DEVELOP]VENT AND OPERATIO]'T OF

CROSSED LOOP

SFERTC DIRECTION FINDER

By
VERNON

D"

WADE

Bachelor of Science
Texas Technologlcal College

Lubboek, Texas
19[B

Submitted

to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the Oklahoma Agrieulttrral and Mechanical College in Par"tial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
ilIASTER OF SCIEI{CE

1qq1 - //-

1t

DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATION OF T, CROSSED LOOP

SFERTC DIRECTION FTNDER

\TERNON

D.

WADE

IIASTER OF SCIENCE

t95t

THESIS AND ABSTRACT APPROVED:

o Al -g* Faeulty

Representatlve

1it
PREFACE

In the fall and sprlng soasons cold dry artic air masses and warm molst troplcal alr masses meet ln the vlclnity of central Unlted States. This area rangos from Montana, North Dakota, and Mir:nesota on the north to Texas, Loui-slana, and Misstsstppl on the south. In thls reglon the r:nstable warm air belng forced up by the coLdsr alr causes some of the most severe thundenstorms experlencod anywhene ln the world.. Somo of ,these mone turbulent stonms deVelop into tornadoes and bnlng havoc and destnuctlon to certain areas that ie almost unbeLlevable. These storms stnlke qulckly glvlng very lttt1e tlme to protect llfe and pnoperty. There ls very lltb1e lnfornatlon concennlng theln orlgln and not too much ls lsrown of theln aotual composltlon. From obsorvatlon lt ls certaln that
'

tbe wtnd veLocltles around the oye are veny hlghr probably nangtng upwand, to 5OO mttes por hou.:r. Aocornpanylng those hlgb velooltles are extnemoLy hlgh pressune gradlents whlch cause closed bulldtngs to actually explod.e fnom withln when the eye of the tornado passes over them. It ls not isr.own what kind of elestnlcal actlvlty ls encountened tn the'tornado, but the thrrndEnEtonms f:rom whlsh tho tonnad.o orlglnatos aro always extnemel.y aatlvo o1ectrlcally. Intensg and nuraenouq llghtnlng etnokes are obsenved ln and around the tr.urbulent cloud.s. Ttre tonnEdo l.tself nay be seon and folLowed, by radar, 'The reflected radan waves ano pnobably comlng from tho molsture content of the assoclated c1oud. If'there is to be tfune to take pnecautlons agalnst pensonal

iv lnJury and property damage, then ttrere must bo a means of d.etecting the tornado before it actuarly drops fnom the elouds and starts its d.evastation, There is considerable neseareh being conducted in ttris field of prediction, detection, and tracking of tornadoeg. It is the purpose of tho nesearch being eonducted. at Oklahoma -A. and M. College to develop, if possible, a way to d.etect and track a lornado. A system ls being developed which w1]1 enable the r"eseareh team at the college to collect valuable data concernlng the location of the thunderstorm, number and intensity of lightning discharges, wave shape of the electromagnetic rad.iation associated. with the llghtning dischargosr snd atmospheri.c potentials as for:nd from a continuous re cording magne tome ter. The speclflc problem being stud.ied. in this thesis ls the problem of locatlng the lightning dlsctrarge. The d.evice that ls bo do this job is an instantaneous direction flnd.er which will pick up the radlation from the dlscharge and. give an indication of tho direetion from which the signal came. By the use of these devi-ces set up at d.lfferent locations, the two bearlngs can be used to find the exact loeation of the lightning discharge by the process of triangulation, 0f eourse, to reach any accurate conclusions and be able to develop the equipment, tt is necessary to hrow as much as possibLe about the phenomena being studled. Thls necossitates a stud.y of the formation of a thundereloud and the mechanism of the lightning diseharge. With this in rnind. the foJ.l-owlng has been made as a logical part of the d.evelopment of the sferlc direction find.er.

ACKNOWI,EDGI\MNT

The author 1s grateful

to the staff of the Oklahoma Insti-

tute of Tecbnology fon all assistance given hlm while preparj-ng this thesls. Speclal thanks are due the Researcb. and Development Laboratory for bul1d1ng the loop antennas and Dr. Herbert L. Jones whose suggestlons were vory helpful in preparing the il&rrllsenlpt.

vL TABTE OF
CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE...,o..
ACKNOWI,EDGMENT

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LTST OF TLLUSTRATIONS
CHAPTER

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. . . . ., The Aln Mass Thunderstorm . . . . o . The Morrntaln Thr.rnderstorm . . . . . . TheColdFrontlhunderstorm . o o.. Tho Warm Front Thrrnderstorm . o . . Malntenance of Thundenstorms . . . . Thundencloud Electrlf icatlon Theonies TIIEIIGHININGSTROKE..... .. .. . Potentlals and Fleld Gradlents . . . Cu:rnent ln the Stnoke . . . . . . . . ThgDlscharge ..,. ...... ..
THE THUNDERSTOR}.{
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PRINCIPLES OF DIRECTION FTNDING AIVD

LOOP ANTENNAS.
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. .. Descrlptlon of the Loop Antennas . . . IV. A COMPI,ETE SFERICS DTRECTION F'IiVDER . .

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EXPERTAtrNTAL RESULTS AND CO$CLUSIONS

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v11

LISI OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Flgure
l_.1
Page

of an o. . . L.2 Schematlc Diagram Showlng the Development of a Mountaln Thundgrstorm . . . . r . . . . . . . .,

Schematic Dlagram Showing the Development Alr l,{ass Thr:nderstorm . . . . . . . . . . 1.3

2
3

. . . . .^. . c . . . . . . . . . 1.lf $chematlc Diagnam Showing the Development of the WarmFnontThr.mderstonm...... .. r.5 A Thunderstorm Showlng the Down Draft tJtlhlch Replenishes the Molsture Necossa{f to Malntaln the Thundgrstorm ., . . . . . . . . . ., . . . 1.6 Dlstrlbutlon of Electrlc Changes ln a Thr:ndorstonm Accordlng to Simpsonts Theory . . . . . 2.L Diag:ram Showing Devolopment of the Step Leaden inaLightntngDlscharge ....... r.. .. 2.2 Cu:rnent Wave Assoclated wlth a Cloud to Ground. . o . ., ,. r.. LightnlngDlscharge. ... . 3.1 Polar Radiation Characteristics of a Loop Antenna . . 3.2 Polar Radlation Plot of Crossed. Loop Antennas . . 3.3 Deflection of Electron Beam in the Cathode Ray Tube from Crossed Loop Slgnals . t o,, . . . 3.[ Loop Dimenslons ln Detail . . . . . o . . 3.5 Detail of Coil Winding i-n Loop Antenna . . . . 3.6 Radiation Pattern of Loop A (East-West Loop). . . 3.7 Radiatlon Pattern of Loop B (North-South Loop). . l.r-.r Clrcuit Dlagram of the Amplifiers . . . ., . . . br.z Frequency Response Curves of the Arrpllflers . . . l+.3 Clrcult Dlagrnm of the Cathode Ray Tube Circuit [.]+ Circuit Diagram of the Power Supplles . o . . . .
o

Schematie Diagram Showing the Development of Cold Front and Overrunning Cold Front Thrxrder-

storms

5
6

IO 19 20

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26
28 29

31 32 39
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viit
Figu:re
Page

5.r Plctures of the Remote Stonm of July 2, L95I r" [9 5.2 Pletr:res of the Stonn of July 3r L95t... ...50 5.3 Plctures of the Storm of July 3r 195r... ...5r
5.1+

Plctunes of the Dlrecti.on Flnder and Hutment

...52

I
CHAPTER

Tffi THUNDERSTORM In the formation of a thr:nderstorm thene are several- cond.ibions nocessary. They are: (1) the presence of water vapora ln the air; (2) the presence of meteorological and (or) topographieal eondiLions favorable to the movement of moistureladen air up to the condensation leve1; and (3) conditions favonable to the formation of sustained strong upward convoction
sys tems.

