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Simultaneous data from two interferometers separated by 16 km and synchronized within 100 ns was collected for a thunderstorm near Langmuir Lab on October 23, 2018. Analysis via triangulation follo...

In this paper we report the first close, high-resolution observations of downward-directed terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) detected by the large-area Telescope Array cosmic ray observatory, obtained in conjunction with broadband VHF interferometer and fast electric field change measurements of the parent discharge. The results show that the TGFs occur during strong initial breakdown pulses (IBPs) in the first few milliseconds of negative cloud-to-ground and low-altitude intracloud flashes, and that the IBPs are produced by a newly-identified streamer-based discharge process called fast negative breakdown. The observations indicate the relativistic runaway electron avalanches (RREAs) responsible for producing the TGFs are initiated by embedded spark-like transient conducting events (TCEs) within the fast streamer system, and potentially also by individual fast streamers themselves. The TCEs are inferred to be the cause of impulsive sub-pulses that are characteristic features of classic IBP sferics. Additional development of the avalanches would be facilitated by the enhanced electric field ahead of the advancing front of the fast negative breakdown. In addition to showing the nature of IBPs and their enigmatic sub-pulses, the observations also provide a possible explanation for the unsolved question of how the streamer to leader transition occurs during the initial negative breakdown, namely as a result of strong currents flowing in the final stage of successive IBPs, extending backward through both the IBP itself and the negative streamer breakdown preceding the IBP., Comment: Typo fixed and reference added. Manuscript is 36 pages. Supplemental Information is 42 pages. This paper is to be published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. Online data repository: Open Science Framework DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/Z3XDA

VHF radiation sources produced by positive breakdown during lightning discharges are generally considered to be both weak and slowly propagating. However, as VHF lightning mapping systems have become more sensitive, even this weak radiation can be mapped. In addition to being a faint process, positive breakdown often produces bursts of energetic activity. During the bursts, the VHF emission is extremely bright, and the breakdown propagates at much higher speeds. Here we present VHF interferometric and time–of–arrival measurements of such fast positive breakdown events produced during three example flashes. Electric field change measurements show that the fast breakdown process carries positive charge. The extent and velocity of the breakdown is estimated by converting the angular source locations provided by the interferometer into Cartesian coordinates using 3-dimensional lightning mapping observations of the flash as a guide. Fast positive breakdown events are found to extend 100–2400 m into virgin air beyond the tip of the preceding positive leader, at speeds of 0.9–9 ×107 m s−1. The observations expand upon earlier observations of such breakdown [Shao et al., 1995]“ and are similar to recently-reported results that fast positive breakdown is the cause of high-power narrow bipolar events (NBEs) [Rison et al., 2016].

Two sprite-producing thunderstorms were observed on 8 and 25 June 2012 in northeastern Colorado by a combination of low-light cameras, a lightning mapping array, polarimetric and Doppler radars, the National Lightning Detection Network, and charge moment change measurements. The 8 June event evolved from a tornadic hailstorm to a larger multicellular system that produced 21 observed positive sprites in 2 h. The majority of sprites occurred during a lull in convective strength, as measured by total flash rate, flash energy, and radar echo volume. Mean flash area spiked multiple times during this period; however, total flash rates still exceeded 60 min(sup 1), and portions of the storm featured a complex anomalous charge structure, with midlevel positive charge near 20degC. The storm produced predominantly positive cloud-to-ground lightning. All sprite-parent flashes occurred on the northeastern flank of the storm, where strong westerly upper level flow was consistent with advection of charged precipitation away from convection, providing a pathway for stratiform lightning. The 25 June event was another multicellular hailstorm with an anomalous charge structure that produced 26 positive sprites in less than 1 h. The sprites again occurred during a convective lull, with relatively weaker reflectivity and lower total flash rate but relatively larger mean flash area. However, all sprite parents occurred in or near convection and tapped charge layers in adjacent anvil cloud. The results demonstrate the sprite production by convective ground strokes in anomalously charged storms and also indicate that sprite production and convective vigor are inversely related in mature storms.

