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 mu 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 similar or equal to 2 x 10(14) and 8x10(14), 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. Plain Language Summary Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs) are high-energy lightning-produced radiation events that have primarily been detected by satellites, but are increasingly detected by ground-based instrumentation. While the upward satellite-detected events exhibit extremely high numbers of gamma photons, the downward ground-based versions observed by the Telescope Array Surface Detector have, until now, displayed much weaker numbers by orders of magnitude. In this paper, we report observations of downward TGFs obtained at the large-area cosmic ray detector Telescope Array facility in west-central Utah, showing strengths midway between previously detected downward TGFs and upward satellite-detected events. The results indicate that TGFs span a wide range of fluences, a finding further supported by recent airborne observations over storm tops.

Optical emissions associated with Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) have recently become important subjects in space-based and ground-based observations since these emissions play crucial roles in understanding the generation of TGFs during thunderstorms. In this paper, we present the first time-resolved leader spectra of the optical component associated with a downward TGF. The TGF was observed at the Telescope Array Surface Detector (TASD) simultaneously with other lightning detectors, including a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA), an INTerFerometer (INTF), a Fast Antenna (FA), and a spectroscopic system. The spectroscopic system recorded leader spectra at 29,900 frames per second (33.44 $\mu$s time resolution), covering a spectral range from 400 nm to 900 nm, with 2.1 nm per pixel. The recordings of the leader spectra began 11.7 ms before the $-18$ kA return stroke and at a height of 2.37 km above the ground. These spectra reveal that optical emissions of singly-ionized nitrogen and oxygen occur between 167 $\mu$s before and 267 $\mu$s after the TGF detection, while optical emissions of neutrals (H I, 656 nm; N I, 744 nm, and O I, 777 nm) occur right at the moment of the detection. The time-dependent spectra reveal differences in the optical emissions of lightning leaders with and without downward TGFs.

Interferometric measurements of very-high-frequency (VHF) radio frequency signals produced by lightning are one of the most effective techniques for studying lightning breakdown processes, so uncertainty and error analyses of interferometric location results have become important topics. Based on the plane wave approximation of lightning RF signal transmission for interferometric location, a geometric model for the systematic error in the interferometric location due to the wavefront being spherical is developed and evaluated for short baseline interferometers, beginning with orthogonal and equilateral triangle baseline layouts. The symmetry of the baseline layout is shown to be helpful for reducing the systematic error caused by the plane wave approximation in interferometric location using a geometric relationship. Furthermore, a baseline layout scheme with the center of an equilateral triangle as the coordinate origin optimizes the systematic error caused by the plane wave approximation.

Based on the very-high-frequency (VHF) pulse signal detected by interferometer (INTF) antennas as the reference unit, a lightning location method based on pulse matching and peak extraction is proposed in this article. The first key step of this method is to optimize the raw VHF data of the INTF by using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method to control the quality of the original signal by bandpass filtering to preserve only the relatively high-frequency components of 40–80 MHz. Then, through a combination of main and auxiliary windows, the matching of waveforms from different antennas is realized by means of generalized cross correlation. In a microscale window (11 ns), the pulse signals are further accurately matched, and the arrival time difference is calculated under threshold and similarity constraints. Finally, the 2-D coordinates of the matched pulsed radiation sources are obtained using the nonlinear least-squares method. Compared with the results of the traditional “centroid” approach, the number of radiation sources obtained with the proposed method is greatly increased. For lightning cases with different discharge intensities, the number of located radiation sources can be increased by a factor of 10–20, and for specific short-duration and rapidly changing discharge processes (such as dart leaders and K events), the number of located radiation sources can be increased by a factor of nearly 100. For INTF operation at 20–88 MHz with a sampling rate of 180 MHz, the analytical resolution of the lightning discharge process can be improved to 10 ns. When the radiation sources are fully located, the widths of the lightning channels can be successfully reconstructed from the density of no-size points representing the located radiation sources in space.