Most thundensto:rms may be classified. as 9ne of five general types on a combination of some of these types. They are the

alr mass, the mor:ntain, the cold-fnont, the overrunning cold fnont, and the warm fnont thr:nderstorm. The alr mass thr:nderstorm is most prevalent on warm hr.rmid
there ane nelatLvoly weak horlzontal pressure grad,ients. Heatlng fnom the st::r. causes the air next to the eartht s surface to be wa:rmed.; the warm alr expands, becomes llghter than the surnoundlng alr, and starts to rlse. As the ai:r rises lt encountens less atmospherlc pressure and expands still more. Thls r.rnstable condition continues untll the warm air reaches an altitude at which lt has the satne tempenature and pressure conditions as the surrormding air. Ttris condition usually occurs at altitudes of two or three thousand feet up to as high as forty five or fifty thousand. feet above the surface of, the earth. The impontant condition that must be satisfied for thunderstonm formation ls that there be a dry adiabatic or super-adiabatic temperature $nadient from the earth up to the cl-oud. Ievel. This is the cond.ays when

d.ltlon ln which the temperature of the air decreases with increase ln helght at the same rate or a greater rate than unsaturated alr, warmed at the surfaco, cools as 1t rises and. expands adlabatically. An adlabatic expansion is one in whlch no heat ls added or taken away from the expanding system. This condition is very nearly realized ln free air which rises rapidIy. It seems that it sometirnes takes a day or two of hot weatheFr and the mixlng of eonvection currents of air before this eonditton is realized and thr:nderstonms start developing. When tb.e warm aln does neach this eondition and rlsos to the condensatlon level, the moistune w111 start condensing, giving up 1ts latent }.eat of condsnsatlon. This heat makes the rising air even warmer than the sumor:nding air and the convectlon air eurrent becomes stronger. This vlolent convecti.on current may also be the main factor in electrifying the eloud. The ain mass thr.:nderstorn wlll form when (1) the temperature gnadient is equal to on greator than the dry ad.iabatic

\-4
\
Earttrt s Surf
aee

Freezlng
IJEVEJ.

umulo-ni-mbus Clouds

Condensatlon

Sqpface Heating

convectlon

Level

\.*"ents

Flgr:re 1.1. Schematic diagram showing the development of an air

mass thurrderstorm"

whlch exlsts between the gror:nd and the condensatlon leve1,

(2) hor"lzontal pressure gnadients are smal1 and result in very llttle surfaco wlnd, and (3) lf there is sufflelent moisture ln tbe alr. Tbls type of thundenstorm ean be locally severe wlth gusty surface winds. The strong coflvection cuments nay carrT th.e molsture to tthe freezlng level and prod.uee hail, but lt very se,Ldorr develops into a tornado type of cloud. ,".,' Mountain thr:ndenstorms are vbny slmllar in nature to tb.e alr mess thund.erstorm. The sunrs rays strlking the slde of tho mourtaln causes heatlng of thei alrr next to the qqr:ntaln sld.e. T-hls warm air w111 expand and become llghter than the alr away from lhe mountainr so lt will be forced up by the heavien cold. aln whloh nrrns r:nder it. Thus the Trrar& aln may be forced up to the condensatton level if sufficieat moisture is present:'. In

\fr
Colrvectloo

_Fnee zLng

Level

tevel
Mor:ntaln

Condensatlon

Heatlng

Flgri::e Lnz. Sehematic diagram showing the development of

mountain thunder$ torm.

l+

this case the thunderstorm will develop without the temperature gradient described. as necessary for the air mass thr:nderstorms. Also mountains may ald the formation of thr:nd.erstorms when horizontal pressure gradients fo::ce the air up over the mor:ntalns. The kinetlc enerry of the ain may carry it above the mountain to the condensation Ievel. I-f the air is sufficiently unstable after it reaches the condensation level to continue rising in a convection current, then a thr:nderstorm will develop. This type of storm is also 1oealIy severe with rain, posstbly hail, anA gusty winds. Tornadoes are not usually associated with thom. A eold front is defined as the boundany between a mass of cold dny air and a mass of warm air in a system in which the In the nonthern hemisphere coJ-d air is neplaeing the warm air. eoLd. alr pil-es up over the arctlc region and then fonces its way southward meetlng warm tnopical molst air. The cold air is the most dense so it tends to run r.rnder the tropical air. It ls thls condition which causes the formatlon of thunderstorms along a cold front. Those storms created in front of the co1d. fnont are eall-ed. cold. front thunde::stonms. The forclng up of the warm moist ai.r by the cold front sets up the same condltions as the heating in the al:r mass and mor.ntain thunderstorms. The warm alr becomes unstable when forced up to the condensatlon lgvet and the strong convection currents are established. These type of storms may develop as much as 5O or 100 miles ahead. of the front itself and are ver-y severe along the entire length of the front in rnany cases. The instabillty between the two alr masses deve.lops tremend.ous energies, and the thund.er-

storms are the best breed.ing places

Gror-rnd.

for the tornado.

resistance may retard the outgoi-ng wanm ain if the cold front is moving rapidly, and the cold air will tend to overrun the warm air for a few m11es near the earths surface. This

creates An unstable condition in wb.ich the warm air nean the surface fras much colder ain above i-t. The warm light air wilL rise up through the heavy cold air, and strong convection currents w111 develop. The storms created by these currents are called. overrunning cold fr.ont thunderstorms and they are capable

of developing inlo tonnadoes. Cold fronts usually travel f::om northwest to souttreast in the Unlted States, and the tornadoes which d.evelop with the coldfnont thr:nderstorms almost always travel para11eI to the cold' fr:ont, resulting in a line of travel fnom a southwest to a norih0venrr.mning
Thundenstonm

Cold-f::ont

Cold-front

Th.understorm

Cumulo-ntmbus Clouds

\r
C

- Level

Freezing

---+

Co1d

Alr
onvection '////

Condensatlon LeveL

Figure 1.3.

ar.th Schematie diagram showing_tho development of coldfront and overn:nning cold-front thunderstorms.

east dl::ection. These severe stonms continue as long as the eold. front continues to move so as to encounten the warm moist ai-r. If the cold air stops and stants to reced.er the system becomes a warm front. Tho wa::m front is defined. as the boi:ndary between warm air and cold. a1:: iri a system in whlch the warin air ls replaelng the cold air. This type of fnont and the weather assoclated. with it can usually be predicted fair'ly accurately several hours in advance. There is a deflnlte sequence in which cloud formatlons appear. Thin cirrus clouds form as much as two or three hr"rrdned miles atread of the warm front, and as the front appnoaches the obSenven, these will be followed by cirro-stratus, stratus, cumulus, and finally the cumulo-nr:mbus cloud.s which contaj-n the thr:nderstorms. The elouds gnadually lower and become more
Warm-fr.ont Thr:nderstorms
Cumulo-nlmbus
C lrro-stratus 6:-

CirugL_

Fneez LeveL
Wa:rm

CumuLus

Stnatus

Aln

C.onden--'7

s6.tIon t

Conv c

lon nts

Cold Alr _...+

Warm-front

art}.

Figure 1.[. I

Schematic diagram showing the development of the lvanm-front thrrnderstorm.

4nd more d.ense wrtil rain and thunderstorms develop. The thr.rnd.en-

storms associated wlth this type of front are usually mild with
modenate

rain, but they may be accompanied by lightning and some

wind.s.

locaI gusty

M,aintenance of Thr:nderstorms

It could be reasoned that in any of the types of thr.mderstonms described. all activity would cease as soon as the molstu::e ln the cloud falls in the form of rain. However, fnom observation, thls is not true. Ilumphr"y"l suggested a possible explanation for the malntenance of the storm. He observed that there are two main colunrrs of moving air ln the eloud. A strong relatively cold colunn of air is formed. from the coollng duo to contact wlth cold rain in the upper part of the c1oud, and also
Thunderstonm

Up

Draft

Dpaft,

Figure L,5. A thunderstorm showlng the down draft which neplenishes the molsture necessary to maintain ttre thirnderstorm.

Humphreys, .W. J., PhYsies Company, Inc. New York, L929.

of the Air, McGraw-ITilI

Book

from evaporation. This coLd colunm presses down and forward in front of the storrn and acts like a hugh shovel or wedge of air which forces the warm moist air in front of the storm up into the

clouds, In this way the moisture supply is maintained and the stonm continues as long as the conditions remaj.n unchanged. This would seem to be a plauslble explanation since a cool blast of air ls almost always experienced just before a thunderstorm strikes. Thr.rndercloud Electriflsatlon Theorles It nay be of benoflt to review the thunderstorm as an electric generator. A1l- thunderstorms are accompanied with lightning of more or }ess severlty. The l-ower part of the cloud aets as tho upper plate of a huge cond.enser, the air between cloud. and groi:nd is the dlelectric, and the earth makes up the other plate of this huge capacitor. The cloud is not a conductor sj-nce lt is composed. of many poorly conducting water droplets lnsul-ated. wlth air. The change on the cloud. is a volume charge d.istnibuted on waten droplets and ions throughout the lower 4egions of the cloud. The'accumulation of ch.arge on the cloud induces an opposite charge on the ground and between these changes there 1s an electric fleld similan to that in any other condenser. As th.e charges bui-ld up, the electnic f ield becomes mgre' and more. intense until a critical value is reaehed.. The air breaks d.own as a dlelectrl-c and an arc jumps across ttre gap-between cloud. and ground. This creates the brllliant flash which is called lightning. The exact process by which the charge builds up on this

glgantic condenser is not a krrown fact at the present time. There are saveral theories either of which, or a combination thereof, may explain this process.
Simpsonts-

Brsaking Drop Theory

G. C. Simpson2 presented. what is now one of the best }crown and probably the most general.ly accepted theorly. He believes

by the breaking of the water droplets by the stnong conveetlon currents of air. These eonvectlon currents carry water vapor3 up to the eondensation 1evel where lt condenses lnto droplets. These droplets combine with othens r::rtiL they become large enough to falI against the updraft of alr. As they fall, tbey joln wlth other dnops untll they become so large that they must break again. The largest slze that any falling drop can attaln has been measured and fbrrnd to be about one half centlmeter ln d.lameter.3 When the d.rop broaks, negatlve lons are released., leavlng the broken d.r,oplets with a posttlve ehange. The negative ions ane carnled up agaLn on smal-len waten droplets byt th" convectlon curuents at a fasten nate than the heavler positlve water dr.ops. Tbe posltlve raln ls carried up again, faIls, breaks, and :releases mone negative lon$. The process contlnues bulldlng up the posltlve charge ln the lower part of the cloud and carnytng the
caused.

that the charging proeess is

2 Slmpson, G.C.r Thr:nderstorfus, ph11os : pp. 379 - l+13, 1909.

T-FffirToilSen

Electrieity of RAln and. fts Oligln ln

fvoEi5g,

P. 2l+9, 1901+.

.3 Lenard, P.,

Ueber Begen, Meteorologlcal

Zeltschr, Vol. n,

10

to the back portion of the cloud. No raln can fall ln a reglon where the upvuard air velocity is greater than eight metors per second, but the generating process will continue even though no rain falls to the ground.
negativo charges
up and

Cumulo-nlmbus

I_,'r T',\I

,,*,, rT \ , \,,,t t* '-;'',! 1\,_f,l,l

loud

,, Negative Raln
: '

f' ,l$i)t

^-' ', tt+T'4t

Figuro 1.'6,

Induced Ch.arges Charges Distribution of electr.ie eharges accordlng to Simpsont s theony.