On the morning of 5 June 2013, two cameras of the SpriteCam network concurrently captured a red sprite with diffuse halo over a mesoscale convective system (MCS) passing the panhandle area of Oklahoma. This sprite was produced by a negative cloud-to-ground (CG) stroke with peak current of −103 kA in a manner different from previous observations in several aspects. First of all, the causative stroke of sprite is located by the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) in the trailing stratiform of MCS, instead of the deep convection typically for negative sprites. Second, the sprite-producing stroke was likely the first stroke of a multistroke negative CG flash (with ≥6 CG strokes) whose evolution was mainly confined in the lower part of thunderstorm; although the parent flash of sprite might contain relatively long in-cloud evolution prior to the first stroke, there is no evidence that the negative leader had propagated into the upper positive region of thundercloud as typically observed for the sprite-producing/class negative CG strokes. Third, as shown by the simulation with a two-dimensional full-wave electrodynamic model, although the impulse charge moment change (−190 C km) produced by the main stroke was not sufficient to induce conventional breakdown in the mesosphere, a second impulse charge transfer occurred with ~2 ms delay to cause a substantial charge transfer (−290 C km) so that the overall charge moment change (−480 C km) exceeded the threshold for sprite production; this is a scenario different from the typical case discussed by Li et al. (2012). As for the source of the second current pulse that played a critical role to produce the sprite, it could be an M component whose charge source was at least 9 km horizontally displaced from the main stroke or a negative CG stroke (with weak peak current for the return stroke) that was not detected by the NLDN.

The upgraded VHF digital interferometer (VHF DITF) system is introduced which can continuously sample the radiation associated with lightning. A new processing technique was implemented which uses the distribution of slopes of the phase difference versus frequency to locate the radiation source. By using this technique, frequency components which are not due to lightning can be excluded and low as well as high amplitude sources are located. As a result, both positive breakdown and negative breakdown are located, and negative recoil leaders (recoil leaders) are visualized in great detail. The recoil leaders which continue into the positive charge region are seen to slow their propagation and dim their radiation as they cross the flash initiation region. Analysis of the relative received power of the different breakdown types, negative leaders, recoil leaders, and positive leaders, also can be made. In both the intracloud and cloud-to-ground flash, the modes of the distributions of received power for negative leaders, recoil leaders, and positive leaders were approximately the same. The brightest emissions seen from the positive leader were substantially lower than the brightest emission seen from the negative leader. The results also indicate that positive leaders as well as lower elevation negative leader emit more low frequency radiation than recoil leaders and high-elevation negative leaders. By continuously sampling the VHF waveform, the upgraded VHF DITF locates many weak sources which the previous system was not capable of locating.

The VHF Broadband Digital Interferometer developed by Osaka University has been improved to allow continuous sampling over the entire duration of a lightning flash and to utilize a generalized cross-correlation technique for determining the lightning source directions. Time series waveforms of 20-80 MHz signals received at three orthogonally located antennas are continuously digitized over multisecond intervals, as opposed to sequences of short-duration triggers. Because of the coherent nature of the measurements, radiation sources are located down into the ambient receiver and environmental noise levels, providing a quantum leap in the ability to study lightning discharge processes. When postprocessed using cross correlation, the measurements provide angular uncertainties less than 1 ! and time resolution better than 1!s. Special techniques have been developed to distinguish between actual lightning sources and noise events, with the result being that on the order of 50,000-80,000 radiation sources are located for a typical lightning flash. In this study, two-dimensional interferometer observations of a classic bilevel intracloud flash are presented and combined with three-dimensional Lightning Mapping Array observations to produce a quasi 3-D map of lightning activity with the time resolution of the interferometer. As an example of the scientific utility of the observations, results are presented for the 3-D progression speed of negative leaders associated with intracloud K-leaders.

