Thunderstorm warning systems - Protection against lightning

IEC 62793:2020 describes the characteristics of thunderstorm warning systems (TWSs) in order to implement lightning hazard preventive measures.
Single sensors and/or a network of sensors (e.g. lightning location system) can be used as a TWS.
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition, published in 2016. This edition constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous edition:
- portable devices are no longer covered by this standard;
- in Clause 5, classes of TWS have been deleted;
- in Clause 6, updated figures and more detailed text are provided to better illustrate the alarm timeline;
- in Clause 9, the text has been summarized and refers now to the application guide given in Annex F;
- annexes have been reorganized;
- Annex E is normative.

Systèmes d'alerte aux orages - Protection contre la foudre

L'IEC 62793:2020 décrit les caractéristiques des systèmes d'alerte aux orages (TWS, Thunderstorm Warning Systems), afin de mettre en œuvre des mesures préventives contre les dangers de la foudre.
Des capteurs uniques et/ou des réseaux de capteurs (système de localisation de la foudre, par exemple) peuvent être utilisés comme TWS.
Cette deuxième édition annule et remplace la première édition parue en 2016. Cette édition constitue une révision technique.
Cette édition inclut les modifications techniques majeures suivantes par rapport à l'édition précédente:
- les appareils portatifs ne sont plus couverts par la présente norme;
- à l'Article 5, les classes de TWS ont été supprimées;
- à l'Article 6, des figures mises à jour et un texte plus précis fournissent une meilleure représentation de la chronologie de l'alarme;
- à l'Article 9, le texte a été synthétisé et fait désormais référence au guide d'application de l'Annexe F;
- les annexes ont été réorganisées;
- l'Annexe E est normative.
La présente version bilingue (2021-02) correspond à la version anglaise monolingue publiée en 2020-09.
La version française de cette norme n'a pas été soumise au vote.

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
20-Sep-2020
Technical Committee
Drafting Committee
Current Stage
PPUB - Publication issued
Start Date
28-Aug-2020
Completion Date
21-Sep-2020
Ref Project

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IEC 62793 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Thunderstorm warning systems – Protection against lightning
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
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International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

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IEC 62793 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Thunderstorm warning systems – Protection against lightning

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 29.020; 91.120.40 ISBN 978-2-8322-8725-5

– 2 – IEC 62793:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 8
3.1 Terms and definitions . 8
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 11
4 Thunderstorm phases and detectable phenomena for alarming. 12
5 Description of thunderstorm detectors and their properties . 13
6 Alarm method . 14
6.1 General . 14
6.2 Areas . 14
6.2.1 Target (TA) . 14
6.2.2 Surrounding area (SA) . 15
6.2.3 Monitoring area (MA) . 15
6.2.4 Coverage area (CA) . 15
6.3 Alarm triggering and clearing . 16
6.4 Alarm information delivery. 18
7 Installation . 18
8 Maintenance . 19
9 Performance evaluation . 19
9.1 General . 19
9.2 Evaluation of a TWS by cross-correlation with other sources of information . 20
10 TWS application . 21
Annex A (informative) Overview of the lightning phenomena . 22
A.1 Origin of thunderclouds and electrification . 22
A.2 Lightning phenomena . 22
A.3 Electric thunderstorm and lightning characteristics useful for prevention . 24
A.3.1 Electrostatic field . 24
A.3.2 Electromagnetic fields . 24
A.3.3 Other parameters useful in lightning detection . 24
Annex B (informative) Thunderstorm monitoring techniques . 26
B.1 General . 26
B.2 Single sensor detection techniques . 26
B.2.1 Generalities . 26
B.2.2 Detector based on electrostatic field . 26
B.2.3 Detector based on electromagnetic field . 26
B.3 Multi-sensor location techniques . 27
B.3.1 Generalities . 27
B.3.2 Magnetic direction finder (MDF) . 27
B.3.3 Time of arrival (TOA) . 27
B.3.4 Interferometry . 27
Annex C (informative) Recommended preventive actions . 28
Annex D (informative) Example of TWS evaluation . 29

D.1 Example of TWS evaluation on a wind turbine site . 29
D.2 Evaluation of TWS efficiency using LLS . 30
Annex E (normative) How to test thunderstorm detectors . 32
E.1 General . 32
E.2 Laboratory tests . 32
E.2.1 General . 32
E.2.2 Resistance to UV radiation tests (for non-metallic sensor housing) . 32
E.2.3 Resistance tests to corrosion (for metallic parts of sensor) . 33
E.2.4 Mechanical tests . 33
E.2.5 Index of protection confirmation (IP Code) . 33
E.2.6 Electric tests . 34
E.2.7 Marking test . 35
E.2.8 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) . 35
E.3 Optional tests on an open air platform under natural lightning conditions . 35
Annex F (informative) Application guide . 38
F.1 General . 38
F.2 Examples of application of a TWS . 39
F.2.1 Golf course . 39
F.2.2 Oil storage facility . 39
F.2.3 Crane . 39
F.3 Selection of parameters of TWS . 40
Bibliography . 43

