Analytical Approach to the Assessment of the Step Voltage at the Surface Above the Horizontal Grounding Electrode

The paper deals with the analytical approach to the assessment of step voltage for the case of horizontal grounding electrode energized by the ideal current source due to the fault or lightning channel current, respectively. The analytical solution of homogenous Pocklington equation provides the current distribution along the electrode in a closed form and, consequently, calculation of the voltage distribution in the vicinity of the electrode from the telegrapher’s equation via numerical integration. Finally, a straightforward calculation of step voltage is carried out. Some illustrative results for the current along the electrode and step voltage are given.