In this paper, we present the first high-speed video observation of a cloud-to-ground lightning flash and its associated downward-directed Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash (TGF). The optical emission of the event was observed by a high-speed video camera running at 40,000 frames per second in conjunction with the Telescope Array Surface Detector, Lightning Mapping Array, interferometer, electric-field fast antenna, and the National Lightning Detection Network. The cloud-to-ground flash associated with the observed TGF was formed by a fast downward leader followed by a very intense return stroke peak current of -154 kA. The TGF occurred while the downward leader was below cloud base, and even when it was halfway in its propagation to ground. The suite of gamma-ray and lightning instruments, timing resolution, and source proximity offer us detailed information and therefore a unique look at the TGF phenomena.

Although a number of studies have been conducted of the lightning activity in hurricanes and typhoons, little information has been obtained on the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the lightning, or how it is related to the precipitation structures within the storms. Here, we utilize observational data from the 3-D Tokyo Lightning Mapping Array (Tokyo LMA), a Japan Meteorological Agency C-band Doppler radar, and the Japanese Lightning Detection Network (JLDN) to conduct a study of the lightning activity during Typhoon Faxai (2019) in comparison with the storm’s precipitation structure. This is done for the dissipating stage of the typhoon, when the eyewall was well within the range of the instruments and undergoing a surge in lightning activity. Of particular interest in the surge was the occurrence of numerous positive cloud-to-ground (+CG) lightning flashes. Detailed study of the Tokyo LMA and JLDN data shows that, out of 52 flashes during the surge, 29 flashes or 56

We investigate the initiation of four lightning flashes detected from ground by means of the Colombia Lightning Mapping Array (Colombia-LMA) and simultaneously observed from space by the optical sensors of the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on board the International Space Station (ISS), the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), and the Lightning Imaging Sensor on the ISS. The initiations of the flashes are characterized by isolated and predominant optical blue pulses (337.0 nm). In three of the flashes, red emissions (777.4 nm), a dominant line of hot lightning, were not detected during their initiation. In these cases, the initiations were also accompanied by bipolar VLF/LF waveform with a narrow short duration (< 40 mu s) and VHF emissions with high radio frequency power (< 269 kW). The detection of the blue emissions without any red luminosity supports that the fast breakdown processes at the flash initiation can be exclusively of streamer nature. The onset of the fourth flash was associated with both blue and red radiation, and with weak narrow bipolar waveform in VLF/LF and low VHF power. The flashes initiated between the midlevel negative and upper positive charge regions. This paper presents and discusses the first fast breakdown processes observed simultaneously from ground by means a Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) and from space during the onset of lightning flashes.

Based on the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method, a DAF method for signal construction is proposed that repeatedly decomposes (D) the signal, amplifies (A) the local signal characteristics, and then filters (F) the signal. This method is used to decompose and reconstruct the electric field waveform (called a sferic) of an energetic in-cloud pulse (EIP) with a 247-kA peak current detected by a fast antenna (FA). Based on synchronous sub-microsecond very high-frequency (VHF, 14–88 MHz) radio interferometer (INTF) observations and observed downward fast positive and upward fast negative breakdowns, which occurred simultaneously with the EIP, the EIP sferic is decomposed by the DAF method in 11 steps into two independent sferics: a smoother filtered EIP sferic and an embedded narrow bipolar-like event (NBE). It is verified that strong VHF radiation is generated by the NBE-like event, rather than being associated with the smooth EIP sferic. The analysis, decomposition, and reconstruction of the correlated signals by the EEMD-based DAF method proposed in this article support the idea that the large-amplitude EIP sferic was generated by relativistic discharge responsible for an accompanying terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) rather than by streamer or leader activity.

Since their introduction 22 years ago, lightning mapping arrays (LMA) have played a central role in the investigation of lightning physics. Even in recent years with the proliferation of digital interferometers and the introduction of the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope, LMAs still play an important role in lightning science. LMA networks use a simple windowing technique that records the highest pulse in either 80 μs or 10 μs fixed windows in order to apply a time‐of‐arrival location technique. In this work, we develop an LMA‐emulator that uses lightning data recorded by LOFAR to simulate an LMA, and we use it to test three new styles of pulse windowing. We show that they produce very similar results as the more traditional LMA windowing, implying that LMA lightning mapping results are relatively independent of windowing technique. In addition, each LMA station has its GPS‐conditioned clock. While the timing accuracy of GPS receivers has improved significantly over the years, they still significantly limit the timing measurements of the LMA. Recently, new time‐of‐arrival techniques have been introduced that can be used to self‐calibrate systematic offsets between different receiving stations. Applying this calibration technique to a set of data with 32 ns uncertainty, observed by the Colorado LMA, improves the timing uncertainty to 19 ns. This technique is not limited to LMAs and could be used to help calibrate future multi‐station lightning interferometers.

