EMP Simulators for Various Types of Nuclear EMP Environments: An Interim Categorization

Nuclear EMP environments have various forms depending on the location of the nuclear detonation and the location of the system exposed to the EMP environment. One can simulate these environments with various degrees of completeness on such systems. A simulator produces an EMP environment on a system of interest in a manner which can be related to the type of nuclear weapon detonation being simulated. There are many types of EMP simulators, some of which have been realized in one or more existing EMP simulators. Some types of EMP simulators only exist conceptually at the present time. This note discusses the basic types or categories of EMP simulators. Such categories are based on the electromagnetic geometry of the simulator structure and electrical sources, including the location of the system under test and other nearby materials significantly influencing the electromagnetic fields. The various types of simulators are suitable for simulating different types of nuclear EMP environments. A particular type of EMP environment can be simulated with different degrees of completeness depending on the type of simulator used. In this note we only consider nonnuclear types of ernegy sources, and in some cases high energy photon and electron sources. The EMP simulators considered range from ones which illuminate entire systems, down to ones which drive individual penetrations into systems. Not considered here are techniques for testing individual components or "black boxes" or driving the system at some intermediate point along an internal cuppling path.