Earth

in a thund.ersto:rm

Thls thoory seems to fit most observations, The finst rain to fall fnom a thunderstorm consists of large dnops and Simpson for-rnd. thelp charge to be positive. Laten, a mi-xture of positive and negative rain was observed,e and flnally negati.ve rain was pnedominant. This theory leads to the thunderstorm model shown ln Figure 1.6.

Elster and Goitelts Influence T4eoqy Elster and Geitel[ frad nn entlrely diffent idea on the e]ecI
Vonsans

Elsten and Gpitel,

in

en cew i t te rwo ikffiofzFr-pTrilf88

Bemerki:ngen Ueben Qg;r, Electr.ischen

5.

11

trifying of clouds and recently some observations have made their theory more popular. The naki:eg and breaking of water droplets by the convection currents is the same as for Slmpscrnts theory. Howeven, they postulated. that since t}-e ear-th is usually charged negatively, there would be induced on the bottom sido of the droplets a positive charge even though the droplet is considerably removed from the earth. As the larger drops faIl through the upward nising air, they encounter negative charges on the upper sid.e of the smaller droplets. There would thus be a tr"ansfer of positive charge from the langer drops to the smallen dnops. The small one would be camied on into the upper regions of the cloud and so leave the bottom of the eloud negatively charged.. This is intenesting because Lewis5 has for.rnd. that a large majority of the dlseharges to transmisslon llnes are from negatlve clouds. This ls good evldence to support this theory. g g. R Wilsonr s Ttreory Wilson6 outlined a different theory on hovu the cloud. beLlke Elsten and GelteL he beLleves that the comes electrified. convection current carrles th.e rain up and that the droplets ane polarized, positive on the bottom and negative on topr by inductlon from the negative earth be1ow.

5 Lewis, w. w., Lightning.Iqvestigation on Transmlssion -Lines, A. I. E. E. Transaetions, Vo1. 54t pp. IfiL+-9W.

ffiaf s6;;,-ffiffi:-7pffirgzo.

liTilson, C. T. R., Investigations on Lightnine and on the Electrical Field of Thunderstorms, Philos.
6

L2

In a cubie centimeter of atmosphere there al:e usually about 1000 positive and 800 negative ions7 having mobilities of about one centimeter per second when subjected to a field of a volt per centimeter. There are from 1OOO to 6OTOOO larger ions of much smalle:: mobilities. fhe number of all the j-ons is greatly incneased by ionization du.e to the electric field being generated. by the cIoud. The pobitive ions travel to the earth while the negative ions go toward the upper part of the c1oud. The falling rain drops encor:ttter rnany of these ions, ancl because all of the dnops are polarized, d::ops falling faster than the veloclty of the positive ions will not pick up a positive charge since the positive ions and the positive lower portion of the drop w111 repel each other. A negative ion will be attracted. when it meets the posltive lower portlon of the drop. Therefore the large fast-falIing drops become negatively charged. by repeated. contacts wlth negative ,ions. As this charge accumulates in the lower part of the cloud, the electric field produced helps the eartht s field in polarizing the drops above and ai-ds in the charging process. Drops falling more s1owIy than the positive ions will- be overtaken by positive ions and the negative upper portion of the drop will attract them. These drops vr1ll become positively charged. by repeated contaets and due to their relatj-ve small size, will be carried. up by the air currents. Fnom this line of reasoning llfilson sees the.cloud as being positi-ve in the upper regions and negative in the lorr,rer part of the 7 Hess, V. F., The El-ectti-qgl Concluctivit of the AtmosNeilr.YiFE,-EZf.. Phere and It6 CausesrT

13

thr:nderc1oud.. He explains the fact that the first

dr.ops from

a passing thr-urd.erc1oud. are positive by pointing out the fact that since the negative field due to the cloud is much stronger than that of the eartkr, a positive charge is induced on the top of the large falling drops, and that the negative lower portioit of the drop attracts the rising posi-tive ions. Thus a drop -cloud" negative becomes positive before it whieh leaves the

strikes the ground.. Summary of Theories In summing up il appe?rs that there are desirable features in all three of these theories. Simpsonts tireory is very attractive because water d.roplets can be broken in bhe laboratory and found to be positively charged. This lvould seem to mal<e the bottom of the cloud positive. This is in direct dI-sagreement with the fact that 95% of the discharges on transmission llne towers aro from nogative based clouds. Such a discrepancy is so greab that it ls dlfficult to completely accept thls
theory.

Actually there is probably a combination of all throe processes oceurri-ng in the thunderstorm. Evidently, study and observation will be required before the problem of irolv lhe cl-oud. obtai-ns its charge wil-l be solved.

4
CHAPTER

II

THE LIGI{TNII{G STROI{E

Before many of the effects of lightning can be understood and solutions obtained for the problems i-nvo1ved., a knowledge of the characteristlcs and mechanism of the d.ischarge of the

llghtning st:roke must be attained, There has been an lntonsive investigation of lightning tire past few years by Dr. K. B. McEachron of the General Electric Company' From direct measurementse Bnd photographlc stud.y of many llghtning discharges Dr. McEachron has extended. our larowledge of the phenomenon of .1 1l_grrEnrng.
Potential-s and Field Gnadients
There have been many measurements of the electrostatic

gradient ln the atmosphere during both clear and stormy weather. According to f[iIso.r2 thu clear weath.or grad.ient is of the order of 100 volts per meter, and. the conductlng layers of the uppen atmosphere has a posltlve potentlal of about 106 volts wlth respect to the ground. During a thr:nderstor.m the fiold at any point is composed of a combination of seve::al fields, each due to a concontnation of charges in relatively small volrtmes. After a d.ischarge, the resultant field may increase or decrease, depending on trow I
1939. McEachron, K.

tric Systems, Gene::a1

B.. LiEhtni-nE and the Protection of ElecElectric Company, Sehenectady, New York,
#

S?.fs;;r. tr;ToT zffip77m

2 Wllson, C, T. R., fnvestigations on Lishtning Discharges FETil-Tp6nE-;J[1a:qd on trre Eleilriq Fleld @ .

L5

fiel.d added or subtracted the conrponents comprisitng the total field. After a discharger the gradient recovers nL a nate that is approximately exponential until it reaches t,lro polnt wher:e anotkrer dischargo occurs. It does not seem necessary fon 'bhe field gradient to reach t,he breakdourn o.i.rr" of air all along the discharge pabh, lightthe ground in areas vuirere the rr lng has been observed striking gradlent was less than 5 t<ilovolts per meter. It appears that shon the breakdown point ls reached in a certain area' the ntroamer of the llghtning stroke starts forming in that area and. lhe pnopagation of the streamer into areas of relativoly low fLeld gradient red.istributes the field and. raises the gradient !o the breakdorrun point 1n the areas whlch previously had a low gradlent. Wllson Lras estimated that the potentials in some
Ulre disctrarged

thunderstorms may be as much as 109 volts,

llav,e Strapqs

It ls very difficult to measure directly the wave shape of a lightning stroke. A study of induced effects some distance iway from the st::oke may give some valuable informationr but it ls eertain that there ls much distortion in these secondary traves. From the study of lightning striking transmission llnes,
Peek3

flnds the time of discharge to be fnom 5 bo L'uO microseconds,

Sweden by Norind.erlt folrnA some

;htle an oscillographic stud.y ln

3 Peek, F. W., Liehtnine, A. I. E. E. Trans., VoI. 50, No. J' pp. IO77 1089, September, 193t. l+ Norinder, i{ara}d., llgbtnigg cuirents and Their Varr-gb:!.ong Jor:rna1 of 'the Franklin Insti-tute, VoI. 22Q, No' T' pp.-q:-qz,IuIy, 1935.

-/ lo
(llscharge intervals up to 60 microsecond.s. Norinderrs clata
was

obtained by using loop antennas symnetrically wor.nd to eliminate

olectrostatlc effects and only vertical strokes vrere employed Ln the study. fntervals up to 10 mlcroseconds were found for the nlse of the current wave with a maximr:m rate of change of current as high as 301000 amperes per microsecond. The average rate of change seemed to be in the order of l+r5OO amperes per
rnlcnosecond.

