Overlooked Weather Phenomenon Produces Atmospheric Gamma Rays
The electrical effects of a thunderstorm are not confined just to high up in the atmosphere. Close to the ground, Earth’s atmosphere hums with intense electric fields that accelerate particles, flinging electrons in ways that force atoms to glow with gamma rays
From atop a mountain in Armenia, scientists have taken a close look at this mysterious meteorological phenomenon.
At the Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory‘s cosmic ray facility on Mount Aragats, physicist Ashot Chilingarian and his colleagues have been working to understand Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements, or TGEs.
This electromagnetic enhancement, Chilingarian says, has been overlooked in thunderstorm research – but it could be a piece of the puzzle in our understanding of the physical Universe, from thunderstorms here on Earth, to the cosmic rays that travel vast distances across space.
“Each day, 40,000 thunderstorms occur. Numerous networks detecting atmospheric discharges and satellites with precise optical instruments are monitoring lightning flashes. Still, when we started TGE research, nobody monitored the huge flux of MeV (million electron-volt) electrons bombarding our planet and space above it,” he told ScienceAlert.
“We established the SEVAN particle detector network ten years ago to monitor TGEs in Eastern Europe, Germany, and Armenia. Electron accelerators with energies of tens of MeV cover vast volumes in the atmosphere and many square kilometers on the Earth’s surface.
“This huge flux is accompanied by life on Earth through its billion years of evolution and surely influences all aspects of the geospace and biosphere.”
TGEs consist of electric fields in the atmosphere, generated by thunderstorms. Within these electric fields, electrons are accelerated to high speeds – speeds approaching that of light in a vacuum, or relativistic speeds.
These are known as relativistic runaway electron avalanches, propelled by the electric field both towards the ground and upward into the atmosphere. It’s these electrons that produce the radiation.
When they decelerate suddenly, deflected by a collision with an atomic nucleus in the atmosphere, the loss of energy manifests as gamma rays – a form of radiation known as bremsstrahlung radiation.
Using their network of detectors, Chilingarian and his colleagues collected data on thunderstorms across Europe in 2023, performing detailed measurements of the electrons and the gamma radiation that occurred during the 56 intense TGEs they recorded.
The most intense TGEs mostly took place from May to July, and the most powerful was recorded on Mount Lomnický štít in Slovakia in May. For this one event, the particle flux was 100 times the normal, fair-weather level.
In total, there were seven events that exceeded the fair weather flux by more than 75 percent.
“We measure the stable electron flux on Earth’s surface, covering a hundred thousand square meters. Some mechanism provides this stability for a minute or more,” Chilingarian explained.
“A huge electron beam emerges in the thundercloud, where the charge structure changes on the second-time scale. Atmospheric discharges kill the potential difference, but the flux is stable. It was exciting to measure!”
Surprisingly, the researchers also found that the electric field is much closer to the ground than they expected to find. They measured a strong electric field strength down to 50 meters (164 feet) above ground.
“This discovery was astonishing to meteorologists, who didn’t believe it until we presented exhaustive proof,” Chilingarian noted.
The consistency of the acceleration, able to maintain particle flux for up to several minutes, as well as the low height of the electric field, reveals new details about the structure of atmospheric electric fields, and thunderstorms, that we didn’t know before.
For example, TGEs might provide a pathway whereby lightning strikes can reach the ground. And their role in geophysics needs to be investigated. The researchers have made an open-access TGE database available for the scientific community to explore and analyze.
Their thunderstorm research is only part of the work performed on Aragats. This year, the Sun has reached a frenzy as it approaches solar maximum, the peak of its activity cycle, sending particles spewing into space powered by coronal mass ejections.
Chilingarian and his colleagues have also detected solar events with the mountaintop equipment, publishing three papers with a fourth on the way.
“Violent explosions in our galaxy also send ultra-high energy particles to the solar system. Recently, Pevatrons, sources of 1015 eV gamma rays, were discovered. We critically analyzed this discovery based on our knowledge of atmospheric physics,” Chilingarian told ScienceAlert.
“The synergy of atmospheric, space, and solar accelerators is important for understanding nature!”
See more here sciencealert.com
Header image: Global News
Editor’s note: for clarity, an electron-volt is not a voltage in the conventional sense, rather it is a measure of the kinetic energy of individual particles.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
I read “This huge flux is accompanied by life on Earth through its billion years of evolution and surely influences all aspects of the geospace and biosphere.” and ask: What is there to suggest “billion years of evolution” except Darwin’s THEORY of the evolution of life?
I have lived in North America near a latitude of 45 degrees. Where many people live and much lightning occurs. But I read there was clearly observed 150 year period when there was no Aurora phenomena observed. And I ask: Was there much lightning observed then? I believe there is evidence that were native Americans were living during period. And I know there is evidence of advanced civilized communities to the south of 45 degrees. Has these FACTS been considered?
Have a good day
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jerry Krause
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Hi PSI Readers,
Relative to Darwin’s THEORY of the billions of years I point to the still observed FACT that birds have to incubate their eggs to reproduce. Which I consider REFUTES Darwin’s theory.
Have a good day
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MattH
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There is a little in this article that explains what is happening inside and near a tornado.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Matt,
I suggested you read Sir Edmund Hillary’s book “No Latitude For Error”. You rejected my proposal. It seems to me that a lot of claimed scientists are writing fiction. Electric fields??? Herb likes to refer to them and this these ‘scientists’ do. But I have yet read what is the cause these electric fields that are the major players in these ‘scientists’ theories. It has long been observed with the electroscope that friction forms electrons which create there own electric fields.
Gravity causes winds which blew over the earth’s surface creating friction and a localized population of electrons which discharge as lightning. I consider that water molecules (vapor) are the fuel which drives atmospheric heat engines and precipitation is the exhaust of these NATURAL engines termed “thunderstorms” which have an observed short lifetime. These many, many localized thunderstorms are the prime divers of the atmospheres’s global circulation.
Hillary risked his life and the lives of his TEAM to gain some actual knowledge about the Antarctic Continent and I doubt the scientists (fools) who write fiction have ever risked their lives doing their science. Or course fools cannot lie because they are fools and don’t know better. There can be two sides to many questions and both cannot be correct. But a FACT can be that both could be wrong,
Thank you for your comment. Have a good day
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Matt,
Relative to the issue of risking one’s life, I believe you understand that being a Newfound fisherman is more dangerous than being a Newfound farmer with dry ground under his feet.
But being a MD these days and not follows someone’s rules can make one unemployed.
Have a good day
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