Lightning Sensitivity Assessment Based on Topographic Factors

Abstract

Cloud-to-ground lightning flash has been shown to have a strong correlation with geography. In order to assess lightning risk in a specific environment from the perspective of topography, this paper divides Yunnan Province in China into two parts according to the topographic features, East and West, and conducts the study respectively. Firstly, the nonlinear functional relationships between ground flash density and topographic factors including elevation, slope, slope direction, topographic position index, and ground cover type are fitted, and then the entropy method is used to assign weights to the five terrain factors to finally obtain the lightning sensitivity assessment model. Finally, two typical areas are selected to verify the validity of the sensitivity model. The lightning sensitivity model has a high spatial resolution and can provide reference of lightning risk for transmission line construction in places without LLS site coverage.