Low Frequency Radio Pulses Produced by Terrestrial Gamma‐Ray Flashes
Abstract
Do terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes (TGFs) produce their own radio signatures? To explore this question, we analyze TGF data from the Fermi Gamma‐ray Burst Monitor, independent lightning geolocation data from the National Lightning Detection Network, and low‐frequency (LF) magnetic field waveforms, to determine the relationship between TGF generation and LF waveforms. LF waveforms associated with six TGFs are found to contain a clear and isolated slow pulse (~80‐μs duration) within a sequence of multiple fast pulses (<10‐μs risetime). We find that the slow LF pulse is produced simultaneously with the observed gamma rays, with an uncertainty as small as 7 μs. Simultaneity implies a consistent TGF source altitude range of approximately 10–15 km, which is consistent with previous estimates. These findings provide important evidence that the slow LF pulse, when observed, is associated with TGF production and perhaps produced by the electron acceleration itself.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jun 19, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1029/2019gl082743
Entities
People
- B. Mailyan
- Fanchao Lyu
- M. Stanbro
- Michael Briggs
- Oliver J. Roberts
- Steven A Cummer
- Yunjiao Pu
Organizations
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- Duke University
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Science Foundation
- Universities Space Research Association
- University of Alabama in Huntsville