Sistema para medição de parâmetros de canais ascendentes de descargas atmosféricas na estação de pesquisa do Morro do Cachimbo.

Abstract

Lightning is responsible for most of the non-schedule outages in the electric system. The upward leader defines the striking point location, and some researchers believe that the electric current during its initial stage is able to cause damages to sensitive equipments, as those ones installed in telecommunication towers, even if the physical process does not develop a lightning. These aspects have motivated investigations related to the upward leader initiation, aiming a better characterization of the associated process. This context justifies the presented work, whose objective was developing a measuring system able to register the electric field, the voltage drop and the current associated with upward leader. The system was implemented in the Morro do Cachimbo Station, situated 15 km to Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais State, Brazil, to measure the major interesting parameters to the characterization of upward leaders from tall structures. There is a expectation that developments following this research may contribute to improve shielding and protection techniques. The measuring system is described in this text and the first results obtained from its application are considered, as well its potentialities and limitations. The problems and difficulties inherent to its implementation and maintenance are commented in the perspective of allowing the system improvement in a close future.