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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
The Rarity Of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes, D. M. Smith, Michael E. Splitt, Steven M. Lazarus, W. Ulrich, Jospeh R. Dwyer
The Rarity Of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes, D. M. Smith, Michael E. Splitt, Steven M. Lazarus, W. Ulrich, Jospeh R. Dwyer
Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications
We report on the first search for Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) from altitudes where they are thought to be produced. The Airborne Detector for Energetic Lightning Emissions (ADELE), an array of gamma-ray detectors, was flown near the tops of Florida thunderstorms in August/September 2009. The plane passed within 10 km horizontal distance of 1213 lightning discharges and only once detected a TGF. If these discharges had produced TGFs of the same intensity as those seen from space, every one should have been seen by ADELE. Separate and significant nondetections are established for intracloud lightning, negative cloud-to-ground lightning, and narrow bipolar …
Electron-Positron Beams From Terrestrial Lightning Observed With Fermi Gbm, Michael S. Briggs, Joseph R. Dwyer
Electron-Positron Beams From Terrestrial Lightning Observed With Fermi Gbm, Michael S. Briggs, Joseph R. Dwyer
Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications
Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are brief pulses of energetic radiation observed in low-earth orbit. They are associated with thunderstorms and lightning and have been observed both as gamma-ray and electron flashes depending on the position of the spacecraft with respect to the source. While gamma-ray TGFs are detected as short pulses lasting less than 1 ms, most TGFs seen by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) with durations greater than 1 ms are, instead, the result of electrons traveling from the sources along geomagnetic field lines. We perform spectral analysis of the three brightest electron TGFs detected by GBM and …