Current in the Strok-e

A nunber of methods have been used in estimating the current

ln the lightning str.oke. Pockels5 mad.e measurements on the magnetlzation of basalt for:nd at polnts that had been struck by llghtnlng. i{is measuremonts indicated. eurrents in the nange of 21000 to 201000 amperes. Estlmatos of cuments have been mad.e by Bell-aschi6 to be upwand, to 2001000 amperes. He bases this on the fusing effects on conductons that havo been struck by lightning. Many moasureinents of cunrent have been mado ln the past fow ysans uslng method.s slmllar to Pocke1s. The results of this research lndlcates that there aro cuments up to 2001000 ampenos tn llghtnlng strokes. Ilowever, curnents of this magnitude are r&re, with over 5O% of the strokes measured. being in the onder ur z6100o amperes.T
Qo_{e lof P4otS.g!-ion Against Lightning, Handbook No . l-7, oFEafrErEil-WESffi sffi;-D;c;---_ 6 Bellaschi, P.L., Lightning Currents in Field an{ Laboralory.r A. I. E. E. Trans:r-f6f5[ Fo.l., pp. S3FBffi FGG:E, 1935. 5

Itureau

McEachron,

Ibid.

17

Cument measurements by several methods have been qulte

oonsistant in estabLishing the most severe strokes at approxirnately 200r0OO anrperes and show that about 95/, of tine strokes ntriking transmission lines are from negative clouds. Results
obtaLned by Norinder and Wilson indicate that the riegative and

posi-tive strokes would be more nearly equal if all strokes

l,o ground. were considered.

'llre Dlscharge
Because the iriterval of the lightnlng +ischarge is so sma11, It is impossible to see the step by step development of the

Itghtning stroke with the naked eye. Ilowever, this obstacle vras ovorcome by the d.evelopment of the Boys Thls camera ""*""*.8 ts a unlque device for the record.ing of moving phenomena on film. From a senies of tests, Setronland. and ColLens9 d.iscovered. iho sequence of events in the discharge. The initlaL leader. rbroke, whlctr !s of relatively weak intensity, progresses rather rnpldly from the cloud to the ea:rth. When the leader reaches tho g:round the main stroke builds up on thg same path at a much hl53hen veloclty from earth to cloud. It was also found that tlrls sequence night occur many times in rapld succession, and that each stroke fol-lowed approximately the same path. As many rn [O strokes over the same path were observed. B Liehtning and the Protectlon of Electri" Systems, General

IloctrlcTffi

ffien taffi-ToIE,F

lfif' rHll;rT'{irt,*1""

9 Schonland., B. F. J., and Co11ens, I[., Progfesslae Lightio tv' .er ie s A' vo 1' rl+3'ivr-ffiTFpp-98 -

1B

a study of the Boys camera photographs, the first initial leader stroke was found to be quite unique. The l-eader was formed. by a series of rrdartsrr projected from cLoud to earth at a velocity of about 1/6 that of }ight. The first d.ar.t proceed.ed. only a part of the d.istance and cane to a haLt. After about 100 mlcrogeconds, the second dart would proceed over the sAme path as the first, but ad.vance about !O yands further. It would then halt and a third dart, sti11 over the same path, would pnoceed for anothe:: 50 yards funthen after an lnterval of 100 microseconds. This process would continue rrntil the leader made contaet with the earth and the brilliant flash of the main stroko would traverse the same path from earth back to the cIoud.. Sometlmes as many as 100 of these step l-eaders are necessary before contact 1s made wlth the gror-rnd.. Branching of the step leaden sometimes occurs, several branches belng formed, "11 pointlng earthward, before the main le ader ends the actlvity. The step leaden seoks the path of least reslstance to ground and sometimos does so along several pattrs simultaneously. The wh.ole proeess takes place in less than O.O1 seconds. The main stroke, characterized by the brlght flash, terminates the process by proceeding from t}:.e gror:nd at the point of contact upwar"d along the path of the step leader at a speed of about L/J:O that of light. At, a brar:.ching point of the step Ieader, the main stroke proeeeds slmultaneously along the main path and out along eaeh br.anch to terminate growth of the bnanches. The main stroke becomes less intense as it approaches the cloud and disappears completely at the base of the cloud.
From

'lo

Strokes which never reach the ground or termina-te on an-

other cloud develop by the step leader process, but are not fo11owed. by the main stroke and bnilliant flash. They apparently develop until all their available enerry ls dissipated, and then
d5-sintegrate.
C

loud Developin
Step
I

Return Stroke

Leaden

Branching
Ground

\ t\

00 Mi rosec
Time

In rval s

t\
a

t\

Flgure

?i;ffiiT";n3tl:f;.33::t"n*"nt In the case of rrultlple stnokes, only the first stroke develops by the step leaden process. After a1t ionized path to ground has been established, all succeed.ing discharges take only one step fnom cloud to ground to inltiate the discharge. They follow the maln path of the finst stroke and ane not 1ikely to branoh. From avail-able data, it appears that some thund.erstorms
produce narry

2'1'

-----+

of the step leader in

multiple stnokes, whilo others pnoduce only a few. Fnom visual observatlon many of the multiple strokes in a storm can be d.etected. The total time for completion of. a multiple stnoke varies from 0.001 to 1 second..

20

AnplLcatlons

fn this thesls primary consi-denation w111 be given to the detection and ttre dlrection flnding of the discharges. In order to understand the function of ttre equlpment, it is nece s Bery to study the current in the stroke as a function of time.
Cloud
I
I I

Step Leader
+

1OO

Microsecond Intervals

r r
e
!
U

Tlme----.-->ltghtnlng d.ischarge. The occurrence of each step leaden is accorpanled by a rlse rnd fall of curnent. This creates a seri-es of pulsesr &s shown \ ln Flgure 2.2. The time between each step leader is on the average about 100 mlcroseconds, and the frequency of the cu:rrent pulses ls tho neclprocal of this perlod. Thls results 1n a tn a frequency of 1Or00O cycles per second, and thenefore the fundamental frequency of the non-slnusoidal wave should be lbout thls value. Experimental results show that the rad.lated cnonry from llghtnlng d.ischarges is eoncentrated. in thls part of the frequency spectnr:m. This conclus lon ls lmportant ln the design of the dlrectlon flndiag equipnent lf
lrlgnre 2.2. Current wave assoclated wlth a cloud-to-ground

2I
the maximum sensitivity from a maximum number of diseharges
assoeiated. with each storm is to be obtained.

22 CHAPTER

]II

PRTNCTPLES OF DIRECTTON FINDING AND LOOP ANTENNAS

Electromagnetic waves are usually propagated along the oanthts surface over a great circle route. Thts characteristic
makes electromagnetic

direction findlng posslble. rf the bearing of an electromagnetic signal is taken from two separated.

locations, tho folnt of onigin of the signal may be located by triangulation. By this method, the source of rf sferiesrr in the
thunderstorm can be for:r:d. The accwacy of the direction flnder depends upon how close-

Iy the radiation follows the great ci::c1e path. Even thougtr the great circle route is usually followed, there are certain condltlons under whlch lateral d.iviatlon is appreciable. Lateral deviatlon of the gror:nd wave occurs when the signal crosses a coast line and the angle between the path of the signal and the coast line is very small. This eruor4 wilL not affect the dlreetion finder when used ln Oklahoma because the nearest coastllne is severa] hr:nd.red. miles away. The same type of error is also ofton encountered in mountainous areas because the electomagnetlc waves are attenuated Less wlren passi-ng over valley &reas than when golng crosswise across rugged terr.ain. This orror will not be tnoublesome in Oklatroma because of the r'e1atlvely leveI terrain. At high"r J*iio frequencies the propagation depends a great deal on the condition of the ionosphere. The ground wave attenuates rapidLy, and the refleeted sicy waves may be considerably scattered. if the reflecting ionosphere is not homogeneous. This

23

condltion may scatter the electromagnetie waves, causing them to appean to come from several direOtions simultaneously. The eondltion is analagous to the refleetion of the sunr s rays from a lake which is being rippled by the wind. ll'Ihen looking at the reflection the rays appear to be coming from many d.ifferent sources ln the lake. The largest error due to this effect occulls at sunriie and sunset and is also much more pronounced. at nlght time than during the day. ft is at these times that the neflectlng ionospitere is uneven and, consequently this phenomenon ls usually referred to as the |tni-ght effecttr. The night effect causes some tr.ouble with the sfenic, although not as much as roight be expected.. The d.irection find.ing apparatus is cleslgned to receive and amplify the low frequency components of the sforics which are of the order of 10 kilocycles. The hlgher frequencles, whieh are more llke1y to be comi-ng fnom the lonosphere, are attenuated. The 1ow frequency that is ampllfled comes 1n largely as a g::ound wave and is affected to a very mlnor degree by the ionosphere. The error most prevalent in the sferie di:rectlon finder 1s that due to rerad.iatlon from nearby objects. Passing waves otriking conductlon objects such as overhead. wires and fences lnd.uce curnents that pnoduee new rad.lation fields. The new field.s produce two affects on the incoming wave being received.. It alters the apparent direction of the incoming wave, and produces elllptical polarization of lhe vrave. In the crossed loop dlrection finder the quad.rature component d.ue to reradiation tends to destroy the nuIl and decreases the accuracy of the

