Soil Ionization Phenomena around a Hemispherical Electrode Stressed by Impulse Voltages

The electrical characteristics of the soil where a ground electrode is buried vary with regions, seasons and environmental factors. Electrical discharge in the vicinity of the ground electrode will occur differently and significantly affect the performance of the grounding system. It is necessary to analyze discharge and ionization characteristics of soils when the grounding system is designed. The aims of this investigation are to understand correlation between the soil ionization and the transient ground impedance. This paper presents the experimental results on the soil ionization parameters and the transient ground resistance due to the soil ionization around a hemispherical ground electrode stressed by lightning impulse voltages.