The National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience deployed a lightning mapping array (LMA) in the Tokyo metropolitan area in March 2017. Called the “Tokyo LMA,” it obtains detailed three-dimensional observations of the total lightning activity (cloud-to-ground and intracloud flashes) in storms. The network initially consisted of 8 receiving stations, expanded to 12 stations in March 2018. Real-time total lightning images were first opened on the webpage in Japan. Real-time observations from the Tokyo LMA will be used in nowcasting lightning hazards and mitigating lightning disasters. Archived data will be used to develop lightning prediction techniques and a lightning climatology for the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Cloud‐to‐ground strokes, narrow bipolar events, and energetic in‐cloud pulses are known classes of high peak‐current lightning processes that occur in thunderstorms. Here, we report one more distinct class of high peak‐current events observed exclusively over mountainous terrain, usually above 2,000 m altitude, in the continental Unites States. These events, which we call mountain‐top energetic pulses (MEPs), are bipolar pulses with negative radiated field polarities. MEPs are generated between the high mountain tops and compact overhead thunderclouds. Evidence supports the hypothesis that MEPs are produced by terrain‐initiated upward positive leaders propagating in high electric fields due to the proximity of the low negative charge regions of the thunderstorms. This scenario further suggests the possibility that MEPs are associated with downward terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes, and their high peak currents imply that they may produce elves.

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.

Identification and validation of atmospheric extremes are essential to monitoring climate change, to addressing engineering and safety concerns, and to promoting technological advancement. An international World Meteorological Organization evaluation committee has critically adjudicated and recommended acceptance of two lightning megaflash events (horizontal mesoscale lightning discharges of >100 km in length) as new global extremes using analysis of Geostationary Lightning Mapper data. The world's greatest extent for an individual lightning flash is a single flash that covered a horizontal distance of 709 ± 8 km (441 ± 5 mi) across parts of southern Brazil on 31 October 2018. The greatest duration for a single lightning flash is 16.730 ± 0.002 s from a flash that developed continuously over northern Argentina on 4 March 2019.

The production mechanism for terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) is not entirely understood, and details of the corresponding lightning activity and thunderstorm charge structure have yet to be fully characterized. Here we examine sub-microsecond VHF (14-88 MHz) radio interferometer observations of a 247-kA peak-current EIP, or energetic in-cloud pulse, a reliable radio signature of a subset of TGFs. The EIP consisted of three high-amplitude sferic pulses lasting similar or equal to 60 mu s in total, which peaked during the second (main) pulse. The EIP occurred during a normal-polarity intracloud lightning flash that was highly unusual, in that the initial upward negative leader was particularly fast propagating and discharged a highly concentrated region of upper-positive storm charge. The flash was initiated by a high-power (46 kW) narrow bipolar event (NBE), and the EIP occurred about 3 ms later after similar or equal to 3 km upward flash development. The EIP was preceded similar or equal to 200 mu s by a fast 6 x 10(6) m/s upward negative breakdown and immediately preceded and accompanied by repeated sequences of fast (10(7)-10(8) m/s) downward then upward streamer events each lasting 10 to 20 mu s, which repeatedly discharged a large volume of positive charge. Although the repeated streamer sequences appeared to be a characteristic feature of the EIP and were presumably involved in initiating it, the EIP sferic evolved independently of VHF-producing activity, supporting the idea that the sferic was produced by relativistic discharge currents. Moreover, the relativistic currents during the main sferic pulse initiated a strong NBE-like event comparable in VHF power (115 kW) to the highest-power NBEs.