Flickering gamma-ray flashes, the missing link between gamma glows and TGFs

N. Østgaard (), A. Mezentsev (), M. Marisaldi (), J. E. Grove, M. Quick, H. Christian, S. Cummer, M. Pazos, Y. Pu, M. Stanley, D. Sarria, T. Lang, C. Schultz, R. Blakeslee, I. Adams, R. Kroodsma, G. Heymsfield, N. Lehtinen, K. Ullaland, S. Yang, B. Hasan Qureshi, J. Søndergaard, B. Husa, D. Walker, D. Shy, M. Bateman, P. Bitzer, M. Fullekrug, M. Cohen, J. Montanya, C. Younes, O. Velde, P. Krehbiel, J. A. Roncancio, J. A. Lopez, M. Urbani, A. Santos and D. Mach
Additional contact information
N. Østgaard: University of Bergen
A. Mezentsev: University of Bergen
M. Marisaldi: University of Bergen
J. E. Grove: US Naval Research Laboratory
M. Quick: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
H. Christian: University of Alabama in Huntsville
S. Cummer: Duke University
M. Pazos: UNAM
Y. Pu: Duke University
M. Stanley: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
D. Sarria: University of Bergen
T. Lang: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
C. Schultz: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
R. Blakeslee: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
I. Adams: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
R. Kroodsma: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
G. Heymsfield: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
N. Lehtinen: University of Bergen
K. Ullaland: University of Bergen
S. Yang: University of Bergen
B. Hasan Qureshi: University of Bergen
J. Søndergaard: University of Bergen
B. Husa: University of Bergen
D. Walker: University of Alabama in Huntsville
D. Shy: US Naval Research Laboratory
M. Bateman: University of Alabama in Huntsville
P. Bitzer: University of Alabama in Huntsville
M. Fullekrug: University of Bath
M. Cohen: Georgia Institute of Technology
J. Montanya: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
C. Younes: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
O. Velde: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
P. Krehbiel: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
J. A. Roncancio: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
J. A. Lopez: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
M. Urbani: Polytechnic University of Catalonia
A. Santos: Universidad Nacional de Colombia
D. Mach: Universities Space Research Association

Nature, 2024, vol. 634, issue 8032, 53-56

Abstract: Abstract Two different hard-radiation phenomena are known to originate from thunderclouds: terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs)1 and gamma-ray glows2. Both involve an avalanche of electrons accelerated to relativistic energies but are otherwise different. Glows are known to last for one to hundreds of seconds, have moderate intensities and originate from quasi-stationary thundercloud fields2–5. TGFs exhibit high intensities and have characteristic durations of tens to hundreds of microseconds6–9. TGFs often show a close association with an emission of strong radio signals10–17 and optical pulses18–21, which indicates the involvement of lightning leaders in their generation. Here we report unique observations of a different phenomenon, which we call flickering gamma-ray flashes (FGFs). FGFs resemble the usual multi-pulse TGFs22–24 but have more pulses and each pulse has a longer duration than ordinary TGFs. FGF durations span from 20 to 250 ms, which reaches the lower boundary of the gamma-ray glow duration. FGFs are radio and optically silent, which makes them distinct from normal TGFs. An FGF starts as an ordinary gamma-ray glow, then suddenly increases exponentially in intensity and turns into an unstable, ‘flickering’ mode with a sequence of pulses. FGFs could be the missing link between the gamma-ray glows and conventional TGFs, whose absence has been puzzling the atmospheric electricity community for two decades.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07893-0

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