Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

The acceleration of electrons results in observable electromagnetic waves which can be used for remote sensing. Here, we make use of ∼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 fou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research letters 2013-09, Vol.8 (3), p.35027-6
Main Authors: Füllekrug, Martin, Kolmasova, Ivana, Santolik, Ondrej, Farges, Thomas, Bór, József, Bennett, Alec, Parrot, Michel, Rison, William, Zanotti, Ferruccio, Arnone, Enrico, Mezentsev, Andrew, Lan, Radek, Uhlir, Ludek, Harrison, Giles, Soula, Serge, van der Velde, Oscar, Pinçon, Jean-Louis, Helling, Christiane, Diver, Declan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
92.60.Pw
92.60.Qx
92.60.Ta
atmospheric electricity
Brightening
Discharge
Electromagnetic radiation
electromagnetic wave propagation
Electron acceleration
Lightning
Radio waves
Relativistic electron beams
Remote sensing
Sciences of the Universe
storms
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Summary:The acceleration of electrons results in observable electromagnetic waves which can be used for remote sensing. Here, we make use of ∼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.
ISSN:1748-9326
1748-9326
DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027