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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L07811, doi:10.1029/2005GL025294, 2006

The location of lightning affecting the ionospheric sporadic-E layer as evidence for multiple enhancement mechanisms

C. G. Johnson

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UK


C. J. Davis

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UK


Abstract

We present a study of the geographic location of lightning affecting the ionospheric sporadic-E (Es) layer over the ionospheric monitoring station at Chilton, UK. Data from the UK Met Office's Arrival Time Difference (ATD) lightning detection system were used to locate lightning strokes in the vicinity of the ionospheric monitoring station. A superposed epoch study of this data has previously revealed an enhancement in the Es layer caused by lightning within 200km of Chilton. In the current paper, we use the same data to investigate the location of the lightning strokes which have the largest effect on the Es layer above Chilton. We find that there are several locations where the effect of lightning on the ionosphere is most significant statistically, each producing different ionospheric responses. We interpret this as evidence that there is more than one mechanism combining to produce the previously observed enhancement in the ionosphere.

Received 22 November 2005; accepted 9 March 2006; published 12 April 2006.

Index Terms: 2427 Ionosphere: Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions (0335); 2437 Ionosphere: Ionospheric dynamics; 3304 Atmospheric Processes: Atmospheric electricity; 3324 Atmospheric Processes: Lightning; 3384 Atmospheric Processes: Acoustic-gravity waves.


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Citation: Johnson, C. G., and C. J. Davis (2006), The location of lightning affecting the ionospheric sporadic-E layer as evidence for multiple enhancement mechanisms, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L07811, doi:10.1029/2005GL025294.