Time and frequency characterization of radiated disturbance in telecommunication bands due to pantograph arcing

Radiated emissions from arcing between pantograph and overhead wire in electrical transportation systems extend up to the frequency bands currently used for telecommunications and may therefore affect quality of telecommunication systems. The paper investigates on the time and frequency characteristics of the disturbances. Transient amplitude, rise time and pulse duration were measured in the time domain to obtain the associated empirical distributions; the power spectrum and the frequency content were calculated in the bands of interest; finally a time-frequency representation has been used to observe the evolution of the power spectrum over time and determine the location of the main contributions. Measurement of the channel power has also been carried out to investigate on the relevance of the disturbance power for some bands of interest for telecommunication services. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.