Measurements and implications of the relationship between lightning and terrestrial gamma ray flashes

	Become an AGU Member Subscribe to AGU Journals



Read Full Article (file size: 206108 bytes) Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L08811, doi:10.1029/2005GL022778, 2005 Measurements and implications of the relationship between lightning and terrestrial gamma ray flashes Steven A. Cummer Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA Yuhu Zhai Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA Wenyi Hu Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA David M. Smith Physics Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, California, USA Liliana I. Lopez Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA Mark A. Stanley Space and Remote Sensing Sciences Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA Abstract We report observations and analysis of 30 kHz radio emissions (sferics) from lightning discharges associated with 26 terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) recorded by the RHESSI satellite over the Caribbean and Americas, between 1500 and 4000 km away from the magnetic field sensors located at Duke University. Thirteen of the TGFs are found to occur within −3/+1 ms of lightning discharges of positive polarity from the direction of the RHESSI subsatellite point, strongly indicating that the TGFs are linked to these discharges. The event timing and sferic direction finding reveals that the discharges occur within a ∼300 km radius circle around the RHESSI subsatellite point. Although the positive polarity of all 13 discharges is consistent with runaway breakdown, the lightning charge moment changes are approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than present high altitude runaway breakdown theory predicts. Implications of these measurements are discussed. Received 21 February 2005; accepted 1 April 2005; published 30 April 2005. Index Terms: 0689 Electromagnetics: Wave propagation (2487, 3285, 4275, 4455, 6934); 3324 Atmospheric Processes: Lightning; 3304 Atmospheric Processes: Atmospheric electricity. Read Full Article (file size: 206108 bytes) Cited by Citation: Cummer, S. A., Y. Zhai, W. Hu, D. M. Smith, L. I. Lopez, and M. A. Stanley (2005), Measurements and implications of the relationship between lightning and terrestrial gamma ray flashes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L08811, doi:10.1029/2005GL022778. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

Abstract