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Scholten O, Hare BM, Dwyer J, Liu N, Sterpka C, Mulrey K, Veen ST. Searching for intra-cloud positive leaders in VHF. Sci Rep 2023; 13:14485. [PMID: 37660180 PMCID: PMC10475077 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-41218-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We have used the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) to search for the growing tip of an intra-cloud (IC) positive leader. Even with our most sensitive beamforming method, where we coherently add the signals of about 170 antenna pairs, we were not able to detect any emission from the tip. Instead, we put constraints on the emissivity of very-high frequency (VHF) radiation from the tip at 0.5 pJ/MHz at 60 MHz, integrated over 100 ns. The limit is independent on whether this emission is in the form of short pulses or continuously radiating. The non-observation of VHF radiation from intra-cloud positive leaders implies that they proceed in an extremely gradual process, which is in sharp contrast with the observations of other parts of a lightning discharge.
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Affiliation(s)
- O Scholten
- University Groningen, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Landleven 12, 9747, AD Groningen, The Netherlands.
- Interuniversity Institute for High-Energy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - B M Hare
- University Groningen, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Landleven 12, 9747, AD Groningen, The Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Postbus 2, 7990, AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
| | - J Dwyer
- Department of Physics & Astronomy and Space Science Center (EOS), University of New Hampshire, NH Durham, 03824, USA
| | - N Liu
- Department of Physics & Astronomy and Space Science Center (EOS), University of New Hampshire, NH Durham, 03824, USA
| | - C Sterpka
- Department of Physics & Astronomy and Space Science Center (EOS), University of New Hampshire, NH Durham, 03824, USA
| | - K Mulrey
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500, GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - S Ter Veen
- Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Postbus 2, 7990, AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
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Parkevich EV, Khirianova AI, Khirianov TF, Baidin IS, Shpakov KV, Tolbukhin DV, Rodionov AA, Bolotov YK, Ryabov VA, Ambrozevich SA, Oginov AV. Natural sources of intense ultra-high-frequency radiation in high-voltage atmospheric discharges. Phys Rev E 2023; 108:025201. [PMID: 37723730 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.108.025201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
We study the sources of intense ultra-high-frequency (UHF) radiation (in the frequency range 1-6 GHz) arising during the development of high-voltage atmospheric discharges. The discharges were initiated in a long discharge gap by applying an approximately 1-MV pulse with positive or negative polarity. By employing a radio registration system based on ultrawideband antennas, we managed to localize the UHF radiation sources in the discharge with centimeter accuracy and investigate their temporal and spatial correlation with the discharge structures. The vast majority of the localized sources turned out to be concentrated in the near-electrode regions. It is found that the generation mechanism of intense UHF radiation in a laboratory discharge cannot be unambiguously associated with such basic processes as the head-on collision of opposite-polarity streamers or the interaction of single streamers with the near-electrode plasma at the surface of metal electrodes. We discovered that the observed UHF emission appears basically as a precursor of the intense plasma development in a certain discharge region, whereinto a bright counterstreamer comes a bit later. The findings were confirmed by the statistical observations and results of imaging the dynamics of the discharge structures with a nanosecond temporal resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- E V Parkevich
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - A I Khirianova
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - T F Khirianov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - I S Baidin
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - K V Shpakov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - D V Tolbukhin
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - A A Rodionov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - Ya K Bolotov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Institutskiy Pereulok 9, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region 141700, Russia
| | - V A Ryabov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
| | - S A Ambrozevich
- Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 5/1 2-ya Baumanskaya Street, Moscow 105005, Russia
| | - A V Oginov
- P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 53 Leninskiy Prospekt, Moscow 119991, Russia
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Machado JGO, Hare BM, Scholten O, Buitink S, Corstanje A, Falcke H, Hörandel JR, Huege T, Krampah GK, Mitra P, Mulrey K, Nelles A, Pandya H, Rachen JP, Thoudam S, Trinh TNG, ter Veen S, Winchen T. The Relationship of Lightning Radio Pulse Amplitudes and Source Altitudes as Observed by LOFAR. Earth Space Sci 2022; 9:e2021EA001958. [PMID: 35865721 PMCID: PMC9286657 DOI: 10.1029/2021ea001958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
When a lightning flash is propagating in the atmosphere it is known that especially the negative leaders emit a large number of very high frequency (VHF) radio pulses. It is thought that this is due to streamer activity at the tip of the growing negative leader. In this work, we have investigated the dependence of the strength of this VHF emission on the altitude of such emission for two lightning flashes as observed by the Low Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope. We find for these two flashes that the extracted amplitude distributions are consistent with a power-law, and that the amplitude of the radio emissions decreases very strongly with source altitude, by more than a factor of 2 from 1 km altitude up to 5 km altitude. In addition, we do not find any dependence on the extracted power-law with altitude, and that the extracted power-law slope has an average around 3, for both flashes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - B. M. Hare
- Kapteyn Astronomical InstituteUniversity of GroningenGroningenThe Netherlands
| | - O. Scholten
- Kapteyn Astronomical InstituteUniversity of GroningenGroningenThe Netherlands
- Interuniversity Institute for High‐EnergyVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - S. Buitink
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - A. Corstanje
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - H. Falcke
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- NIKHEFScience Park AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)DwingelooThe Netherlands
| | - J. R. Hörandel
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
- NIKHEFScience Park AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
| | - T. Huege
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
- Institute for Astroparticle Physics (IAP)Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)KarlsruheGermany
| | - G. K. Krampah
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - P. Mitra
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - K. Mulrey
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - A. Nelles
- DESYZeuthenGermany
- ECAPFriedrich‐Alexander‐University Erlangen‐NrnbergErlangenGermany
| | - H. Pandya
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - J. P. Rachen
- Astrophysical InstituteVrije Universiteit BrusselBrusselsBelgium
| | - S. Thoudam
- Department of PhysicsKhalifa UniversityAbu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates
| | - T. N. G. Trinh
- Department of PhysicsSchool of EducationCan Tho University Campus IICan Tho CityVietnam
| | - S. ter Veen
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPPRadboud University NijmegenNijmegenThe Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)DwingelooThe Netherlands
| | - T. Winchen
- Max‐Planck‐Institut für RadioastronomieBonnGermany
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