Properties of terrestrial gamma ray flashes detected by AGILE MCAL below 30 MeV

Marisaldi, M.; Fuschino, F.; Tavani, M.; Dietrich, Stefano; Price, Colin; Galli, M.; Pittori, C.; Verrecchia, F.; Mereghetti, S.; Cattaneo, P. W.; Colafrancesco, S.; Argan, A.; Labanti, C.; Longo, F.; Monte, E. Del; Barbiellini, G.; Giuliani, A.; Bulgarelli, A.; Campana, R.; Chen, Andrew; Gianotti, F.; Giommi, P.; Lazzarotto, F.; Morselli, A.; Rapisarda, M.; Rappoldi, A.; Trifoglio, M.; Trois, A.; Vercellone, S.

doi:10.1002/2013ja019301

Cited by 75 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The radial distance of 200 km is chosen because it corresponds approximately to the maximum probability of receiving a TGF photon when considering the variation of photon density with radial distance from the source and the probability for a low‐orbit satellite to be at a given radial distance from a TGF source [ Celestin and Pasko , ]. Additionally, this radial distance corresponds well to typical radial distances of TGF observations by Fermi [e.g., Briggs et al , , Figure 8], AGILE [ Marisaldi et al , , ], and RHESSI [e.g., Nisi et al , , Figure 5]. Figure shows the data presented in Table assuming that 10 11 to 10 12 photons with energies greater than 10 keV are produced by a leader forming a potential drop of 5 MV.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability in fluence and spectrum of high‐energy photon bursts produced by lightning leaders

Célestin

Pasko

2015

JGR Space Physics

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In this paper, we model the production and acceleration of thermal runaway electrons during negative corona flash stages of stepping lightning leaders and the corresponding terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) or negative cloud‐to‐ground (−CG) lightning‐produced X‐ray bursts in a unified fashion. We show how the source photon spectrum and fluence depend on the potential drop formed in the lightning leader tip region during corona flash and how the X‐ray burst spectrum progressively converges toward typical TGF spectrum as the potential drop increases. Additionally, we show that the number of streamers produced in a negative corona flash, the source electron energy distribution function, the corresponding number of photons, and the photon energy distribution and transport through the atmosphere up to low‐orbit satellite altitudes exhibit a very strong dependence on this potential drop. This leads to a threshold effect causing X‐rays produced by leaders with potentials lower than those producing typical TGFs extremely unlikely to be detected by low‐orbit satellites. Moreover, from the number of photons in X‐ray bursts produced by −CGs estimated from ground observations, we show that the proportionality between the number of thermal runaway electrons and the square of the potential drop in the leader tip region during negative corona flash proposed earlier leads to typical photon fluences on the order of 1 ph/cm2 at an altitude of 500 km and a radial distance of 200 km for intracloud lightning discharges producing 300 MV potential drops, which is consistent with observations of TGF fluences and spectra from satellites.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variability in fluence and spectrum of high‐energy photon bursts produced by lightning leaders

Célestin

Pasko

2015

JGR Space Physics

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“…Based on the cumulative count spectrum analysis of 130 TGFs observed by Astrorivelatore Gamma ed Immagini Leggero (AGILE), Tavani et al [] found a significant power law emission component reaching up to 100 MeV. However, Marisaldi et al [] note that such high‐energy emission is visible only in ∼15% of the TGFs observed by AGILE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spectroscopy of individual terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes: Constraining the source properties

et al. 2016

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We report on the spectral analysis of individual terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes (TGFs) observed with the Fermi Gamma‐ray Burst Monitor (GBM). The large GBM TGF sample provides 46 events suitable for individual spectral analysis: sufficiently bright, localized by ground‐based radio, and with the gamma rays reaching a detector unobstructed. These TGFs exhibit diverse spectral characteristics that are hidden when using summed analysis methods. We account for the low counts in individual TGFs by using Poisson likelihood, and we also consider instrumental effects. The data are fit with models obtained from Monte Carlo simulations of the large‐scale Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche (RREA) model, including propagation through the atmosphere. Source altitudes ranging from 11.6 to 20.2 km are simulated. Two beaming geometries were considered: In one, the photons retain the intrinsic distribution from scattering (narrow), and in the other, the photons are smeared into a wider beam (wide). Several TGFs are well fit only by narrow‐beam models, while others favor wide‐beam models. Large‐scale RREA models can accommodate both narrow and wide beams, with narrow beams suggest large‐scale RREA in organized electric fields while wide beams may imply converging or diverging electric fields. Wide beams are also consistent with acceleration in the electric fields of lightning leaders, but the TGFs that favor narrow‐beam models appear inconsistent with some lightning leader models.

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“…The TGF detection methods used by RHESSI, Fermi-GBM and AGILE-MCAL are described respectively in Gjesteland et al (2012); Briggs et al (2013); Marisaldi et al (2014). Concerning XGRE, a TGF event can be triggered if a given number of counts is reached within a 10 µs window.…”

Section: Tgf Detection Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detections of TGFs from space were first presented by Fishman et al (1994) using data from the Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. In the subsequent years, TGFs were also detected from space by other satellites: the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Im-ager (RHESSI) (Smith et al, 2005), the Astro-rivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero (AGILE) (Marisaldi et al, 2014) and the Fermi space telescope . Very recently, TGF events were also found in the BeppoSAX data archive (Ursi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

TARANIS XGRE and IDEE detection capability of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and associated electron beams

Sarria

Lebrun

Blelly

et al. 2017

Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst.

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Abstract. With a launch expected in 2018, the TARANIS microsatellite is dedicated to the study of transient phenomena observed in association with thunderstorms. On board the spacecraft, XGRE and IDEE are two instruments dedicated to studying terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) and associated terrestrial electron beams (TEBs). XGRE can detect electrons (energy range: 1 to 10 MeV) and X-and gammarays (energy range: 20 keV to 10 MeV) with a very high counting capability (about 10 million counts per second) and the ability to discriminate one type of particle from another. The IDEE instrument is focused on electrons in the 80 keV to 4 MeV energy range, with the ability to estimate their pitch angles.Monte Carlo simulations of the TARANIS instruments, using a preliminary model of the spacecraft, allow sensitive area estimates for both instruments. This leads to an averaged effective area of 425 cm 2 for XGRE, used to detect Xand gamma-rays from TGFs, and the combination of XGRE and IDEE gives an average effective area of 255 cm 2 which can be used to detect electrons/positrons from TEBs. We then compare these performances to RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi GBM, using data extracted from literature for the TGF case and with the help of Monte Carlo simulations of their mass models for the TEB case.Combining this data with the help of the MC-PEPTITA Monte Carlo simulations of TGF propagation in the atmosphere, we build a self-consistent model of the TGF and TEB detection rates of RHESSI, AGILE and Fermi. It can then be used to estimate that TARANIS should detect about 200 TGFs yr −1 and 25 TEBs yr −1 .

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Properties of terrestrial gamma ray flashes detected by AGILE MCAL below 30 MeV

Cited by 75 publications

References 64 publications

Variability in fluence and spectrum of high‐energy photon bursts produced by lightning leaders

Variability in fluence and spectrum of high‐energy photon bursts produced by lightning leaders

The spectroscopy of individual terrestrial gamma‐ray flashes: Constraining the source properties

TARANIS XGRE and IDEE detection capability of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and associated electron beams

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