNING CURRENTS FROM THE IEC 62305 STANDARD
The Piece-Wise Fourier Transform [2] is applied to the
0.8
typical waveshapes of the positive, first negative and subsequent
negative stroke lightning currents. The results for their frequency
0.6 spectra are given in Figs. 4-6. The normalized amplitude of the
Fourier transform for the positive stroke current 10/350 µs/µs
0.4 decays from 1 at the frequency f =0 to the value 0.001 at about
100kHz. For the first negative stroke, this happens at the
0.2 frequency of about 400kHz, and for the subsequent negative
stroke at the frequency of about 1MHz. The lines are given in
Figs. 4-6 to denote Abs{I(f )/I(0)}=1 and Abs{I(f )/I(0)}=0.001.
a) 5. 10 7 1. 10 6 1.5 10 6 2. 10 6 2.5 10 6 t [s]
Abs{IFP (f ) /I FP (0)}
iFN(t)/Im
1.0

0.1

0.8

0.6 0.001

0.4

10 5
0.2

0.0002 0.0004 0.0006 10 100 1000 10 4 10 5 10 6 f [Hz]

b) t [s]

Fig. 2. a) Rising part and b) decaying part of the first negative stroke current Fig. 4. Amplitude spectrum of the positive stroke current
T1/T2 = 1/200 µs/µs T1/T2 = 10/350 µs/µs
Abs{IFN (f ) /I FN (0)} TABLE I. PARAMETERS OF THE FUNCTIONS APPROXIMATING FIRST
NEGATIVE STROKE CURRENTS
1

Current Parameter
function term i I0i [kA] αi [1/s] βi [1/s]
0.1
Bruce-
- 30 4.4.104 4.6.105
Golde

Cianos- 1 20 2.104 2.106

0.01
Pierce 2 2 1.103 1.104

0.001

The same procedure is applied to the Cianos-Pierce function.

The amplitude spectra for these two currents are obtained by
PWFT and given in Figs. 7 and 8.
10 100 1000 10 4 10 5 10 6 f [Hz]
The normalized amplitude of the Fourier transform for the
Fig. 5. Amplitude spectrum of the first negative stroke current Bruce-Golde current function the decays from 1 at the frequency
T1/T2 = 1/200 µs/µs f =0 to 0.001 at the frequency of about 900kHz, whereas for the
Cianos-Pierce function at the frequency of about 600kHz. The
Abs{ISN (f ) /I SN (0)} horizontal lines are given additionally in Figs. 7 and 8 to denote
1.000 the values Abs{I(f )/I(0)}=1 and Abs{I(f )/I(0)}=0.001.
0.500

Abs{IBG (f ) /I BG (0)}
0.100 1.000

0.050 0.500

0.010 0.100

0.005 0.050

0.010
10 100 1000 10 4 10 5 10 6 f [Hz]
0.005

Fig. 6. Amplitude spectrum of the subsequent negative stroke current

T1/T2 = 0.25/100 µs/µs

IV. PIECE-WISE FOURIER TRANSFORM OF THE LIGHTNING 10 100 1000 10 4 10 5 10 6 f

CURRENTS REPRESENTED BY EXPONENTIAL FUNCTIONS [Hz]

Lightning stroke currents can be modelled by different Fig. 7. Amplitude spectrum of the first return stroke current approximated by
mathematical functions [6]. Some of those are based on the Bruce-Golde function
exponential functions, as proposed by Bruce and Golde in [7],
and Cianos and Pierce in [8].
The Bruce-Golde function is given by Abs{ICP (f ) /I CP (0)}

iBG (t )  I 0  exp   t   exp   t  ,  1.000

  0.500

and the Cianos-Pierce function is given by

0.100

iCP (t )  I 01  exp  1 t   exp  1 t    I 0 2  exp   2 t   exp   2 t  .  0.050

 
0.010
The corresponding parameters of these two functions are
0.005
given in Table I. The Bruce-Golde function can be replaced by
AEF terms, as
0.001
iBG (t )  I 0  exp   t   exp   t   

I 0 (α t  1) exp ( α t )  α t exp( 1) exp (1  α t ) 10 100 1000 10 4 10 5 10 6
f
 (β t  1) exp ( β t )  β t exp( 1) exp (1  β t ), [Hz]
 
