Analysis of lightning-radiated electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of lossy ground

An antenna theory (AT) approach in the frequency domain is presented to compute electromagnetic fields radiated by a lightning return stroke. The lightning channel is modeled as a lossy-wire monopole antenna (a wire antenna with distributed resistance) energized by a current source at its base, and the ground is modeled as a lossy half-space. The method of moments is used for solving the governing electric field integral equation (EFIE) in the frequency domain. The resultant current distribution along the channel is used to calculate electromagnetic fields at different distances from the channel. All field components are evaluated using a rapid but accurate procedure based on a new approximation of Sommerfeld integrals. In contrast with the previous models, the approach proposed here is characterized by a self-consistent treatment of different field components in air or on the surface of a lossy half-space. It is shown that the omission of surface wave terms in the general field equations, as done in the perfect-ground approximation, can strongly affect model-predicted field components.     

Analysis of thin-wire ground penetrating radar systems for buried target detection, using a hybrid MoM-FDTD technique

A hybrid method combining the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and the method of moments (MoM) in the frequency domain is proposed to model the electromagnetic behavior of a realistic ground penetrating radar (GPR) system. The GPR is a non-destructive testing (NDT) technique. It consists of a broadband thin-wire vee-dipole antenna located in the vicinity of a lossy ground containing unexploded ordnances. In the solution of the problem, we identify two sub-problems, namely, the antenna problem and the ground buried object problem. Capabilities of the MoM for solution of the governing thin-wire electric field integral equation of the antenna problem and general FDTD solution of Maxwell's equations posed by the scattering of arbitrary shape objects in multilayered media are combined to efficiently and accurately simulate the electromagnetic operation of the system. The proposed simulation technique is validated against the original MoM solution of the problem. It is shown that the proposed hybrid technique exhibits superior performance based on both computation time and numerical accuracy compared with the conventional FDTD and MoM solution techniques. It is also shown that the position and size of the target, as well as the electromagnetic characteristics of the target, can be determined using a simple signal processing technique.     

Direct use of discrete complex image method for evaluating electric field expressions in a lossy half space

A modelling technique is proposed for direct use of the discrete complex image method (DCIM) to derive closed-form expressions for electric field components encountered in the electric field integral equation (EFIE) representing a lossy half space problem. The technique circumvents time consuming numerical computation of Sommerfeld integrals by approximating the kernel of the integrals with appropriate mathematical functions. This is done by appropriate use of either the least-square Prony (LS-Prony) method or the matrix pencil method (MPM) to represent electric field expressions in terms of spherical waves and their derivatives. A comparison is made between the two methods based on the computation time and accuracy and it is shown that the LS-Prony method performs two?three times faster than the MPM in approximating the integral kernels depending on the platform. The main feature of the proposed technique is its ability for direct inclusion in the kernel of computational tools based on the method of moments solution of the EFIE. This can be viewed as an advantage over the conventional DCIM approximation of spatial Green's functions for mixed potential integral equation for cases where the problem in hand can be more efficiently represented by the EFIE (e.g. the thin-wire EFIE). The accuracy of the proposed technique is validated against numerical integration of Sommerfeld integrals for an arbitrary electric dipole inside a lossy half space.