ESE Air Terminal

An Early Streamer Emission air terminal, also known as ESE or as an ionizing lightning rod, is an external lightning protection system with innovative technology. This ESE air terminal is also known as active lightning rod. At its start, the lightning bolt travels through a downward leader that propagates in jumps in any direction. When the bolt approaches the ground it can hit any object. The aim of the lightning rod is to concentrate the discharge point of the bolt in order to achieve a controlled impact without any damages. The ESE air terminal emits a continuous upward leader with time of advance to anticipate the descent of lightning and capture it before any other object within its protection area. The time of advance of the ESE determines the protection radius of the ESE air terminal: the more the upward leader anticipates, the higher the downward leader is captured and prevents lightning strikes in a larger area. An Early Streamer Emission (ESE) Air Terminal is characterized by reacting when lightning approaches, intercepting it earlier than any other element within its protection area in order to conduct it safely to the ground. In fact, the ESE terminals are designed to develop an upward propagating streamer faster than the one generated from a conventional air terminal. The efficiency in the propagation of a streamer allows these terminals to intercept a lightning leader much above the point of their installation resulting in a larger radius of protection.