Thunderstorm ground enhancements—Model and relation to lightning flashes

Abstract

In the beginning of last century C.T.R. Wilson proposed that strong electric field of the thunderclouds might accelerate electrons to very high energies. However, this and many other electromagnetic processes in our atmosphere are poorly understood till now; the key questions about the thundercloud electrification and lightning initiation remain unanswered. During recent decades several observations of gamma ray, electron and neutron fluxes correlated with thunderstorms were reported. Nonetheless, the origin of these fluxes is under debate till now. The direct registration of the particle showers initiated by the runaway electrons (the most popular theory) was missing. We present the experimental evidence of the microsecond duration electron bursts originated from runaway electrons accelerated in thunderclouds. The electron acceleration downward becomes possible after creation of the Lower Positive Charged Region below the main negative charged layer in the middle of the thundercloud. Our analysis is based on the vast thunderstorm data from the Aragats Mountain in Armenia, 3200m above sea level. Varieties of particle detectors located at Aragats Space Environmental Center are registering neutral and charged particle fluxes correlated with thunderstorms, so-called Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements. Simultaneously the electric mills and lightning detectors are monitoring the near-surface electric field and lightning flashes. In the paper we present the model of TGE initiation. We demonstrate the necessity of the Lower positive charge region development for the lower dipole operation and TGE initiation. Our observations establish direct relationship of the negative electric field strength and rain rate with TGE.