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| Titel |
High-energy radiation from thunderstorms and lightning with the Large Observatory for x-ray Timing (LOFT) mission |
| VerfasserIn |
Martino Marisaldi, David M. Smith, Søren Brandt, Michael S. Briggs, Carl Budz-Jørgensen, Riccardo Campana, Brant E. Carlson, Sebastien Celestin, Valerie Connaughton, Steven A. Cummer, Joseph R. Dwyer, Gerald J. Fishman, Martin Füllekrug, Fabio Fuschino, Thomas Gjesteland, Torsten Neubert, Nikolai Østgaard, Marco Tavani |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2015
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 17 (2015) |
| Datensatznummer |
250112405
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2015-14917.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| We explore the possible contributions of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT)
mission to the study of high-energy radiation from thunderstorms and lightning. LOFT is a
mission dedicated to X-ray timing studies of astrophysical sources, characterised
by a very large effective area of about 8.5 square meters at 8ÂkeV. Although the
main scientific target of the mission is the fundamental physics of matter under
extreme conditions, the peculiar instrument concept allows significant contributions
to a wide range of other science topics, including the cross-disciplinary field of
high-energy atmospheric physics, at the crossroad between geophysics, space physics and
astrophysics.
In this field we foresee the following major contributions:
detect ≈ 700 Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) per year, probing the TGF
intensity distribution at low fluence values and providing an unbiased sample of
bright events thanks to the intrinsic robustness against dead-time and pile-up;
provide the largest TGF detection rate surface density above the equator,
allowing for correlation studies with lightning activity on short time scales and
small regional scales, to probe the TGF / lightning relationship;
lower by a factor ≈ 5 the minimum detectable fluence for Terrestrial Electron
Beams (TEBs), an additional tool to probe TGF production mechanism and the
lower edge of TGF intensity distribution;
open up a discovery space for the detection of high-altitude electron beams and
weak X-ray emissions associated to Transient Luminous Events (TLEs).
LOFT has been studied as a candidate ESA M3 mission during an extensive assessment
phase. The high level of readiness and maturity of the mission, as well as the clean and solid
assessment of its unique science case, make LOFT a competitive mission with a compelling
science case. For this reason, its development has been continued, aiming at new launch
opportunities. |
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