Negative First Return‐Stroke Current Peaks and Impulse Charge Transfer

For the effective and efficient insulation design of a power line, the return‐stroke current waveform parameters are indispensable. Charge transfer is one of the important parameters when damage to equipment on a power line due to the energy of lightning is discussed. The amount of charge transfer associated with a lightning flash or individual strokes can be estimated by using the electric field change obtained with a slow antenna. The authors observed the electric field waveforms in south Kyushu for the purpose of efficient acquisition of return‐stroke current parameters. In this paper, the authors discuss the relation between the negative first return‐stroke current peaks and the impulse charge transfer based on the observed electric field waveforms.