Total global lightning inferred from Schumann resonance measurements

Abstract

Abstract. Radiation with frequencies of 5-30 Hz is ducted between Earth's surface and ionosphere with little attenuation; at the lowest frequencies, waves travel several times around the Earth before losing most of their energy. Much of this radiation is produced by lightning. Here we assume that all of this radiation is produced by lightning, and attempt to invert the observed electric and magnetic fields to infer the global lightning activity. We show 10 days of inversions. For these 10 days, the inferred average rate of vertical charge transfer squared is only 1.7 10 s (C km)2/s. Other studies suggest that the root mean square moment change of a flash is about 166 Coulomb kilometers. If we naively assume that each of these flashes is composed of four equally sized strokes, then we conclude that our entire observed signal could be produced by only 22 flashes per second.

Variations of the global lightning distribution revealed from three‐station Schumann resonance measurements

“…More details on the equipment and preliminary data processing techniques applied at all the stations are described by Heckman et al [1998], Hobara et al [2000], Ando et al [2005b], Belyaev et al [1999], and Shvets et al [2009].…”

“…These parameters provide a flat spectral density of the current moment in the SR frequency band: Idl (w) = I 0 tdl. For this case M i = x i |I 0 t dl| 2 = x i |Q dl| 2 is interpreted as a change of the total charge moment squared within ith distance interval per second and Q is an average charge transferred by lightning return strokes [Heckman et al, 1998]. …”

Inferred long term trends in lightning activity over Africa

“…Due to the size of the Earth (circumference∼40,000 km) constructive inter- (Schumann, 1952). Since there are on the order of 50 lightning flashes per second around the globe (Christian et al, 2003), the variability of the SR intensity represents a continuous measure of the variability of regional and global lightning activity (Heckman et al, 1998).…”

“…A relatively simple and inexpensive method for continuously observing African lightning variability from the ground is via the Schumann Resonances (SR) (Heckman et al, 1998;Price and Melnikov, 2004). Each lightning discharge emits electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) at all frequencies and in all directions.…”

Three‐dimensional finite difference time domain modeling of the Schumann resonance parameters on Titan, Venus, and Mars

“…Therefore SR signals carry information on both sources and electromagnetic properties of the cavity determined by the lower ionospheric properties. Some inverse problem solutions have been developed for revealing the global lightning distribution and the planetary conductivity variation based on the analysis of the average background SR signals [e.g., Heckman et al, 1998;Cummer, 2000;Shvets, 2001]. Because of the possible connections between the Earth's climate and global lightning activity, SR observations can be also applied to monitor the global environmental changes.…”