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A terrestrial gamma-ray flash and ionospheric ultraviolet emissions powered by lightning

Science12 Dec 2019Vol 367, Issue 6474pp. 183-186DOI: 10.1126/science.aax3872

Gamma-ray flash from a lightning leader

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are millisecond pulses of gamma rays produced by thunderstorms. Neubert et al. observed a TGF from above, using instruments on the International Space Station. High-speed photometry in optical, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma-ray bands allowed them to determine the sequence of events that produced the TGF. Emission from an intracloud lightning leader was followed within a millisecond by the TGF. The subsequent lightning flash produced an electromagnetic pulse, which induced expanding waves of ultraviolet emission in the ionosphere above the thunderstorm, called an elve. The authors conclude that high electric fields produced within the lightning leader generated the TGF.
Science, this issue p. 183

Abstract

Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are transient gamma-ray emissions from thunderstorms, generated by electrons accelerated to relativistic energies in electric fields. Elves are ultraviolet and optical emissions excited in the lower ionosphere by electromagnetic waves radiated from lightning current pulses. We observed a TGF and an associated elve using the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor on the International Space Station. The TGF occurred at the onset of a lightning current pulse that generated an elve, in the early stage of a lightning flash. Our measurements suggest that the current onset is fast and has a high amplitude—a prerequisite for elves—and that the TGF is generated in the electric fields associated with the lightning leader.
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Supplementary Material

Summary

Materials and Methods
Supplementary Text
Fig. S1
Data S1 to S5
References (3235)

Resources

File (aax3872_data-s1.txt)
File (aax3872_data-s2.txt)
File (aax3872_data-s3.txt)
File (aax3872_data-s4.txt)
File (aax3872_data-s5.txt)
File (aax3872_neubert_sm.pdf)

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Science
Volume 367 | Issue 6474
10 January 2020

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Received: 2 April 2019
Accepted: 31 October 2019
Published in print: 10 January 2020

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Stolzenburg and M. Rycroft for valuable comments, and the World Wide Lightning Location Network for the lightning location data used in this paper. Funding: ASIM is a mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), funded by ESA and national grants of Denmark, Norway, and Spain. ESA PRODEX contracts C 4000115884 (DTU) and 4000123438 support the ASIM Science Data Centre (Bergen). The science analysis is supported by ESA Topical Team contract 4200019920/06/NL/VJ; the European Commission, Innovative Training Network SAINT, project grant 722337-SAINT; European Research Council grant AdG-FP7/2007-2013: n 320839; Research Council of Norway contracts 223252/F50 and 208028/F50 (CoE/BCSS); and Ministerio Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades grant ESP 2017-86263-C4. Author contributions: T.N. leads the ASIM project; N.Ø. leads the LED and HED instrument consortia, supported by C.B.-J. and I.K.; V.R. leads the LED imaging analysis, supported by J.N.-G. and P.H.C.; O.C. leads the optical instrument consortium, supported by M.H. and K.D.; F.C. performed in-orbit LED health analysis; I.L.R. performed in-flight calibration of the photometers; K.U., G.G., S.Y., P.K., and C.J.E. conducted LED and HED in-orbit commissioning; and M.M. and A.M. performed LED and HED data analysis. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Data and materials availability: The ASIM data for this event are provided in data S1 to S5. The WWLLN lightning data, cloud data, and ISS attitude data are provided in the supplementary materials.

Authors

Affiliations

National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space), Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Astrophysics and Space Science Observatory, National Institute for Astrophysics, Bologna, Italy.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
Image Processing Laboratory, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.

Funding Information

European Commission: 722337-SAINT
European Research Council: AdG - FP7/2007-2013: n 320839
European Space Agency: PRODEX: PEA 4000123438
European Space Agency: PRODEX: C 4000115884
European Space Agency: 4200019920/06/NL/VJ
Norway Grants: Research Council: 208028/F50
Norway Grants: Research Council: 223252/F50
Ministerio Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades: ESP 2017-86263-C4

Notes

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

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