An Overview of Thunderstorm-Related Research on the Atmospheric Electric Field, Schumann Resonances, Sprites, and the Ionosphere at Sopron, Hungary

This paper gives a resume of the papers written in English which (a) describe some of the recording instruments in use at the Nagycenk Observatory (NCK) since the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957–1958) and up to the present time, (b) summarise the most important and different types of observ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Surveys in geophysics 2013-05, Vol.34 (3), p.255-292
Main Authors: Sátori, Gabriella, Rycroft, Michael, Bencze, Pál, Märcz, Ferenc, Bór, József, Barta, Veronika, Nagy, Tamás, Kovács, Károly
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aeronomy
Astronomy
Atmospheric electricity
Atmospherics
Earth
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Electric fields
Electric potential
Geophysics
Geophysics/Geodesy
Ionosphere
Observations and Techniques
Resonant frequencies
Schumann resonances
Sprites
Thunderstorms
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Summary:This paper gives a resume of the papers written in English which (a) describe some of the recording instruments in use at the Nagycenk Observatory (NCK) since the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957–1958) and up to the present time, (b) summarise the most important and different types of observations associated with thunderstorms which have been made there, and (c) discuss their various geophysical interpretations. The paper describes the main results which have been obtained in four areas of thunderstorm associated atmospheric and geospace science within the context of Earth system science. These relate to the following parameters of atmospheric electricity: the vertical electric potential gradient just above the Earth’s surface and the air–Earth current as well as the point discharge current, Schumann resonance (SR) signals of the Earth-ionosphere cavity at 8, 14 and 20 Hz, transient luminous events (TLEs), and some aspects of the behaviour of the ionosphere. Deductions from these data sets are concerned with the global lightning activity and the conductivity of the air, with diurnal, seasonal, annual and long-term variations of the SR amplitudes and resonant frequencies in terms of migrating thunderstorm centres, with transient SR excitations and with sprites and other TLEs, and with ionospheric disturbances. The paper closes with some thoughts on future research directions based on the observations at NCK and Sopron and the results achieved since the IGY.
ISSN:0169-3298
1573-0956
DOI:10.1007/s10712-013-9222-6