?)+

dlrectlon flnden.
Loop Antennas

ls a dLrection devlce whlch pnoduees excellent resuLts ln marry appllcatlons. The main limitation of the loop 1s that for best results the incorning electrornagnetlc wave nust be*vertlcally polarlzed; that is, lt should contaln no components of the eLeetrlc f le1d l-n the horlzontal p1ane. Eowever thls is not a serlous handlcap slnce most gror:nd rraves have sma1l horlzontal components because of the short clrcultlng effect of the conductlon ground.. The loop antenna, when properly balanced and shlelded, w111 gLvo a fleld pattern llke that shown ln Flgr::re 3.I.
The loop antenna
P1ane of
Loop

Flgr:ro 3.1. Po1ar radlatlon characterLstlcs of a l-oop antenna. The voltage lnduced in the Loop ls appnoxlmately proportlonal to the der"lvatlve wlttr respect to tlme of the lncomlng slgnal. If the radlus of the loop wene zeto, the loop would be en exact dlfferentlatlng devlce. Eowever so long as the cross soctlonal dlnonslons are small in'cornpanlson to the shortest wa,ve length, the loop can stiIl be coasldered. as a dlfferentlatlng device. If thts assr::rptlon ls vaIld, the slgnal recoived. by ttre loop wlII be pnopontlonal to the coslne of the angle between the plane of the loop and the directlon from whlch the

25

slgnal arrlvos. Slgnals comlng ln perpendlculan to the plane of tho loop w111 not be recelved. However, lf the loop is not penfectly balaneod., the nulls wlJ.L not occur at the penpendlcular polnts and w111 devlate from tho perpendleula:: an amount whlch ls a fr.rnction of the dognee of unbalance.l The loop antenna ls a good. d.lrectional d.evice for locaNlng sforlcs. Th; construction of a loop ls not d.lfflcu1t, and electrostatlc shieldlng of the coll wind.ings makes the pnoblem of el,ectrostatlc balanclng wlth respect to gnor:nd an easy one. Tbe loop dlrectlonal chanactonigtics may be cbecked by plottlng a polar radiatlon dlagnam. In ttre problem of flndlng the dlnectLon of sfenlcs, a rurlquo sltuatlon anlses ln that there ls not sufflclent tlme to rotate a slngIe loop antenna to locate a nuLl.
Slnce a sfenlo never lasts more than a balf second, some
method.

for lnstantaneously d,etectlng the dlroctlon. The most pnactlcal method. 1s tho use of two ld.entlcal 3.oop antennas whose planes arg set perpendlculan to each other and perpend.loular. wlth nespect to ground. The slgnals fnom eacfr of the crossed, ls
need,ed

Slenal

Plane of
Loop
A

Plane of

opB

Flgure 3.2, Polar radlatlon plot of cnossed loop antennas.

Book Co. New York and London, 19h3r

Tenman,

F. Err Radlo Englneering Eandbook, McGraw llil-L F. 876.

26

fed through identical ampllfiers to the honizontal and. vertlcal plates of a cathod.e ray tube. Fnom Flgirne J.2 tt ls evldent that the output of the loops A and B fon tho slgnaL s
Loops are
sh,own

would be,

Ao=nScose' Bo = r $ cos (9oo - 9).

fhe lnput to the cathode ray tube wlll be uAo on the horizontaL p3.ates and uB6 on the ventlcal plates. The electron beam ln the cathode nay tube w111 have horlzontal and ventleal deflectlons fr.om the ze?o posltlon,

E=KlurScose v=KlurScos (9oo s).

KI = volts per lnch defLectlon of the u = voltage galn of bhe arrpllflers K = the antenna constants
eathod.e

ray

tube

change in vortLcal courponent # = along the path of the slgnal of electnlc fleld, lntenslty at the loop I = the angle that the path of the slgnaL makes wlth the plane of the A 1oop.

Ventlcal Plate
= Krr:KS cos (goo-e) J cU( HorizontaL Plate = K1r:KS cos
e

Ilonlzonta Plate

veEffie
Flgure 3.3.

Defloctlon of electron beam in the from cnossed loop slgnals.

cathod,e

ray tube

27

Fnon Flgure 3.3,

= tan-l

K" ur<99 cos (90 f clx

0)

Kr ur39 cos e *dx

(q0-= tan-l coscos g CI)

= tan-l |-s. = tan-I tan e = e. Therefore, lf the loops are properly onlented wlth respect to d.irection and. the cathode ray tube calibrated., the bearing of the sferlc w111 be along the 1lne traced. by the electron beam. If a permanont record of the trace ls deslned, it can easily be re-

fllm. There ls lnherently an ambtgulty of 1BO degnees in thls method of direction flndlng. The trace on the cathod'e ray tube nepresents a llne of posltlon of the polnt of orlgin of the sferlc. The arnbtgulty may be removed. by diffonentiatlng the slg,nal from a verttcal whlp antenna and using the d.ifferentiated slgnal to lntenslty nod.ulate the cathod,e ray tube. A thi:rd anplifler wlth charactenlstles ldentlcal to the other two ls necessaqy for ampllfylng the dlfferentlated. slgnal. fhe anrblgulty problem was not consldered senlous enough to warrant lntenslty noduLatlon ln tbe sforlcs dlrectlon flnder. The thr:nderstonms produclng the sfenlcs are usually v1slble. If this ls not the case thelr approxlmate positlon et a glven tlme may be obtalnod'
oorded on
fnom the Unlted States Weather Bureau.

Descrlqtion of the LooP Antennas The two loop antennas that were bullt for the sferlcs dlrectlon flnder havo the dlmensions shown ln flgure 3.11. They

28

Loop DLmenslons

+++t ++++ ++++ ++++ ++++

+
+ + +

+++ +++ +++ +++ +++

Bnass Sonews

MotaL Shleld

Cross $ectlon AAt

Flgr::re

3.h.

Loop di.menslons

ln detal1.

29

cd

H
+)

Flo F d Fl >t
c) 'r{ ;F{ td

oEl o5
F.l

p.e

Hd

b0Fl

.rl {J

-r{

rtk Fo E
${C
.r.l

.F{ h

Fl

om c)

F{ Fl

.o otr :J of\
I

d c\f +)to

uc

tJ t{ 'rl

t a0

trr

3o

are ldentlcal so only one desc::iption ls given. The fname is made of 2 lnch by 6 inch plne matenial. A slot is cut in the frame to contaln the wlndlngs as shov'rn ln one cross section d:rawlng of Flgure 3.1+. The electrostatlc shleld is mad.e fnom two
pleees of galvanlzed sheet iron and fastened to the
wood. fname

wlth

consist of 752 turns of number 2l+ B & S gauge cotton-covened.-ename] copper wlre syrrunetrically worrnd wlth respect to the gnounded shl-eId. A detall drawlng showlng the wlndlng of the colLs ls shown ln Flguro 3.5, The centen turn ls groundedr Tho one ohm reslstances arae insented so that a d.uorqy slgnal from a Iocal. osclllator may be lntnoducod for tunlng tho loops and ampllflers. The total lnductaneo of eaeh
wood.

screws.

The wlndlngs

Ioop was moasuJred wlth an Amonican Telephone and. Telegnaph

brldge and found to vary fnom 2!-6 dlllhenries at 100 oycles to 105 nllllhennles at 15r000 cyclos. This varlatlon ls due to the offocts of the dlstnlbuted capaalty betwoen turns ln the loop. Thls varlatlon could have been mlnlmlzod. lf the layers of wlne had been sepanated with somo lnsuLatlng matorlal. The radtatlon pattenns of Flgu:re 3.6 and, 3.7 wene plotted from data taken on the 3.oops ln the open anea north of the eagt hutment. The tlme waE Ju:ro 18, L95L, between I and 6 pM. A group of thunderstorme had passed ovon the area about noon of that day and was stlIl aotlvo on the east honlzon. These storms pnoduoed sfonlo volteges whleh had to bo subtnactod from the total voltago recolvod by tho loop ln ordon to obtaln the nolse
lnped,anco

above. The lntenfonence of the sfer"lcs oauEed tho appanent nulI of the loops to be dlffenent from
gonenaton voJ.tago

tho

31

q
F] q{

o o

&

+ro +)o 6rl

+) dr: oq)

o d h^ Op{

--\8
rl

'r{ F:

d+) Ul 'dd (d Fq fti v

.r'l
ro
I

PI

!o

o t{
.rl
F{

3
a0

32

pq

Fl

o d
H

p{ F] g{

o o

o^

dP{ ho oo +>li p
P{ +t

cdg

HO o(D .p.q d{5 .rl t{

.r{ I

SZ
a

do

C-

ro

o Ft 5 a0 'rl h

33

true nuIl. The ze?o reference ln the polar radiatlon_ plots was taken at the apparent null- posltlon and does not correspond to th,o true null posltlon. Actually the noise genenator wa.s located perpendlculan to the plane of the loop at the tnue nu11 posltlon. The slgnaI nolse generator was composed. of a spark colI connocted, to a I foot ventlcal whlp antenna and a 6 volt d.ry ce1I battery. To oUtaln the data for" the polar plots ttro nolse generaton was placed about 3O foet from the loop and the loop rotated ln steps of 15 degrees from Oo to 360 d.egrees. Ihe angles were measured wlth an astnoconrpass. lh.o same ampllfier was used fon testing both loops and the output voltages measured at the deflectlon plates of the cathode ray tube, The pola:: diagrams were plotted uslng the ratlo of tb.e slgna1 voltage at positlon tretr to the maximr:m slgnal voltage at any posltion so that varlatlons ln the signal generator output would. not affect the shape of the polar pIots. The plots show that the radlatlon patterns are very nearly syn:metrlcal and that the dfi.ectional propertles of the crossed lootrrs are satisfactor"y.

