Modification of an EMP Facility to Support Threshold Testing of Electronic Systems

The naval ordnance transient electromagnetic simulator (NOTES) is a bounded wave test facility located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD). NOTES was designed to enable standardized electromagnetic pulse (EMP) testing, but in order to support tests to assess the vulnerability of US infrastructure to High-altitude EMP (HEMP) it was modified to enable threshold testing with peak amplitudes of 1 kV/m up to 100 kV/m while maintaining nominally the same temporal characteristics of the threat waveform. The range of amplitude was accomplished using three different voltage pulser configurations which provided nearly continuous variability. This paper provides a detailed description of the NOTES facility and the design, implementation, and results of these modifications. We present the waveforms that were used during testing and show that they provided a consistent stimulus both in terms of the overall waveform shape and in the critical risetime characteristic.