Intermediate Fluence Downward Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes as Observed by the Telescope Array Surface Detector
Abstract On 11 September 2021, two small thunderstorms developed over the Telescope Array Surface Detector (TASD) that produced an unprecedented number of six downward terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) within one‐hour timeframe. The TGFs occurred during the initial stage of negative cloud‐to‐ground flashes whose return strokes had increasingly large peak currents up to 223 kA, 147 GeV energy deposit in up to 25 1.2 km‐spaced surface detectors, and intermittent bursts of gamma‐rays with total durations up to 717 s. The analyses are based on observations recorded by the TASD network, complemented by data from a 3D lightning mapping array, broadband VHF interferometer, fast electric field change sensor, high‐speed video camera, and the National Lightning Detection Network. The TGFs of the final two flashes had gamma fluences of and 8, logarithmically bridging the gap between previous TASD and satellite‐based detections. The observations further emphasize the similarity between upward and downward TGF varieties, suggesting a common mechanism for their production.
Authors
- Marcelo M. F. Saba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5857-761X)
- S. B. Thomas
- D. Ivanov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4420-2830)
- E. Barcikowski
- T. Sako (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2589-8561)
- N. Kieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5811-3513)
- K. Smout
- J. Mazich
- P. Tinyakov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0649-6444)
- O. Kalashev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7982-1842)
- R. Mayta
- Shigehiro Nagataki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7025-284X)
- I. Komae
- H. Shimodaira
- K. H. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4029-0238)
- N. Hayashida
- Takaaki Ishii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6690-7834)
- H.S. Shin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6701-2431)
- R. Gonzalez
- W. Hanlon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0109-4737)
- S. Jeong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2674-6172)
- Y.-J. Kwon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9448-5691)
- Norimichi Shibata
- Saori Kasami
- Yuya Oku
- A. Iwasaki
- ByongGu Cheon
- A. Taketa
- M. Ohnishi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5435-4013)
- Fugo Yoshida
- M. Kuznetsov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6281-9503)
- Kunihiko Tanaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8153-1986)
- P. Sokolsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3391-1022)
- T. M. Knight (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2486-7672)
- Takafumi Uehama
- K. Takahashi
- K. Kasahara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5611-3301)
- H. Ohoka
- H. M. Jeong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4018-9995)
- S. W. Kim
- Diego Rhamon Reis da Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8714-1046)
- G. B. Thomson
- Kozo Fujisue
- K. Yashiro
- M. Takamura
- P. R. Krehbiel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2963-1837)
- Noémie Globus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9011-0737)
- G. Furlich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8723-7646)
- K. Hibino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9259-6371)
- Enrique Vieira Mattos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9590-3709)
- М. С. Пширков (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5746-2017)
- Ryuji Takeishi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6335-5317)
- N. Sakurai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1002-217X)
- W. Rison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1822-2851)
- D. Ikeda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1382-9267)
- C. C. H. Jui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1902-3478)
- D. Warren
- T. Abu‐Zayyad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5206-4223)
- F. Urban (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9403-767X)
- Dario Mazzucco
- S. Ozawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6700-5530)
- J. D. Smith
- Hirokazu Iwakura
- Г. И. Рубцов (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6106-2673)
- R. Arimura
- K. Yamazaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3771-2496)
- Hao-Ning He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8941-9603)
- T. Seki
- A. Petrizze
- Y. Zhezher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3588-9706)
- Ivan Toucedo Cruz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3185-4597)
- D. Rodeheffer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3785-1311)
- Y. Shibasaki
- E. Kido (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7278-3049)
- J. H. Kim
- J. Shikita
- Toshihiro Fujii (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2401-504X)
- M. Allen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2168-0087)
- C. Rott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6958-6033)
- I. Buckland
- S. Ogio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8300-2954)
- K. Kadota (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7672-1945)
- A. Nakazawa
- I. Tkachev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1681-8408)
- T. Nonaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4795-500X)
- K. Honda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8681-6645)
- R. LeVon
- K. Kawata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6332-2005)
- Y. Kubota
- Jon Paul Lundquist (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4245-5092)
- Rumi Nakamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2620-9211)
- S. A. Blake
- F. Kakimoto
- Ryota Fujiwara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2413-6773)
- Y. Tameda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9750-5440)
- K. Fujita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8756-3333)
- T. A. Stroman
- D. Shinto
- E. Nishio
- Rasha Abbasi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6141-4205)
- Dongsu Ryu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5455-2957)
- Jackson Remington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2952-4919)
- Hirotaka Ito (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2974-763X)
- D. R. Bergman
- M. Fukushima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1070-2724)
- M. A. Stanley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9204-4742)
- T. Matsuyama
- Н. Сакаки (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3745-8958)
- Kei Nakai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0702-2304)
- M. Tanaka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4697-894X)
- H. B. Kim
- Naoya Inoue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1521-8833)
- S. Kawakami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3820-7552)
- Z. Zundel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2456-0606)
- S. Troitsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6917-6600)
- P. D. Shah
- I. Kharuk
- Tony Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7759-0585)
- B. T. Stokes
- Yusuke Kimura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2460-3047)
- M. Potts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1255-4735)
- M. Yamamoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4957-764X)
- Ryo Higuchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1058-216X)
- M. Takeda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7327-8888)
- M. Ono (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0603-918X)
- Y. Tsunesada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9238-6817)
- J. N. Matthews
- J. W. Belz
- T. Nakamura
- T. Tomida
- I. H. Park
- S. Udo
- D. C. Rodriguez
- M. Takita
- T. Shibata
- I. Myers
- A. Oshima
- H. Sagawa
- Y. Omura
- T. Okuda
- B. K. Shin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5721-4307)
- M. Chikawa
- Б. Лубсандоржиев
- K. Sekino
Institutions
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Marshall Space Flight Center (US)
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE)
- Ritsumeikan University (JP)
- Shinshu University (JP)
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (JP)
- Tokyo University of Science (JP)
- Shibaura Institute of Technology (JP)
- Chubu University (JP)
- Tokyo City University (JP)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Osaka Electro-Communication University (JP)
- University of Nova Gorica (SI)
- Loyola University Chicago (US)
- Yonsei University (KR)
- Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU)
- Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ)
- New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Kanagawa University (JP)
- Institute for Nuclear Research (RU)
- Astrobiology Center (JP)
- Association for the Development of Earthquake Prediction (JP)
- FZU ‒ Institute of Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Osaka Metropolitan University (JP)
- Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies
- Hanyang University (KR)
- Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- Hiroshima City University (JP)
- University of Yamanashi (JP)
- Tokyo Metropolitan University (JP)
- Saitama University (JP)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Kōchi University (JP)
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Itajubá (BR)
- Sungkyunkwan University (KR)
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
- Published
- 2024-12-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jd041260
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.99
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Research Foundation
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- University of Tokyo
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo