Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

Martin Fuellekrug; Ivana Kolmasova; Ondrej Santolik; Thomas Farges; Jozsef Bor; Alec Bennett; Michel Parrot; William Rison; Ferruccio Zanotti; Enrico Arnone; Andrew Mezentsev; Radek Lan; Ludek Uhlir; Giles Harrison; Serge Soula; Oscar van der Velde; Jean-Louis Pincon; Christiane Helling; Declan Diver

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027

Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

Martin Fuellekrug^*
, Ivana Kolmasova
, Ondrej Santolik
, Thomas Farges
, Jozsef Bor
, Alec Bennett
, Michel Parrot
, William Rison
, Ferruccio Zanotti
, Enrico Arnone
, Andrew Mezentsev
, Radek Lan
, Ludek Uhlir
, Giles Harrison
, Serge Soula
, Oscar van der Velde
, Jean-Louis Pincon
, Christiane Helling
, Declan Diver

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Article number	035027
Number of pages	6
Journal	Environmental Research Letters
Volume	8
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027
Publication status	Published - 13 Aug 2013

Keywords

Atmospheric electricity
Lightning
Electromagnetic wave propagation
Storms
Gamma-ray flashes
Satellite-observations
Runaway breakdown
Discharges
Precipitation
Beams
Field

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fuellerkrug2013envreslett035027
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AGN Echo mapping: AGN Echo Mapping and Mineral Clouds in Alien Atmospheres
Horne, K. (PI)
Science & Technology Facilities Council
1/04/12 → 31/08/12
Project: Standard
Astrophysics at St Andrews:2012 - 2014: Astrophysics at St Andrews: 2012 - 2014
Horne, K. (PI)
Science & Technology Facilities Council
1/10/11 → 31/03/12
Project: Standard
EU ERC - LIGHTNING: EU ERC - LIGHTNING
Helling, C. (PI)
European Research Council
1/03/11 → 28/02/17
Project: Standard

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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, 8(3), Article 035027. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027

@article{e661ef349ff247bc9a5c0ac34fc36eb8,

title = "Electron acceleration above thunderclouds",

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "Atmospheric electricity, Lightning, Electromagnetic wave propagation, Storms, Gamma-ray flashes, Satellite-observations, Runaway breakdown, Discharges, Precipitation, Beams, Field",

author = "Martin Fuellekrug and Ivana Kolmasova and Ondrej Santolik and Thomas Farges and Jozsef Bor and Alec Bennett and Michel Parrot and William Rison and Ferruccio Zanotti and Enrico Arnone and Andrew Mezentsev and Radek Lan and Ludek Uhlir and Giles Harrison and Serge Soula and \{van der Velde\}, Oscar and Jean-Louis Pincon and Christiane Helling and Declan Diver",

note = "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.",

year = "2013",

month = aug,

day = "13",

doi = "10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

journal = "Environmental Research Letters",

issn = "1748-9326",

publisher = "Institute of Physics",

number = "3",

}

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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

AU - Fuellekrug, Martin

AU - Kolmasova, Ivana

AU - Santolik, Ondrej

AU - Farges, Thomas

AU - Bor, Jozsef

AU - Bennett, Alec

AU - Parrot, Michel

AU - Rison, William

AU - Zanotti, Ferruccio

AU - Arnone, Enrico

AU - Mezentsev, Andrew

AU - Lan, Radek

AU - Uhlir, Ludek

AU - Harrison, Giles

AU - Soula, Serge

AU - van der Velde, Oscar

AU - Pincon, Jean-Louis

AU - Helling, Christiane

AU - Diver, Declan

N1 - 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.

PY - 2013/8/13

Y1 - 2013/8/13

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Atmospheric electricity

KW - Lightning

KW - Electromagnetic wave propagation

KW - Storms

KW - Gamma-ray flashes

KW - Satellite-observations

KW - Runaway breakdown

KW - Discharges

KW - Precipitation

KW - Beams

KW - Field

U2 - 10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027

DO - 10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/035027

M3 - Article

SN - 1748-9326

VL - 8

JO - Environmental Research Letters

JF - Environmental Research Letters

IS - 3

M1 - 035027

ER -

Electron acceleration above thunderclouds

Abstract

Keywords

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Projects

AGN Echo mapping: AGN Echo Mapping and Mineral Clouds in Alien Atmospheres

Astrophysics at St Andrews:2012 - 2014: Astrophysics at St Andrews: 2012 - 2014

EU ERC - LIGHTNING: EU ERC - LIGHTNING

Cite this