Excitation of an Overhead Cable By an Upwards Current Pulse

We present an exact analysis for the electromagnetic coupling to a thin overhead cable from a vertical line current source terminated in a perfectly conducting ground plane. The spectral method employed permits a full satisfaction of the impedance boundary condition at the cable. The quasi-static limit of the obtained solution in the time domain, for the net cable current, is expressed in closed form. The results are relevant to the induced currents on power and communication lines.