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NFPA 780 Simplified Risk Calculator: By: Dr. C.T. Mata Jan 22, 2016
NFPA 780 Simplified Risk Calculator: By: Dr. C.T. Mata Jan 22, 2016
c.mata@sls-us.com
Contents
1 Introduction 3
7 Risk Calculation 10
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2 USING THE SIMPLIFIED LIGHTNING RISK CALCULATOR
1 Introduction
A lightning risk calculator using the simplified risk procedure presented in NFPA 780 [2014]
has been developed and deployed on the East Coast Lightning Equipment, LLC (ECLE)
engineers, architects, or people in the lightning protection community and provides and
easy and effective way for them to figure out if the lightning protection for the structure
This application was developed by Scientific Lightning Solutions, LLC (SLS) for ECLE
and allows the users to easily calculate the equivalent collection area Ae of any structure
and to perform the simplified lightning risk assessment as per NFPA 780 [2014]. The steps
on how to use this simplified risk calculation tool are described in the following sections.
Note that this tool can be also used to calculate Ae , which can be used for the more complex
lightning risk assessment presented in either NFPA 780 [2014] or IEC 62305-2 [2010].
The current version of this simplified risk calculator does not support report generation,
but this capability will be added in future versions. If you have any questions or suggestions,
please send them to Dr. Carlos T. Mata, SLS at the following email address: c.mata@sls-
us.com
The graphical user interphase (GUI) of the web application is shown in Figure 1. The
two main areas are: (a) the drawing area or the canvas (right hand side) and (b) the
calculation panel (left hand side). The description of the function of each icon, sliding bar,
and dropdown menu, circled in red and numbered with red numbers follows.
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3
1 2
5
2
USING THE SIMPLIFIED LIGHTNING RISK CALCULATOR
6
7
8
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9
10
11
12
13
14 4
1. By default the canvas is in the “Draw Polygon” mode, which is selected by clicking on
the icon. Appendix A presents a brief tutorial that shows how to draw the structures
in the canvas.
2. Clicking this icon puts the canvas in “Move Vertex” mode. In this mode the user can
3. The user can select the units in which the structure is being drawn, Meters or Feet.
Note that the user can switch between units at any time and the structure already
drawn will not be scaled, but instead, the new selected unit will be used to calculate
4. This sliding bar is used to zoom in or zoom out. Simply drag the sliding bar to the
5. After the structure has been drawn, the tool calculates the equivalent collection area
6. If the ground flash density (in flashes/km2 /year) of the area where the structure is
7. This is a hyperlink to a flash density map by Vaisala. The user can select the average
value of ground flash density of the area where the structure is or will be located.
It’s recommended that the user selects the higher value of the range provided in the
8. This drop down menu is used to determine the value of the Location Factor C1 in
9. This drop down menu is used to determine which row of Table L.5.1.2(a) of NFPA
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3 EQUIVALENT COLLECTION AREA
10. This drop down menu is used to determine the column of Table L.5.1.2(a) of NFPA
11. This drop down menu is used to determine the value of the Structure Contents
12. This drop down menu is used to determine the value of the Structure Occupancy
13. This drop down menu is used to determine the value of the Lightning Consequence
14. When the user clicks this push button, the GUI shows the result of the simplified
risk assessment and the calculations are performed as outlined in Sections 5, 6, and
The equivalent collection area Ae is calculated within the web application and the steps,
with some examples, are outlined in Appendix A. The user can define the units used to
draw the structure or structures (ft2 or m2 ). The user can also zoom in or zoom out by
moving the sliding bar on the lower right corner of the web application. There are two icons
that are used to switch the operating mode of the drawing tool: 1) the “Draw Polygon”
mode, and the 2) “Move Vertex” mode. In the “Draw Polygon” mode, the user can draw
the structures by defining the vertices. When the user closes the shape by clicking on the
first vertex, the tool finishes drawing the polygon and asks for the height of the structured,
assuming a flat roof. In the “Move Vertex” mode, the user can click and drag the vertices
that have been previously entered on any of the structures already drawn.
