Propagation of unducted whistlers from their source lightning: A case study

Abstract

We analyze nightside measurements of the DEMETER spacecraft related to lightning activity. At the 707 km altitude of DEMETER, we observe 3‐D electric and magnetic field waveforms of fractional‐hop whistlers. At the same time, the corresponding atmospherics are recorded by a very low frequency (VLF) ground‐based station located in Nançay (France). The source lightning strokes are identified by the METEORAGE lightning detection network. We perform multidimensional analysis of the DEMETER measurements and obtain detailed information on wave polarization characteristics and propagation directions. This allows us for the first time to combine these measurements with ray‐tracing simulation in order to directly characterize how the radiation penetrates upward through the ionosphere. We find that penetration into the ionosphere occurs at nearly vertical wave vector angles (as was expected from coupling conditions) at distances of 100–900 km from the source lightning. The same distance is traveled by the simultaneously observed atmospherics to the VLF ground station. The measured dispersion of fractional‐hop whistlers, combined with the ionosonde measurements at the Ebro observatory in Spain, allows us to derive the density profile in the topside ionosphere.