Field measurements of SOP transients in OPGW, with time and location correlation to lightning strikes.

ABSTRACT

We monitored the state of polarization (SOP) of polarized light in an optical ground wire (OPGW) link located in North America using a test method and apparatus that measured Stokes space angular velocity and geographic location of SOP transients. We observed transients up to 5.1 Mrad/s and were able to correlate these events in both time and location to lightning strikes documented by the United States Precision Lightning Network (USPLN).