The effect of the electric field of the atmosphere on cosmic rays

Lidvansky, A. S.

doi:10.1088/0954-3899/29/5/313

Cited by 27 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Finally, direct observations of cosmic-ray secondary muons show that thunderstorm electric fields can either increase or decrease their flux slightly, depending on the sign of the field and the relative population of positive and negative muons (Alexeenko et al 2002;Lidvansky 2003;Muraki et al 2004). …”

Section: Glows Observed From the Groundmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

2012

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It is now well established that both thunderclouds and lightning routinely emit x-rays and gamma-rays. These emissions appear over wide timescales, ranging from submicrosecond bursts of x-rays associated with lightning leaders, to sub-millisecond bursts of gamma-rays seen in space called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes, to minute long glows from thunderclouds seen on the ground and in or near the cloud by aircraft and balloons. In particular, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), which are thought to be emitted by thunderclouds, are so bright that they sometimes saturate detectors on spacecraft hundreds of kilometers away. These TGFs also generate energetic secondary electrons and positrons that are detected by spacecraft in the inner magnetosphere. It is generally believed that these x-ray and gamma-ray emissions are generated, via bremsstrahlung, by energetic runaway electrons that are accelerated by electric fields in the atmosphere. In this paper, we review this newly emerging field of High-Energy Atmospheric Physics, including the production of runaway electrons, the production and propagation of energetic radiation, and the effects of both on atmospheric electrodynamics.

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Section: Glows Observed From the Groundmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

2012

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“…secondary particles generated from the solar protons. Other sources of high-energy particles in the lower atmosphere include thunderstorms (Wilson 1925;Lidvansky 2003), from which there is surface experimental evidence for accelerated electrons (Khaerdinov et al 2005).…”

Section: K2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement of cloud formation by droplet charging

Harrison

Ambaum

2008

Proc. R. Soc. A.

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Charge affects the activation of cloud droplets by reducing the minimum supersaturation at which haze droplets begin to grow. Although the droplet charge required to enhance activation is substantial, we show that sufficient charging occurs at the edges of layer clouds because the fair-weather current in the global atmospheric electrical circuit flows through a discontinuity in conductivity. Our theory predicts that droplet neutralization will cause a transient cooling of cloud base. This hypothesis was tested during a period of extreme solar activity, when we detected transient current bursts at the surface beneath a layer of cloud. We attribute these to bursts of ion production, which would cause transient droplet neutralization in the cloud and an associated increase in droplet critical supersaturation. We observed transient decreases in downward long-wave radiation measurements coincident with the transient current bursts. As the vertical current density passing through stratiform clouds is a global phenomenon, there are many regions in which a charge enhancement effect on cloud formation can potentially occur; we find that the effect of charge-enhanced activation on surface radiation in the presentday climate could be as large as 0.1 W m K2 .

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“…As far as the amplitudes of observed effects are concerned, it is even rather modest. Here, the maximum enhancement of the soft component hardly exceeds 5% (at the best time resolution), while in the events published earlier the maximum enhancements are bigger than 20% (September 7, 2000 [1,2]) and 30% (October 11,…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 59%

“…When studying the intensity variations of secondary cosmic rays during thunderstorms [1] with the Carpet shower array of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory it was found that, in addition to regular variations correlating with the near-ground electric field, there existed considerable transient changes of the intensity [2,3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong variations of cosmic ray intensity during thunderstorms and associated pulsations of the geomagnetic field

Kanonidi

Khaerdinov

Lidvansky

et al. 2011

Astrophys. Space Sci. Trans.

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Strong variations of the intensity of secondary cosmic rays during thunderstorms are found to be accompanied in some cases by very clear pulsations of the geomagnetic field. The experiment is carried out in the Baksan Valley, North Caucasus, the Carpet air shower array being used as a particle detector. Magnetic field measurements are made with high-precision magnetometers located deep underground in the tunnel of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory, several kilometers apart from the air shower array.

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The effect of the electric field of the atmosphere on cosmic rays

Cited by 27 publications

References 26 publications

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

High-Energy Atmospheric Physics: Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes and Related Phenomena

Enhancement of cloud formation by droplet charging

Strong variations of cosmic ray intensity during thunderstorms and associated pulsations of the geomagnetic field

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