The rarity of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

被引：39

作者：

Smith, D. M. ^{[1
,2
,3
]}

Dwyer, J. R. ^{[4
]}

Hazelton, B. J. ^{[5
]}

Grefenstette, B. W. ^{[6
]}

Martinez-McKinney, G. F. M. ^{[1
,2
]}

Zhang, Z. Y. ^{[1
,2
]}

Lowell, A. W. ^{[3
]}

Kelley, N. A. ^{[1
,2
]}

Splitt, M. E. ^{[7
]}

Lazarus, S. M. ^{[7
]}

Ulrich, W. ^{[7
]}

Schaal, M. ^{[4
]}

Saleh, Z. H. ^{[4
]}

Cramer, E. ^{[4
]}

Rassoul, H. K. ^{[4
]}

Cummer, S. A. ^{[8
]}

Lu, G. ^{[8
]}

Blakeslee, R. J. ^{[9
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Inst Particle Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA

[2] Univ Calif Santa Cruz, Dept Phys, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA

[3] Univ Calif Berkeley, Space Sci Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[4] Florida Inst Technol, Dept Phys & Space Sci, Melbourne, FL 32901 USA

[5] Univ Washington, Dept Phys, Seattle, WA 98195 USA

[6] CALTECH, Space Radiat Lab, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA

[7] Florida Inst Technol, Dept Marine & Environm Syst, Melbourne, FL 32901 USA

[8] Duke Univ, Dept Elect & Comp Engn, Durham, NC 27708 USA

[9] NASA, George C Marshall Space Flight Ctr, Huntsville, AL 35805 USA

来源：

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS | 2011年 / 38卷

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

INTRACLOUD LIGHTNING DISCHARGES; RUNAWAY BREAKDOWN; ELECTRIC-FIELDS; X-RAYS; THUNDERSTORMS; INITIATION; BURSTS; AIR;

D O I：

10.1029/2011GL046875

中图分类号：

P [天文学、地球科学];

学科分类号：

07 ;

摘要：

We report on the first search for Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from altitudes where they are thought to be produced. The Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE), an array of gamma-ray detectors, was flown near the tops of Florida thunderstorms in August/September 2009. The plane passed within 10 km horizontal distance of 1213 lightning discharges and only once detected a TGF. If these discharges had produced TGFs of the same intensity as those seen from space, every one should have been seen by ADELE. Separate and significant nondetections are established for intracloud lightning, negative cloud-to-ground lightning, and narrow bipolar events. We conclude that TGFs are not a primary triggering mechanism for lightning. We estimate the TGF-to-flash ratio to be on the order of 10(-2) to 10(-3) and show that TGF intensities cannot follow the well-known power-law distribution seen in earthquakes and solar flares, due to our limits on the presence of faint events. Citation: Smith, D. M., et al. (2011), The rarity of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L08807, doi: 10.1029/2011GL046875.

引用

页数：5

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