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Multiple Gamma‐Ray Glows and a Downward TGF Observed From Nearby Thunderclouds
Author(s) -
Hisadomi S.,
Nakazawa K.,
Wada Y.,
Tsuji Y.,
Enoto T.,
Shinoda T.,
Morimoto T.,
Nakamura Y.,
Yuasa T.,
Tsuchiya H.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2021jd034543
Subject(s) - lightning (connector) , physics , thunderstorm , electric field , detector , gamma ray , flash (photography) , radiation , optics , astrophysics , meteorology , power (physics) , quantum mechanics
Around 17:00 on January 12, 2020 (UTC), radiation detectors installed at two locations with a 1.35 km separation in Kanazawa City, Japan, captured a total of four gamma‐ray enhancements. The first pair was simultaneously observed at the two locations at 17:03 and were abruptly terminated by a lightning discharge. The remaining two enhancements were also nearly simultaneously observed ∼ 3 min later, and one of them was also terminated by another lightning discharge. At the last termination, a downward terrestrial gamma‐ray flash and a negative energetic in‐cloud pulse were observed. Both pairs were associated with thundercloud cells. In the first pair, simultaneous detection in two locations 1.35 km apart suggests either a gamma‐ray glow emerged in‐between and time variability of its intensity were directly observed or there were two (or more) gamma‐ray glows in the cell which reached the two detectors coincidentally. In the latter pair, the peak time in the downwind detector was ∼ 40 s later than that of the upwind detector. If the irradiation region moved with the cell, it would have taken ∼110 s. The discrepancy suggests either the glow moved 2.5 times faster than the cell or there were two (or more) glows in the cell. Also, the fact that the thunderstorm cell hosting the latter glows experienced the lightning discharge ∼ 3 min before suggests that the strong electric field in the cell can develop within a few minutes.