3tt.

CHAPTER

IV

COJ!{PLETE

SFERICS DIRECTION FINDER

of the charge on clouds and the meclranism of the llghhlng dlscharge ln a thr:ndenstorm has been desenlbed ln Chaptens I and II. The concluslon fr.om Chapter III ls that the Ioop entenna ls a satlsfactory devLce for determlnlng the rtlnectlon of th,e electromagnetLc radlatlon assoclated. with a llghtnlng dlschargo Tho problem of sfenlc dlrectlon flndlng la solved. cornpletely when the slgnals fr.om the crossed loop anterrras are properly amp1lflod to pnoduce a vlsual response on the scneen of the cathod.e ray tube.
Tbe formatlon

Ampllflers

Ampllfler characterlstlcs for the dlrectlon flnder ls & problem that has to be analyzed earefully. The galn of both the horlzontal and vertlcal arrpllflers must be the same for aJ.l cornponeats of the slgnal comlng from the J.oop antennas. When this oonditlon ls met, the factor u ln tb.e equatlons of Chapter III wllL be constant and equal fon both atryLlfiers. It ls not necossar?Jr that the fr.equency response of the anrpllflers be ltnean as long as they have the sq,me response to all frequencles roselVod by the loop antennas. It ls deslrable to llnlt the frequency band. of the ampllfle:rs ln ondor to elimlnate most of the arttficlal nolse such as low frequency radlo statlons. The phase shtft eharactenlstlcs of the ampllflers can be anythlng so long as they are equal for all frequencies. If the phase shlft ls'the same for any tnput slgnal, the d.ifferentlal phaso w111 always be ze?oe and the output w111 not be affected.

35

when

there j-s a dlfferentlal phase angle ln the ampliflers, the stralght 1lne on the screen of the cathode ray tube w111 degenorate lnto an elllpse. The width of the e11lpse ls an lndlcatlon of the angula:r dtfference ln phase shlft ln the two smplifl.ers. Some method for" ellmlnating the phase shtft ls necessarT slnce a straight Ilne ls essentlal for the directlon flnder, At flrst-gIanee, it would appear that non-llnearity of any type could be toler"ated as long as both arapliflers contalned. the same non-1lnearlty. Thls ls not true. The ampliflers cannot have a change of galn for dlfferont magnLtudes of input signal. Even though they have the sanue gal-n varlatlons, an elrnor 1n the dlrectlon output w111 occur slnce the lnput signal magnltudes from th.e loops are, Ln general, not the same. Thene ls an oxceptlon of elght posslble dLrections ln which there would be no onron due to varylng galn characteristlcs. If a s1gna1 arrlves para1lel to the plane of one loop, lt w111 be perpendlcular to the plane of the other 1oop. The paralle1 loop wllL have a J.arge signal voltage lnduced. whlle the perpendlcula:r loop w111 receive zato voltage. Tho arapllflen galns wllL be different lf tbe galns are fr:nctlons of the lnput signals, but wlth zero voltage on one set of deflectlon plates, the cathode ray tube w111 glve a true bearing. Ihe bea:rings w111 be true for eacb. of the dlrectlons para1le1 to the plane of elther of the loops, For a. slgnal arulvlng ei I+5 d.egrees the loop outputs wlll be the same and the gains w111 be equaI. Therefore, the bearlngs maklng [! Aegrees witb the plane of eltber of the loops w111 be true. The eror due to changes of galn with signal

36
n

brength can be kept

Two

at a minlmrrm by rrrnnlng the amplif lers at

low galn.

arrpllflens nere butlt by the author using the clrcult of Flgr:re [.1. Each component part was selected to be as nearly ldentlcal as posslble and was mounted. in the ctrassls in Ldent,lca1 posltlons whenever possible.
A cathods folLower stage ls used. to couplo the loop antennas to the ampllflers. A potentlometer fon the output of the cath-

follower pnovldes an excellent means fon varylng the coupIlng of the loop s1gnal to the anpllflers. The flrst stage of ampllflcation consists of a 6StC7 blased. wltb, a 27A ohm cathode r.eslstor and voltage taken fnom a 100rO00 oh:n bLeeder potentlometer off the dlrect clurrent power supply. The potenttometer glves good, galn control due to the remote eutoff characteristlcs of the 6SK7. This stage ls a neslstence coupled, ampllfler stago deslgned, to pass LO klIocyclos. The ordlnary thundorstorm sfenic ls rlch ln 10 kilocycle signal and tb,ls fnequency ls sufflclently 1ow to avoid. lnterference wlth
ode
1ow frequency nadlo sl-gnaIs.

ln the ampllfler ts a 6S.f?. Thls tube has a shanp cutoff chanacterlstLc and ls more linear for large sigThe second stage

nals than the 6SK7. The stage 1s reslstance coupled,

sl.gned

and. d.e-

for passlng 10 kllocyc1es. The output stage ls a 615 medlum mu triode. This tube ls capable of d.ellvering 50 volts output wlth less than 5% d.Lstortlon. Since the sensltivlty of the 2AP1 cathode ray tube is approximately 200 volts per ineh deflectlon, an output voltage

37

of 50 volts ls necessary to glve a good. doflection. There a!:e no tuned stages ln tb.e amp1lf1or because of the dlfflculty ln tunlng them to exactly the sane frequency. Tr:ned. stages are also more llkeIy to osclllate wlthin themselves when pulsed, wlth a steep wave front. To avold thts dlfflculty only
reslstance coupled stages were used. To cornect fon dlfference ln phase shlft a condensen is shrnted across the grld of the 6SJ7 ln one of the ampllflens. Thls correetlon keeps phase shlft difference to an alLowabLe value from fnequencles as 1ow as L00 cycles up to 5O i<ttocycles. The response above 5O f<ttocycles ls sma1l enough to keep the excosslve phase shlft from affectlng the output. Tb.e loop antennas are the only tr:ned elements ln the dlnectlon finder. The tunlng lncroases the sensitivlty of the loop near l-O kllocycles, but causes the loops to osclllate when

front. The osclllatlon can be damped by var.ylng the loop Q, but thls cuts down the nagnitude of the receivod. slgnal.. Ellmination of the loop tunlng may prove deslnable since tb.ere j.s more gain ln the amplJ,flors than is necessarT and the decr.ease l-n sensittvlty would, be mor.e doslrable than loop oscl.llatLon. It is pnactlcally lnposslble to tr:ne th,o I,oops to oxactly the same frequency and the cathode ray tube output wtL3- show open loops when subjected to the damped. oscillatlon of the loops at r:n1ike frequencles.l
g,xclted wlth a steep wave

Eolzberleln, T. M., rrA Study of Tornado Tracklng Equipmentrr, Mastert s thesls, OkLahoma A. and M. Colleger pp. 5A-5t.

3B

A completo clrcuit diagna"m of the aupllflers ls shovrn

l-n

Flgr:re \.2. The values of the components shovrn are theln marked. values and are subJect to errors of plus on mi.nus tO/". The

devlatlon 1n tb.e frequency response curves ls very }lkeIy due to the varlation of the cl::cult component values. By measnrLng each component accunately with a bnldge and selectlng coqponents of equal value, the d.evlation of the response curves could be reduced

to a minlmum.

Cathode Bgg Tube Indlcator"

of the eathode ray tube cfu"cult ls shown 1n Flgure [.3. The ]5 volt pulse app]led. to t]re g:rld. thnough the .02 mlcrofarad. condenser. ls a blanklng pulse whlch keeps the cathode ray tube cut off except when a sferlc occuns. The pulso comes from the puJ-slng c1rcult that triggers the sweep of the wave fonm on tho cathode ray tube. It synchronlzes the d.lrectlon flnden cathode ray tube wlth tho wave fonm cathod.e ray tube so that plctr:res of both d.ireetion and wave form may be taken stmultaneously. The pulse conslsts of a constant negative 15 voLt dlrect cunront voltage that ls lnstantly neduced to ze?o when the pulslng ::elay eloses.2 The voltage appear.ing on tho gnld of the catbode ray tube due to the pulslng cil"cult ls a posltlve 15 volt pulso. By d.ecreaslng the steady state lntenslty of the tube to zero and feedlng the posltlve 15 volt pulse on the gnld, the tube will cond.uct only whlle the pulse is orrr The
Tho clrcult dlagnam
and Operation of Eleetronlc Sfenlc Detection Equlpmentrr, Ma5tonts'thes,is, Oklahoma A. and M.

2 Eess, p. N., ttnstall,ation

College.

