Weathervanes/ Lightning Rods

A lightning rod (or lightning protector) is a metal strip or rod, usually of copper or similar conductive material, used as part of lightning safety to protect tall or isolated structures (such as the roof of a building or the mast of a vessel) from lightning damage. more...

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Its formal name is lightning finial or air terminal. Sometimes, the system is informally referred to as a lightning conductor, lightning arrester, or lightning discharger; however, these terms actually refer to lightning protection systems in general or specific components within them.

The term 'lightning rod' is also used as a metaphorical term to describe those who attract controversy.

Construction and uses

A lightning rod is connected via a low-resistance wire or cable to the earth or water below, where the charge may be safely dissipated. Lightning rods sometimes possess a short circuit to the ground that is interrupted by a thin non-conductor over which lightning jumps. Ideally, the underground part of the assembly should reside in a muddy area, or an area that tends to become so during storms. If the underground cable will resist corrosion well, it may be covered in salt to improve its electrical connection with the ground.

In telegraphy and telephony a lightning rod is placed where wires enter a structure, preventing damage to electronic instruments within and ensuring the safety of individuals near them. Similarly, high-tension power lines carry a lighter conductor wire over the main power conductors. This conductor is grounded at various points along the link. Electrical substations usually have a web of the lighter conductor wires covering the whole plant.

Considerable material is used in the construction of lightning arresters, so it is prudent to work out where a new arrester will have the greatest effect. Historical understanding of lightning assumed that each rod protected a cone of 45 degrees . This has been found to be unsatisfactory for protecting taller structures, as it is possible for lightning to strike the side of a building.

A better technique to determine the effect of a new arrester is called the rolling sphere technique and was developed by Dr Tibor Horváth. To understand this requires knowledge of how lightning 'moves'. As the step leader of a lightning bolt jumps toward the ground, it steps toward the grounded objects nearest its path. The maximum distance that each step may travel is called the critical distance and is proportional to the electrical current. Objects are likely to be struck if they are nearer to the leader than this critical distance. It is standard practice to approximate the sphere's radius as 60 m near the ground.

Electricity travels along the path of least resistance, so an object outside the critical distance is unlikely to be struck by the leader if there is a grounded object within the critical distance. Noting this, locations that are safe from lightning can be determined by imagining a leader's potential paths as a sphere that travels from the cloud to the ground.

Read more at Wikipedia.org