Lightning protection of the Parthenon: A fractal-based approach

A stochastic approach for evaluating the risk of physical damage to the Parthenon due to direct lightning flashes is introduced. The proposed method is based on a fractal-based lightning attachment model that takes into account physical criteria on leader inception and propagation, multiple competing upward leaders, and also considers the lightning discharge branching and tortuous behavior. An application of the proposed methodology to the Parthenon has shown that the risk of loss of cultural heritage without a lightning protection system is not acceptable; different external lightning protection systems are evaluated in terms of lightning interception efficiency and lightning risk assessment results are discussed and compared with those obtained by IEC 62305.