39

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tlme length of the pulse ls sufflciently long for the traoe to indLcate the bear'ln9. Magnetlc deflectlon of the eleot:ron beam 1n the cathode nay tuba duo to the pnesence of the oleotnlc cl-ock ln the Ilght box causes the beam to appear dlsto::ted. Magnetlc shield,ing !mproved. tbls co_ndltlon, but somo undesirable deflectlon ls stllL pnesont. Centening contnoL l.n the cathod.e ray tube clncult ls need.ed to center the electron beam on tb.e scperro Two potentlorreters couLd be eonnected across a pontlon of the negatlve and posltlve dlroct curr-ent voltago supplles and the output fed to tlre vertleal and horlzontal plates fon centerlng. Havlng the traee ln the center of the screen would make tho allgnlng of the loops and rynpllfiens less dlffieult.
Powen Supplles

The cLncult diagnams

sb,own

of tho dineet current supplLes

aro

ln Figure h.[. For improved. arnFllfier performance, B] 1s a 3OO volt regulated supply. A 5Y3 connected. as a fuIl wavo nectiflen ls used wlth a condenser lnput pt fllter" and. two serles VRfSO tubss. The high voltage ls obtained f:rom a 82 balf wave rectlf Len. The cathode ray tube requlnes ver_T ltttle cumentr, so an RC condenser input fllter ls suffieient. &Llgnment of the Dlrectlon FLnde:r The crossed loop direetlon flnde:r must be pnopenly alLgned lf lt ls to fr:nctlon and glve accu:rate nesults. The flnst t16cssarT step ls the tunlng of the loops to tbe sarne frequency. Thls trgy be accornpllshed by feedtng a slgnaI of constant frequoncy lnto the loops and varylng the loop tunlng condensens r:ntll

U+

the output of each loop ls maxlmum. An input slgnal can be lnt:roduced tnto the loops by windlng a few trr:rns of wire anound. the loop antennas ln the vlclnlty of the aln gap at the top and connectlng thls loop to an osclll-ator. By expenlment the l.oops were found to tr:ne more shar.ply to 7 klJ.ocycJ.os than arry othen freguency. Thls was the frequency at whlch they rruere tuned when tho experlmental data ln Chapter V was taken. The ampllfler galns must be set so that for a glven slgnaL equal vortleal and horlzontaL deflectlons wtI1 appear on the screen of the cathode ray tube. To meet thls condltlon tho tnaco should appear as a diagonal 1lne at [5 deg:rees fr"om the honlzontal when ldentlcal slgnals are fed into the ampltfler 1nputs, SJ-nce the vertlcal and honlzontaL sensltivity of the cathode nay tube ls not equall tl.e horlzontal end ventLcal galn wllL aLso not be equal. To get identleal. lnput signals a panalleling swltch ls mor:nted on the front panel of the arnpllflers. Ph.e swltch connects the grlds of the tubes ln tbe cathode followen stages when at the 0N posltlono Elthon the gain on the cathod,e coupllng may be varied untll the output trace on the cathodo ray
tube ls panaI.lel to the l-r-! aegree nefenenoe 1lne. The d.lrection ftnden seems to glve betten results when the galn ls set at maxl-

nm and the allgning is done wlth the cathode coupllng. It is not necessarT to use an extennal slgnal for setting tho rolatlve galns lf sfer:lcs are pressnt. fhe sferlcs serve the pr:::pose equalLy we11. Two thlngs can be checked. when settlng the galns. Wlth the paralle1 switch at the ON positlon, the trace on the screen of the eathode ray tube must be paraLlel to the [5 d.egree

\s
refenence 1lne and for the strongest sferies should be one lnch olr loss ln length. fhe latter condltlon lnsures that the strong

not overdrlve the ampliflers and eause excessLve dlstortLon. Vtlhen the gains are set the pa::aIIellng switch should be placed at the OFF posltlon and tho d.lrectlon finde:r wlLl then lndlcate the dlnectlons of the lncomlng sfer.ios. When a thnndenstonm approaches the gain may have to be r"educed to keep fr"om ovo:rdrivlng the ampllflons. This ls easl1y done by trirning the pana1Le1 swltch to 0N, then reduclng the galn of the ampliflens, belng centaj.n that the trace remalns at l+5 degrees, and. flnally returnlng the para11el switch to 0FF. The Loop antennas are marked rrnorth-southrr and tteastwestil. If they are orj.ented. with the marked, sid.es pointing ln thelr respective d.lrections, the top of the cathode ray tube wtll be nonth, the bottom w111 be south, the nlght w111 be east, and the left w111 be west. A compass rose can be used. to measur.e the azlmuth angle of the lncomLng sferl.c. signals
w111

l+6

CI{APTER V EXPERTME]\IIAL RESULTS AND CONCLI'SIONS

Sferlcs on July ?, L95l 0n the evenlng of July 2, 195f pictunes were taken of sfenlcs that Tsere belng reeelved by the dlnectlon f lnden. These are shown ln Flgrrre 5.L. The weather buneau had pred.lcted the arnlval of a co1d front ln the anea fon that nlgbt, but at the time the plctu:res wore made the thundenstorms and ltghtnlng accompanylng the f:ront were not vislble. However 1ow fr.equency sferlcs of large magni.tude were belng recelved from about L5 degrees east of north. The pietr:res In Figure 5.1 ane typlcal of the dllrectlonal sfenlcs lndicati.ons recelved from that partlcuLar storm. Althoug!. the stonm was a long d.letanee away, the tnace on the cathod.e ray tube of the d.irectlon flnder was sharply defined.. The azlmuth can be measurod. aecr:rately from the photog:raphs. Ligbtnlng was not vlsible on the horizon so the true bearlng of the thr:nd.erstorm whlch was causlng the sferlcs could not be detenmlnede The folLowl-ng day the weather bu:reau reported. thr.rrderstorms ln east central Kansas at the approxlmate times lndlcated by tbe clock ln the plcturos. These storms would have pnoduced the sferlcs ln the d.Fectlon tndlcated by the dlrectlon flnden. fbe plctures show that the galn of the ampllflers was set at a value that kept the output well confl-ned to the centor pontlon of the cathode ray tube. The ampllfiers were not belng ovendnlven as evldenced by the stralght line trace. Si-nce ttre Itorm was far alray, the sharp wave f:ronts whlch are character-

l+7

lstlc of

some

sfenlcs wore attenuated and osell_latlon of the

loop antennas due to su,il.den shock was not experlenced. Sferlcs on JuLX l, 1q5f Tho cold fnont desc::ibed ln the prevlous paragraptrs dld not anrive r:ntll the followlng evenlng. The pictr:res ln Flgunes 5.2 and 5.3 were taken as the ltne of thr:nderstonms accompanylag tlre f:ront approached, tlghtnlng was vLsible along a line from northeast to northwest wlth the more severe and. nurnerous strokes

arnlvlng fnom a nor"thwesterly d.lrectlon. At 9225 Pm llne thunderstorms wene at leas t 20 m1les away wtth lightnlng flashlng almost continuously. Flgure 5.2a shows three distlnct llghtnlng strokes occurr.lng ln the Lnterval of d.uratlon of the trlggerlng pulse. ry 10:05 PIvl tbe thr:nd,erstorms were beglnnlng to pass ovophead. A strong wlnd f:rom the no:rth was actlve d.urlng th.e tlne nhen the pictures of Flgures 5.? and 5.J were taken. The naJorlW of tbe llghtnlng strokes waa st1Il from a nontbwestenly d,lneetlon, but occaslonal flashes wer6 vlslble d.1nectLy overhead.
Tbe 1oeal stnokes were

of sufflcient lntenslty to ovondrlve the ar1Pllfiers so as to cause the dlstontlon at tbe end of the longest tnaces shown ln Flgr.rres S,]A and. 5.3d. The galn was set verSr low tb.noughout the storm, but the dlstontlon in the ampJ-lfiens due to local stnokes could not be avolded. Some very pnomi.nent loops ln the trace output of the dlnectlon flnder are present ln Flgr.res 5.2d and 5.3c. fhese loops are a nesult of two condltions. Tbe traco ln Flgr::ro 5.3c lndlcates dqnrp64 loop osclllatlon while that ln flgure 5.2a ls due to tho horizontal eomponents of the electrtc fleld of the ln-

hB

sferlc. The latter condition is provalent when the l-lghtnlng stnokes occur ovenhead. Under this condltion the loop anteruras do not glve output voltages propor.tional to the cosine of the honlzontal angle and cannot be depended upon to give accomlng cu:rate results.

the problem of plottlng error curves for the direetion flnder" ls a difflbult onoo fsolated. thundenstorms whose azimuth can be accunately measured occur very seldom. The problem of obtaining experimental data for the entLne 350 d.egrees around the dlrectlon flnder would requlre the measurlng of azlmuth.s of lsolated thrrnd.erstorms ln several dlfferent d.irectlons. fhe probabillty of several storms occr:ring ln all dlnectlons 1n a short per"iod of time is very remote. By observing the llghtnlng and the cathode ray tube of the dlrection finder. simultaneously two observens ean get a good conparison of d.inectlons and estlmate the error of the di::ectlon flnder for any glven storm. A1.l observatlons made by the autho:r lndicate that the azlmuthal lnd.icatlons of the direction finder" is very nearly lLnear.

l+g

(a)

(b)

Elgure

$.1

Renote Stom

of 2 July, 195f

5o

(a)

(b)

(c)
Elgure

(d)

5.2 Stom of 3 Julvt LgiL

5t

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure

(d)

1.3

Storm

of 3 Ju\y,

LgSL

52

(a) Front Vlem of Anpllfier

Chassls

(b) eotton VlEr of Anp}lfier

Chassis

{c)

