Abstract
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 36,
L21107,
5 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009GL040396
Seasonal dependence of energetic electron precipitation: Evidence for a global role of lightning
Space, Telecommunications, and Radioscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Space, Telecommunications, and Radioscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Space, Telecommunications, and Radioscience Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Orléans, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
Analysis of the DEMETER spacecraft particle data shows that energetic electron precipitation exhibits a seasonal dependence consistent with lighting-induced electron precipitation (LEP). Over the United States, energetic electron fluxes in the slot region (between L = 2 and 3) are significantly higher in the northern summer than in the winter, consistent with the seasonal variation of lightning activity in the Northern Hemisphere. The association of precipitating fluxes with lightning is explored using lightning location data from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) and VLF wave data on DEMETER. The increased precipitation of particles into the drift loss cone over the Northern Hemisphere in summer is consistent with expected pitch-angle scattering by lightning-generated whistler waves, indicating that lightning is a significant contributor to the loss of slot region electrons.
Received 7 August 2009; accepted 15 October 2009; published 12 November 2009.
Citation: (2009), Seasonal dependence of energetic electron precipitation: Evidence for a global role of lightning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L21107, doi:10.1029/2009GL040396.
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