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| Titel |
Relativistic Electron Beams Above Thunderclouds |
| VerfasserIn |
Martin Füllekrug, Robert Roussel-Dupre, Eugene Symbalisty, Olivier Chanrion, Oscar van der Velde, Serge Soula, Anna Odzimek, Alec Bennett, Toby Whitley, Torsten Neubert |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2010
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 12 (2010) |
| Datensatznummer |
250041771
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| Zusammenfassung |
| It has recently been discovered that lightning
discharges generate upward-directed relativistic
electron beams above thunderclouds. This extends
the phenomenon of relativistic runaway breakdown
believed to occur inside thunderclouds to the
atmosphere above thunderclouds. This marks a
profound advance in our understanding of the atmosphere
because we now know it acts as a giant, natural,
particle accelerator. The accelerated electrons
can reach significant relativistic energies of some
MeV during their passage from the troposphere,
through the middle atmosphere, into near-Earth space.
These relativistic electron beams constitute a
current above thunderclouds and effectively transfer
energy from the troposphere to the middle atmosphere.
This coupling process thereby forms a novel element
of the global atmospheric electric circuit which links
tropospheric thunderclouds to the atmosphere above.
This contribution describes the radio remote sensing
of upward electron beams to determine their occurrence
frequency and to characterise their physical properites. |
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