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Sferic clusters associated with early/Fast VLF events
Author(s) -
Johnson M. P.,
Inan U. S.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl010757
Subject(s) - atmospherics , lightning (connector) , cluster (spacecraft) , physics , very low frequency , astrophysics , geophysics , geology , meteorology , astronomy , computer science , power (physics) , quantum mechanics , programming language
Characteristic subionospheric signal perturbations referred to as ‘early/fast’ VLF events are found to consistently be associated with the simultaneous occurrence of unusual clusters of radio atmospherics as observed in wideband VLF data. A burst of sferic activity occurs at or before the onset of the early/fast events and lasts from several hundred milliseconds to several seconds. The cluster energy attenuates with distance more rapidly than cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning, suggesting that these clusters may be produced by intracloud (IC) lightning, and that the charge movement within the cloud may thus play a role in the causative mechanism of early/fast VLF events.