About two weeks ago, I wanted to find out more about the design of lightning protection systems. In particular, I wanted to figure out what gage of wire would be necessary for linking a lightning rod to earth-ground. What I had learned is that the gage of the wire would have to be extremely thick to absorb a direct stroke of lightning, causing the cost of the lightning protection system to quickly become more expensive than most of the equipment that it would be protecting. Therefore, most lightning protection systems in place today are designed to only protect against "indirect" lightning strikes.
Exactly what is meant by the "direct" stroke and the "indirect" stroke?
Also, how do you protect against the EMP produced by the lighting bolt? (I know that Faraday's law demands that a voltage gets induced in conductors nearby the lightning strike due to the impulse of magnetic flux created by the strike. Taking this into account seems to complicate the discussion of lightning protection quite a bit.)
Exactly what is meant by the "direct" stroke and the "indirect" stroke?
Also, how do you protect against the EMP produced by the lighting bolt? (I know that Faraday's law demands that a voltage gets induced in conductors nearby the lightning strike due to the impulse of magnetic flux created by the strike. Taking this into account seems to complicate the discussion of lightning protection quite a bit.)