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4 LIGHTNING GROUND FLASH DENSITY NG
The lightning ground flash density Ng , in flashes per km2 per year, can be obtained from
one of the ground flash density maps published by VAISALA, such as the one shown in
Figure 2. The simplified lightning risk calculator contains a link, titled “Flash Density
map,” to a ground flash density map that the user can access on the left hand side of the
webpage. The user can select the average ground flash density for the region where the
building is or will be located or select the maximum value of the ground flash density if a
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4
Page 8 of 15
The annual threat of occurrence Nd or lightning strike frequency to the structure per year
Nd = Ng × Ae × C1 × 10−6 (1)
The tolerable lightning frequency Nc is a measure of the risk of damage to the structure,
including factors affecting risks to the structure, to the contents, and of environmental
coefficients relating to the structure, the con- tents, and the consequence of damage.
1.5 × 10−3
Nc = (2)
C2 × C3 × C4 × C5
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7 RISK CALCULATION
where the structural coefficients C2 , C3 , C4 , and C5 , can be obtained from Tables L.5.1.2(a),
7 Risk Calculation
The tolerable lightning frequency Nc is compared with the annual threat occurrence Nd .
The result of this comparison is used to decide if a lightning protection system is needed.
Page 10 of 15
A EQUIVALENT COLLECTION AREA CALCULATOR
The equivalent collection area is calculated by a drawing tool deployed within the simplified
risk calculator web application. The user can draw polygons and specify their height. Any
number of polygons can be drawn and superimposed, each with its own height. The first
vertex of the polygon is created the first time the user clicks on the canvas. Subsequent
In this case we want to calculate the effective collection area of the building shown in
Figure 3.
32.0
10.0
20.0
Page 11 of 15
A
EQUIVALENT COLLECTION AREA CALCULATOR
(a) (b)
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(c) (d)
Figure 4: Calculating the effective collection area of the building shown in Figure 3. (a) start by defining the vertices
with the building dimensions. (b) the polygon drawing process ends when the user clicks on the first vertex that was
entered. (c) when the user clicks on the first vertex that was entered, the tool asks for the height of the polygon that
was just entered. (d) the tool then shows the area (in black) defined by a line drawn from the edge of the roof of the
structure and extending three times the structure height. The effective collection area is calculated and shown in the
web application.
A EQUIVALENT COLLECTION AREA CALCULATOR
Building on the example of Appendix A.1, imagine that the roof is not flat, but it is pitched
as shown in Figure 5. In this case, the only thing that has to be done is to model the ridge
of the roof as shown in Figure 6. The user can draw multiple structures and they can
overlap each other, so that complex building and roofs can be modeled. The user can also
draw a line to model the roof ridge by clicking on the canvas three times while in “Polygon
Draw” mode: 1) first click is the first point of the line segment, 2) second click is the end
point, 3) third click should be on the first vertex so that the application knows that the
data entry is complete (the application will ask for the height at this point).
20.0 32.0
10.0
20.0
Page 13 of 15
A
(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Figure 6: Calculating the effective collection area of the building shown in Figure 5. Building on the model shown
in Figure 4, we add the model of the roof ridge as follows: (a) start by defining the vertices of the roof ridge, (b) the
polygon drawing process ends when the user clicks on the first vertex that was entered, (c) when the user clicks on
the first vertex that was entered, enter the height of the roof ridge, and (d) the tool then shows the area (in black)
defined by a line drawn from the edge of each of the structures and extending three times their respective heights.
The effective collection area is calculated and shown in the web application.
REFERENCES
References
IEC 62305-2. Protection against lightning – Part 2: Risk management. 2.0 2010-12 edition,
2010.
NFPA 780. Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems. 2014 edition,
2014.
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