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Section 1.4.4
Report of NLSI's Trip to Asia
February-March 2010
Nepal Visit
The Nepal visit was hosted by Dr. Sri Ram Sharma. We discussed the 2007 Colombo Declaration of Lightning Safety and how best to advance it in Nepal. Our sessions were hosted by Rehdon College, Kathmandu. Thanks to Chairman Mr. Tejendra Nath Shrestha, Principal Prof. Dr. Devi Dutta Paudyal, Managing Director Buddhi Pudasaini, and Prof. Dr. Kedar Nath Baral for their support. (Photo: NLSI's Richard Kithil at the Nepal telecom site assessment.)
Seminars and discussions with Nepalese government officials were conducted with the Ministry of Meteorology; discussions centered on EAGOSH and ICAO aviation standards pertaining to lightning warnings. The Nepal Met. Dept. reported their method of detecting lightning at the main airport was to look out the window.
The www.youtube.com video clip, created (in Nepalese) during our 2009 visit was popular and can be accessed by typing in the phrase “Nepal Lightning.” Discussions with Nepal Telecom (NT) were focused on protection for solar arrays. Despite some manufacturers’ requirements for floating grounds, this method leads to consequential damage by nearby lightning. Equipotential bonding/grounding/SPDs, therefore, is essential.
An inspection visit to the NT Pulchowki Mountain primary radio towers site was useful to all. Nepal receives about 25 thunder days per year, with the area around Pokara receiving the heaviest amount. Villagers and field workers are not well informed about the hazard. Often there is no shelter available for them. The problem in such situations is that there is no solution for safety whatsoever.
 Malaysia Visit
In Malaysia, the country experiences some 180 thunder days per year. The Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has created a special sub-division called Centre for Excellence in Lightning Protection (CELP), which hosted the visit. CELP is directed by Dr. Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir and Deputy Directors Dr. Hashim Hizam, Dr. Jasronita Jasni, and Dr. Wan Fatinhamamah Wan Ahmad.
A high voltage laboratory is under construction at CELP. Classes in all the usual topics of interest to “atmospheric electricians” are provided. A senior advisor to CELP is Dr. Chandima Gomes, formerly with the Physics Dept. at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Dr. Gomes’s credentials include 7-8 years of successful lightning safety efforts in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. CELP aims to be a dynamic institution for education about lightning hazard mitigation in Southeast Asia. See the CELP website at www.eng.upm.edu.my/celp/. (Photo: NLSI's Richard Kithil with Dr. Chandima Gomes
at the UPM High Voltage Laboratory, Kuala Lumpur.)
A press conference at UPM was organized, which resulted in good media coverage the following days. Also presented was a two-hour introductory lightning safety seminar for faculty, students, and other invited persons. A Q&A session thereafter illustrated the keen interest on the topic by attendees. Finally, meetings were held with Hartono Abidin Zainal, a well-known Malaysia lightning protection engineer and President/Founder of Lightning Research Pte. in Kuala Lumpur.
There are plans for an Asian Lightning Protection Conference hosted by CELP. More details will be noted at the NLSI website in the future.
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