Evaluation of the Guang Dong lightning location system with transmission line fault data

The Guang Dong lightning location system (GDLLS) was put into operation in 1997. Its performance, including detection efficiency and location accuracy, was evaluated with the data of the recorded lightning faults on 110, 220 and 500 kV transmission lines in 1997-1999. Lightning parameters, such as thunderstorm days, ground-flash density and peak lightning current were estimated with the lightning data collected by GDLLS. It is found that the detection efficiency is as high as 86%, and the median lightning accuracy is about 1.3 km. The correlation between the number of detected lightning flashes and recorded transmission line faults is weak, but can be improved if more appropriate analysis methods or data are employed