[1] The temporal and spatial development of sprite-producing lightning flashes is examined with coordinated observations over an asymmetric mesoscale convective system (MCS) on 29 June 2011 near the Oklahoma Lightning Mapping Array (LMA). Sprites produced by a total of 26 lightning flashes were observed simultaneously on video from Bennett, Colorado and Hawley, Texas, enabling a triangulation of sprites in comparison with temporal development of parent lightning (in particular, negatively charged stepped leaders) in three-dimensional space. In general, prompt sprites produced within 20 ms after the causative stroke are less horizontally displaced (typically 30 km). However, both prompt and delayed sprites are usually centered within 30 km of the geometric center of relevant LMA sources (with affinity to negative stepped leaders) during the prior 100 ms interval. Multiple sprites appearing as dancing/jumping events associated with a single lightning flash could be produced either by distinct strokes of the flash, by a single stroke through a series of current surges superposed on an intense continuing current, or by both. Our observations imply that sprites elongated in one direction are sometimes linked to in-cloud leader structure with the same elongation, and sprites that were more symmetric were produced above the progression of multiple negative leaders. This suggests that the large-scale structure of sprites could be affected by the in-cloud geometry of positive charge removal. Based on an expanded dataset of 39 sprite-parent flashes by including more sprites recorded by one single camera over the same MCS, the altitude (above mean sea level, MSL) of positively charged cloud region tapped by sprite-producing strokes declined gradually from ~10 km MSL (−35°C) to around 6 km MSL (−10°C) as the MCS evolved through the mature stage. On average, the positive charge removal by causative strokes of sprites observed on 29 June is centered at 3.6 km above the freezing level or at 7.9 km above ground level.

[1] We report and analyze 3 years of lightning impulse charge moment change (iCMC) measurements obtained from an automated, real time lightning charge moment change network (CMCN). The CMCN combines U.S. National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) lightning event geolocations with extremely low frequency (≲1 kHz) data from two stations to provide iCMC measurements across the entire United States. Almost 14 million lightning events were measured in the 3 year period. We present the statistical distributions of iCMC versus polarity and NLDN-measured peak current, including corrections for the detection efficiency of the CMCN versus peak current. We find a broad distribution of iCMC for a given peak current, implying that these parameters are at best only weakly correlated. Curiously, the mean iCMC does not monotonically increase with peak current, and in fact, drops for positive CG strokes above +150 kA. For all positive strokes, there is a boundary near 20 C km that separates seemingly distinct populations of high and low iCMC strokes. We also explore the geographic distribution of high iCMC lightning strokes. High iCMC positive strokes occur predominantly in the northern midwest portion of the U.S., with a secondary peak over the gulf stream region just off the U.S. east coast. High iCMC negative strokes are also clustered in the midwest, although somewhat south of most of the high iCMC positive strokes. This is a region far from the locations of maximum occurrence of high peak current negative strokes. Based on assumed iCMC thresholds for sprite production, we estimate that approximately 35,000 positive polarity and 350 negative polarity sprites occur per year over the U.S. land and near-coastal areas. Among other applications, this network is useful for the nowcasting of sprite-producing storms and storm regions.

Observations of radio emissions from thunderstorms were made during the summer of 1996 using two arrays of sensors located in northern New Mexico. The first array consisted of three fast electric field change meters separated by distances of 30 to 230 km. The second array consisted of three broadband (3 to 30 MHz) HF data acquisition systems separated by distances of 6 to 13 km. Differences in signal times of arrival at multiple stations were used to locate the sources of received signals. Relative times of arrival of signal reflections from the ionosphere and Earth were used to determine source heights. A distinct class of short-duration electric field change emissions was identified and characterized. The emissions have previously been termed narrow positive bipolar pulses (NPBPs). NPBPs were emitted from singular intracloud discharges that occurred in the most active regions of three thunderstorms located in New Mexico and west Texas. The discharges occurred at altitudes between 8 and 11 km above mean sea level. NEXRAD radar images show that the NPBP sources were located in close proximity to high reflectivity storm cores where reflectivity values were in excess of 40 dBZ. NPBP electric field change waveforms were isolated, bipolar, initially positive pulses with peak amplitudes comparable to those of return stroke field change waveforms. The mean FWHM (full width at half maximum) of initial NPBP field change pulses was 4.7 μs. The HF emissions associated with NPBPs were broadband noise-like radiation bursts with a mean duration of 2.8 μs and amplitudes 10 times larger than emissions from typical intracloud and cloud-to-ground lightning processes. Calculations indicate that the events represent a distinct class of singular, isolated lightning discharges that have limited spatial extents of 300 to 1000 m and occur in high electric field regions. The unique radio emissions produced by these discharges, in combination with their unprecedented physical characteristics, clearly distinguish the events from other types of previously observed thunderstorm electrical processes.