In order to obtain the waveform parameters of lightning current

monitoring devices should be installed on tall structures such as tower and transmission line.However

the measured results are influenced by the structure involved.Investigating the current distortion due to reflection and propagation effects is necessary to establish the relations between original and measured lightning current parameters.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the influence of installing position of lightning monitoring device on the measured result.Some factors are taken into account in building an electromagnetic transient model of structure

such as the attenuation and distortion of lightning current waveform in propagation

and the impulse grounding resistance of grounding device.The electromagnetic transient analysis program is adopted to simulate the electromagnetic transient process when a lightning strikes the structure with different heights.Simulation result shows that lightning currents exhibit huge disparity at different positions of the structure.The lightning monitoring device should be installed on the top of structure to get accurate lightning parameters.