Radiative and reactive coupling of lightning to electro-explosive devices in storage

Abstract. We theoretically study the absorption of radiative and reactive electromagnetic fields by electro-explosive devices (EEDs) in a munition storage struck by lightning. We find that reactive coupling in the near-field dominates for high resistance EEDs, while radiative coupling in the far-field from the strike location dominates for low resistance EEDs. Surprisingly, both couplings are substantially weaker than previously estimated. This is because the strike duration is long compared to typical electromagnetic response times. This lowers reactive absorption due to saturation of the electro-explosive device capacitance, while radiative absorption is low because the strike mostly emits low frequency modes with wavelengths longer than the dimensions of the munition storage.