Electron acceleration above thunderclouds
Date
13/08/2013Author
Funder
Grant ID
257431 257431
ST/K001515/1
ST/J001651/1
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Show full item recordAbstract
The acceleration of electrons results in observable electromagnetic waves which can be used for remote sensing. Here, we make use of similar to 4 Hz-66 MHz radio waves emitted by two consecutive intense positive lightning discharges to investigate their impact on the atmosphere above a thundercloud. It is found that the first positive lightning discharge initiates a sprite where electrons are accelerated during the exponential growth and branching of the sprite streamers. This preconditioned plasma above the thundercloud is subsequently exposed to a second positive lightning discharge associated with a bouncing-wave discharge. This discharge process causes a re-brightening of the existing sprite streamers above the thundercloud and initiates a subsequent relativistic electron beam.
Citation
Fuellekrug , M , Kolmasova , I , Santolik , O , Farges , T , Bor , J , Bennett , A , Parrot , M , Rison , W , Zanotti , F , Arnone , E , Mezentsev , A , Lan , R , Uhlir , L , Harrison , G , Soula , S , van der Velde , O , Pincon , J-L , Helling , C & Diver , D 2013 , ' Electron acceleration above thunderclouds ' , Environmental Research Letters , vol. 8 , no. 3 , 035027 . https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027
Publication
Environmental Research Letters
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1748-9326Type
Journal article
Rights
(c) The Author(s) 2013. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Description
The work of MF andAMis sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under grant NE/H024921/1. IK, OS, RL, and LU are supported by the international cooperation program of the ASCR grant M10042120 and by the GACR project 205-09-1253. JB is supported by the Earth-system project TAMOP-4.2.2.C-11/1/KONV-2012-0015 sponsored by the EU and European Social Foundation. OV is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under project AYA2011-29936-C05-04. ChH acknowledges an ERC starting grant from the European Union.Collections
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