Abstract—In this paper, the validity of different approximations
used in the calculation of induced overvoltages in power
lines are investigated. These approximations are as follows: 1) neglect
the distortions introduced by the finitely conducting ground
on the electromagnetic (EM) fields; 2) the horizontal electric field
at ground level is calculated by using the wavetilt approximation,
which is valid for radiation fields and for grazing incidence;
3) the horizontal field at line height is obtained by adding the
horizontal field calculated at ground level to the horizontal field
at line height calculated over perfectly conducting ground; 4)
the transmission line equations derived by assuming that the
ground is perfectly conducting are used with the horizontal field
present over finitely conducting ground as a source term in
calculating the induced overvoltages; and 5) the propagation
effects on the transients as they propagate along the line are
either neglected or modeled by replacing the line impedance due
to ground by a constant resistance. The results presented in this
paper show that in the calculation of induced overvoltages the
approximation 3) is justified and approximation 2) is justified
if the interest is to estimate the peak value of the induced
overvoltage. Approximation 4) is probably justified for short
lines and/or for highly conducting grounds. But it can introduce
significant errors if the line is long and ground conductivity is
low. Approximations 1) and 5) may lead to significant errors in
the peak value, risetime, and derivative of the lightning induced
overvoltages.