Fig. 8. Amplitude spectrum of the first return stroke current approximated by
so that the Piece-Wise Fourier Transform is applied to such the Cianos-Pierce function
terms, as presented in [2].
 In the general AEF term, used for approximating the function Fourier Transform can be applied to the measured electric
from the value Im j-1 at the time moment tm j-1 to the value Im j at fields as in [9], but can be also used for the reconstruction of the
the time moment tm j, the parameter a is defined as ai in (1) and attenuation functions in the return-stroke models [10] based on
ani in (2), so that the following can be written: the finite-duration lightning field measurements.
The advantage of using PWFT over other procedures to get
a the Fourier Transform of the function is the possibility to
 t  t m j 1  t  t m j 1  
iterm (t )  I m j 1  I m j  I m j 1   exp 1    determine PWFT of the multi-peaked impulse functions of finite
 t m j  t m j 1  
 t m j  t m j 1  duration by approximating their waveshapes from peak to peak
using NP-AEF and not using window functions.
a
 t m j 1   t m j 
I m j 1  I m j  I m j 1  
1  exp   t  
t 
  
 t m j  t m j 1 t m j  t m j 1   t m j  t m j 1 t m j  tm j 1 
REFERENCES

[1] IEC 62305-1 Standard, Protection Against Lightning - Part 1: General

I m j 1  I m j  I m j 1 D1 t  D 2  exp 1  D1 t  D 2  ,
a
 
for D1 = (tmj – tmj-1) and D2 = – tmj-1D1= – tmj-1 (tmj – tmj-1) .
-1
Fourier transform of this general AEF term is
Principles, Ed. 2.0, 2010-2012.
[2] V. Javor, “Piece-Wise Fourier Transform of Aperiodic Functions,” 21st
Int. Symp. INFOTEH-JAHORINA 2022, pp. 1-4, Mar. 2022, doi:
10.1109/INFOTEH53737.2022.9751264.
[3] V. Javor, P. Rancic, “A Channel-Base Current Function for Lightning
-1
Return-Stroke Modelling,” IEEE Trans. on Electromagnetic
Compatibility, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 245-249, Feb. 2011.
[4] V. Javor, Lundengård, M. Rančić, and S. Silvestrov, "Analytical
Representation of Measured Lightning Currents and Its Application to

I term ( p) 
I mj -1

I mj  I mj -1  exp a  D2 p /D1 
γ a  1, z1 , z2 ,
Electromagnetic Field Estimation," IEEE Trans. on Electromagnetic
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D1 a  p /D1 
a 1
p [5] Protection Against Lightning—Part I: General Principles, IEC Standard
62305-1, 2006.
 
[6] C.-L. Wooi, Z. Abdul-Malek, M. N. K. Hafizi Rohani, A. M. Bin Yusof,
for the Gamma function S. N. Md Arshad, A. I Elgayar, "Comparison of lightning return stroke
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Electrical Engineering and Informatics, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1478-1488, Dec.
z2
2019, doi: 10.11591/eei.v8i4.1613.
γ a  1, z1 , z2   t a exp(t ) d t , [7] C. E. R. Bruce and R. H. Golde, "The lightning discharge," Journal of the
z1 Institution of Electrical Engineers-Part II: Power Engineering, vol. 88, no.
  6, pp. 487-505, 1941.
[8] N. Cianos and E. T. Pierce, "A ground-lightning environment for
z1=(D1t1+D2)(a+p/D1) and z2=(D1t2+D2)(a+p/D1). Just for j=1, engineering usage," Technical Report No. l, Contract L.S.-2817-A3,
the first addition in (7) is excluded. Stanford Research Institute, August 1972.
The Bruce-Golde function expressed by (5) can be replaced [9] R. Aramini, M. Brignone, D. Mestriner, M. Pastorino, R. Procopio, A.
by four general terms (6), and afterwards, (7) is used to obtain Randazzo, M. Rubinstein, “On the Fourier Transform of Measured
Electric Fields Radiated by a Lightning Return Stroke,” IEEE Trans. on
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The Cianos-Pierce function can be replaced by eight general [10] R. Aramini, M. Brignone, D. Mestriner, M. Pastorino, R. Procopio, A.
terms (6), and afterwards, the PWFT procedure is applied in Randazzo, M. Rubinstein, “On the reconstruction of the attenuation
order to obtain the Fourier Transform of the function. function of a return-stroke current from the Fourier Transform of finite-
duration measurements,” International Journal of Electrical Power and
Energy Systems, 142 (2022) 108186, pp. 1-12, Apr. 2022.