Downward Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flash Observed in a Winter Thunderstorm

Y. Wada, T. Enoto, K. Nakazawa, Y. Furuta, T. Yuasa, Y. Nakamura, T. Morimoto, T. Matsumoto, K. Makishima, and H. Tsuchiya
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 061103 – Published 7 August 2019

Abstract

During a winter thunderstorm on 24 November 2017, a strong burst of gamma rays with energies up to 10MeV was detected coincident with a lightning discharge, by scintillation detectors installed at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station at sea level in Japan. The burst had a subsecond duration, which is suggestive of photoneutron production. The leading part of the burst was resolved into four intense gamma-ray bunches, each coincident with a low-frequency radio pulse. These bunches were separated by 0.7–1.5 ms, with a duration of 1ms each. Thus, the present burst may be considered as a “downward” terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), which is analogous to upgoing TGFs observed from space. Although the scintillation detectors were heavily saturated by these bunches, the total dose associated with them was successfully measured by ionization chambers, employed by nine monitoring posts surrounding the power plant. From this information and Monte Carlo simulations, the present downward TGF is suggested to have taken place at an altitude of 2500±500m, involving 84+8×1018 avalanche electrons with energies above 1 MeV. This number is comparable to those in upgoing TGFs.

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  • Received 5 March 2019
  • Revised 19 May 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.061103

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsParticles & FieldsNuclear PhysicsAccelerators & Beams

Authors & Affiliations

Y. Wada1,2, T. Enoto3,2, K. Nakazawa4, Y. Furuta5, T. Yuasa6, Y. Nakamura7, T. Morimoto8, T. Matsumoto1, K. Makishima1,2,9, and H. Tsuchiya10

  • 1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 2High Energy Astrophysics Laboratory, Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
  • 3The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and Department of Astronomy, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
  • 4Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute for the Origin of Particles and the Universe, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan
  • 5Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
  • 6Block 4B, Boon Tiong Road, Singapore 165004, Singapore
  • 7Kobe City College of Technology, 8-3 Gakuen-Higashimachi, Nishi-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-2194, Japan
  • 8Faculty of Science and Engineering, Kindai University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka, Osaka 577-8502, Japan
  • 9Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwa-no-ha, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8683, Japan
  • 10Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 123, Iss. 6 — 9 August 2019

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