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Development of atmospheric electrostatic field mill polarity sensor


L Ahemen
EU Utah
SFA Akande

Abstract

This work presents the development of an electrostatic field mill polarity sensor (EFPS). The EFPS developed is based on the phase sensitive detection (PSD) principle. The designed circuit consists of a transducer; a transimpedance amplifier; input amplifier/filter; position detector
incorporating amplifier and a schmitt trigger (providing the reference signal). The two signals are multiplied by the PSD and averaged by the low-pass filter to give a DC signal of the input signal. The designed EFPS has a gain of 56.39dB at the operating frequency of 190-230Hz. The centre frequency is 203Hz. The threshold voltage level for the Schmitt trigger is 1.5V. The
EFPS is found to measure both positive and negative atmospheric electric fields within the range of 100V/m - 7000V/m.

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eISSN: 1595-0611