Gtossed IooP Antennas and Corurecting Cables gagure

(d) -

Hutrnent

in lttrich EquiPment ls Iccated

5.h

Pi.ctrrres of the Dlrectlon Elnder and the llutnent

53

Concluslons

ls satlsfactory for the dlrectlon flnding of sferics. Ttre peculiar varlety of traces on the dlrection flnder cathodo ray tube can be lnterproted and evaluated. when the characteristlcs of the complete dlrectlon flndlng system are hrown. The er"r"or of the system ls a fu:rotlon of the corrblnatlon of many factors whlclr were d.lscussed ln Chaptens 11I and IV of thts thesls. A change ln d.eslgn of the lnput clrcuit of the ampllflers nlgbt lmprove the l-oop osclllatlon problem. The pr.esence of several metallic objects such as the bans on tbe hutment windows, the o11 stove, and the wlre fence outstd.e the hutment door und.oubted.ly have some effect on the accunacy of the d.irectLoa fi.nd.er. A large eruor was observed when the slgnal nolse generator was used. to check tb,o system, but no appreclable ernor: has been detected wben lightntng sferlcs were obsenved,. fhe range of the slgnal generaton ls so llnlted (about 30 feet) that it cannot be depend.ed upon for a good error check. To mlnimlze the error due to lnduced cumonts ln the
Tbe crossed loop antenna system

netal objects the loop antennas should be removed as fan as posslbl-o fnom these objects. Mounting the loop antennas on the roof of the hutment would accompllsh thts punpose nlcely.
Errons due to local terraln, nlght effect,
components
aad.

honlzontal

of electric fleld fnom 1oea1 ltghtnlng dlseharges hlgh in the clouds cannot be corrected.. Those conditlons rnust be necognlzed and tho results propen1-y interpreted, The most senious problem yet to be solved is that of plot-

5l+

tlng an error curve. A portable nolse genenator wlth a range of one half mlle or more ls nequl::ed. to check the accu:racy of the dlnectlon finden 1n all dlrectlons. Wlth the completlon of an eccurate error curve, the photographle data could be corrected to glve the true dlrectlon of the observed. sferlcs. The plctures ln Flgr.r:re 5.[ show the component parts of the dlrectlon flnder and how tbey are located with respect to eactr other. These plctr:res and tho cireuit dlagnams in Chapter IV shouLd be an ald ln serviclng or modifylng the equipment when the need. arlses. At present the J-oop antennas are located. in the southwest cornen of the hutment. The loops have been set on the base wlth thelr planes perpendleular. For true nonth and south allgnment the base ls setting in the correct poslti.on and. a pencll llne dnavrn on the floor outllning the base. Thls ls a ver';r tenporarXr arrangement, and when a permanent plaee for the loops ls selected, they should. be allgned and. so11dLy mounted so that the axlal directlon w111 not chaage duning normal condltLons of
operatlon.

55
BIBLIOGRAPHT

Bellaschl'
Code

P. L. Liehtning Currents in Fleld and. Laborator:T'. Amenlcan rnsttEutE-r-T16?6ffi EEgE#?s-FFaiffiE

(August' L935),

fon Protectlon Asalnst !18ht+188.

Gew 1 t

Hand.book

No. A7, Bureau

-offitffiA;qWaW El,ster and GoiteL. E@gen

SeF
t e rnro

tk&.-frffi .-A;fr;lgg'5.

Ueben den ELectrlctren Ygrgggg

ln

Giecoletto and Stlben. Cnossed Locib Dfu.ectLon Flnd.er"., Pnoceed.tngs of the Ing t 1 tutffi-EadT3-trngln-fi;E?ils@-n6er, 191+9 .

iless, P. N. rrlnstallation and 0pe::ation of Electronlc Sferlc Detectlon Equlpmentrt. Unpubltshed. Mastert s Thesls. St111waten, Oklatrona: Oklahoma A. and M. Co11ege, (1951). Eess, V. F. the Electrlcal Con{uctlvlty of the Atmosphere and its causolF ffiJ-Y-rkT D::ffis'6'aiT e6;,-Cr9'/8'1 .
A.. and M. College

fiolzbenleln, T. M. ttA Stud,y of Tornado Tracklng Equipment.rr Unpubl.lshed Mastort s Thesls. Stlllwater, 0klahoma: Oklaho:na
,
(195L) . Eumphreys, W. 'Booir

J. Physlcs of tbe A1r. Co. Inc.,-F9-29'f.-

New

York:

McGraw-Hll1

Klng, Mlnmo, and 'lltllng. Transmlsslon Llnes, Antennasr. and Wave Guld.es. New York: McGraw-Hlll Book Co. Inc., 1945. toonard, P. Uebe:r Regen. Meteorologlcal Zeitschn, 1901+. Lewl-s, 1111. liY, Llgl:tnine Investlgatlon on Transmlsg1o11 Llnes..
Amertc

an

riffi-o@heer"tu

E'3t ffi51+.

K. B. Liehtnlne and the Pnotection of Electric gXEtsms. Scheneetady, New York: General Electrlc Co.r 1939. Ilori-nder, Ilarald. L:!E!&igg Cr-rrrents and T[eiq V4ria_t:!!,ne.
McEachron,

Journal

of tue ffi-r;ffi,-JTryl-1p35;-Vm0'.
Amerlcan

glneers TffiFFTfons, September, 1931, Vol. 50 . Roblnson, J. A Method of Direction Findlne $ Wlreless S.
Radlo Revlew

Peok,

F. W. !lg!E&g.

Instltute of Electrical

En-

1,

1920.

55

Vol. th3.' Slnpsonr G. C. Elec_tElclty of Raln and Its

Vio-t209.

Schonlandr B. F. J. and Collens, II. Progressive Lishtnlne. proceedlngs of tb,e Royal soctetyrffiffrgS[E" e,

stonms.

tr

6lJe$Fogl M:A,
Ed.itlon.
New

0n1g1n

ln

Thunden-

llorman, F. E. Rad.io Engi-neerlng, Thlrd. McGraw-Hill Book Corr fnc., L9l+7.

fenmanr

York:

F..E." Radio Engineers Handbook, Flnst Editlon. New york: McGnaw-EilL Book Co.p Inc., L9I+j. Wl1son, C. T. T. _fgyeglle+tlons pn Ltehtnins Dischargg and on trr" gI"q sffions 6ftEE'

ffiFai:$?Itffi igm; srffilt?il.

TIIESIS TITLE:

DEVELOP1VENT A}TD OPERATION OF

SFERIC DTRECTION FINDER

NAME OF AUTHOR:

A CROSSED

LOOP

Vernon D"

tftlade

TIIES]S ADVISER:

Herbert L. Jones

The conbent and form have been ctrecked and appr.oved by the author and thesis advj-seno trfnstruetions for-typing -ana Arranging the Thesisrr are available ln the Graduate slirool offlceo -

ln the thesls are not mad.e by the Graduate school 0ffico on by any commltteeo The coples- ane sent to tl" -blndeny just as they an6 approved by the auihor and. faculty
changes, or_corrections

advlsero

NAME

0F TYPISB! Arura Frances Whlte

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Name: Vernor D.

Wade

Institutlon:

Olclahoma
1.,/i.

College

A. and

Date: July 16, I95t Position: Student Location: Stillwater,

Oklahoma

of a Crossed Loop Sferlc Dir"ection Finder Nrmber of Pages in Studyr 56 Under Directlon of What Department: El-ectrical Engineering Scope of Study: The tornado o:rlginates in a thr:nderstorm and is always accompanied with severe llghtnlng. Limited data lndicates that ther.e are lightning characte::isties in a tornado that do not appear in ordinary thunderstorms. To prove this theorny a lar"ge store of data from many thunderstorms j.s needed so that mone accurate conclusions may be neached. The speciflc problem of obtainlng data in thls thesis is llmited to that of Locating the dlrection of the llghtning 1n a storm. Llghtning pnoduces eLectnomagnetic nadlatlon, or sferlcs, which. t:ravel along tb.e eartht s surface on a g:reat clrcJ.e route. Thls chanacterlstlc nrakes possibl-e the detection of the direction fnom whtch the radiatlon arr.ives by means of antennas with d.i:reetive prope:rtles. A large part of the enengy 1n the electromagnetic wave p:roduced by 1-ightnlng is concentrated near 10 kilocycles ln the frequency spectrun. At this fnequency the loop antenna has good dlrectional charaete:rlstlcs. Findings and Concl-uslonsr A direetion flnder was bul1t by the author using two loop antennas anranged wlth thelr planes pe::pendlcular to each othe:r and perpendlcular with ::espect to ground. The output of each loop is fed tkr.rough an arnplifier to the deflectlon plates of a cathode ray tube. The output voltages of the erossed loops produee horizontal and verttcal deflections of the catbode ray tube that form a straight line trace on the tube screen and the orientation of the Line indicates tlre dlrection from which the sferic came wlth respect to tbe posltion of the loop antennas. Experimental resuLts show that the crossed loop direction finde:: will indicate tbe direction of lightning in a storm if the system is properly aligned and the results are interpreted and corrected. for inherent rrorso
Development and Operation

Tttle of Study:

ADVTSERIS AP?ROVAL