Figure 1 – Examples of different target and surrounding areas . 15
Figure 2 – Principles of the coverage area (CA), the monitoring area (MA), the

surrounding area (SA) and the target (TA) . 16
Figure 3 – Example of an alarm . 18
Figure A.1 – Standard lightning classifications . 23
Figure D.1 – Lightning activity in the target (TA) in red and surrounding area (SA) in
orange for a period of fifteen years (2000-2014) . 29
Figure E.1 – Difference in electric field measurement during one thunderstorm event . 36
Figure F.1 – Human risk calculated for a crane with LPS at level I . 40
Figure F.2 – Example of the alarms given by a TWS based on an EFS with three
different field thresholds . 41
Figure F.3 – Example of the alarms given by a TWS based on an LLS with three

different radii of the monitoring area . 42

Table 1 – Parameters related to sensor technologies . 13
Table 2 – Local sensor characteristics . 14
Table 3 – Alarms related to LRE . 18
Table D.1 – Performance results of a TWS evaluation based on archived lightning data
for a 15-year period (2000-2014), related to some of the key parameters . 30
Table D.2 – Example of delivered alarms evaluation . 31
Table F.1 – Identification of typical hazardous situations where a TWS improves safety . 38
Table F.2 – Example of effect of settings on alarm performance . 41

– 4 – IEC 62793:2020 © IEC 2020
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
THUNDERSTORM WARNING SYSTEMS –
PROTECTION AGAINST LIGHTNING
FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
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Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the
...


IEC 62793 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
Thunderstorm warning systems – Protection against lightning

Systèmes d'alerte aux orages – Protection contre la foudre

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International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

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IEC 62793 ®
Edition 2.0 2020-09
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
Thunderstorm warning systems – Protection against lightning

Systèmes d'alerte aux orages – Protection contre la foudre

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 29.020; 91.120.40 ISBN 978-2-8322-9451-2

– 2 – IEC 62793:2020 © IEC 2020
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
INTRODUCTION . 6
1 Scope . 7
2 Normative references . 7
3 Terms, definitions and abbreviated terms . 8
3.1 Terms and definitions . 8
3.2 Abbreviated terms . 11
4 Thunderstorm phases and detectable phenomena for alarming. 12
5 Description of thunderstorm detectors and their properties . 13
6 Alarm method . 14
6.1 General . 14
6.2 Areas . 14
6.2.1 Target (TA) . 14
6.2.2 Surrounding area (SA) . 15
6.2.3 Monitoring area (MA) . 15
6.2.4 Coverage area (CA) . 15
6.3 Alarm triggering and clearing . 16
6.4 Alarm information delivery. 18
7 Installation . 18
8 Maintenance . 19
9 Performance evaluation . 19
9.1 General . 19
9.2 Evaluation of a TWS by cross-correlation with other sources of information . 20
10 TWS application . 21
Annex A (informative) Overview of the lightning phenomena . 22
A.1 Origin of thunderclouds and electrification . 22
A.2 Lightning phenomena . 22
A.3 Electric thunderstorm and lightning characteristics useful for prevention . 24
A.3.1 Electrostatic field . 24
A.3.2 Electromagnetic fields . 24
A.3.3 Other parameters useful in lightning detection . 24
Annex B (informative) Thunderstorm monitoring techniques . 26
B.1 General . 26
B.2 Single sensor detection techniques . 26
B.2.1 Generalities . 26
B.2.2 Detector based on electrostatic field . 26
B.2.3 Detector based on electromagnetic field . 26
B.3 Multi-sensor location techniques . 27
B.3.1 Generalities . 27
B.3.2 Magnetic direction finder (MDF) . 27
B.3.3 Time of arrival (TOA) . 27
B.3.4 Interferometry . 27
Annex C (informative) Recommended preventive actions . 28
Annex D (informative) Example of TWS evaluation . 29

D.1 Example of TWS evaluation on a wind turbine site . 29
D.2 Evaluation of TWS efficiency using LLS . 30
Annex E (normative) How to test thunderstorm detectors . 32
E.1 General . 32
E.2 Laboratory tests . 32
E.2.1 General . 32
E.2.2 Resistance to UV radiation tests (for non-metallic sensor housing) . 32
E.2.3 Resistance tests to corrosion (for metallic parts of sensor) . 33
E.2.4 Mechanical tests . 33
E.2.5 Index of protection confirmation (IP Code) . 33
E.2.6 Electric tests . 34
E.2.7 Marking test . 35
E.2.8 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) . 35
E.3 Optional tests on an open air platform under natural lightning conditions . 35
Annex F (informative) Application guide . 38
F.1 General . 38
F.2 Examples of application of a TWS . 39
F.2.1 Golf course . 39
F.2.2 Oil storage facility . 39
F.2.3 Crane . 39
F.3 Selection of parameters of TWS . 40
Bibliography . 43

Figure 1 – Examples of different target and surrounding areas . 15
Figure 2 – Principles of the coverage area (CA), the monitoring area (MA), the

surrounding area (SA) and the target (TA) . 16
Figure 3 – Example of an alarm . 18
Figure A.1 – Standard lightning classifications . 23
Figure D.1 – Lightning activity in the target (TA) in red and surrounding area (SA) in
orange for a period of fifteen years (2000-2014) . 29
Figure E.1 – Difference in electric field measurement during one thunderstorm event . 36
Figure F.1 – Human risk calculated for a crane with LPS at level I . 40
Figure F.2 – Example of the alarms given by a TWS based on an EFS with three
different field threshold
...

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