Certain weather phenomena cause gamma rays in the atmosphere

Jakarta –

The electrical effects of thunderstorms are not limited to the upper atmosphere. Near the ground, the Earth’s atmosphere comes alive with powerful electric fields that accelerate particles, spinning electrons in a way that makes atoms glow with gamma rays.

From a mountaintop in Armenia, scientists have seen this mysterious meteorological phenomenon up close.

At the cosmic ray research facility at the Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory, physicist Ashot Chilingarian and his colleagues have been working to understand Cloudy Earth Enhancements (TGE).

This electromagnetic surge, Chilingarian said, has been overlooked in thunderstorm research. However, it could be part of the puzzle in our understanding of the physical Universe, from thunderstorms on Earth, to cosmic rays traveling great distances across space.

“Every day, there are 40 thousand storms. Many networks detect atmospheric emissions and satellites with precise optical instruments monitor lightning flashes. However, when we started TGE research, no one was monitoring the massive flow of bursting mega-electronvolt (MeV) electrons. our planet and the space above it,” he said as quoted from ScienceAlert, Tuesday (29/10/2024).

He and his team established the SEVAN particle detector network ten years ago to monitor TGE in Eastern Europe, Germany and Armenia. Electron accelerators with energies of tens of MeV cover large areas in the atmosphere and several square kilometers on the Earth’s surface.

“This massive movement accompanied life on Earth through millions of years of evolution and actually affected every aspect of geospace and the biosphere,” he said.

TGE consists of electric fields in the atmosphere, generated by thunderstorms. Within this electric field, electrons are accelerated to high speeds, speeds approaching the speed of light in a vacuum, or relativistic speeds.

This is called an avalanche of relativistic loose electrons, which are driven by electric fields both to the ground and up into the atmosphere. These electrons produce radiation.

When electrons suddenly slow down, caused by collisions with atomic nuclei in the atmosphere, the loss of energy appears as gamma rays, a type of radiation known as bremsstrahlung radiation.

Using their network of detectors, Chilingarian and his colleagues collected data on thunderstorms across Europe in 2023, making precise measurements of the lightning and gamma radiation that occurred in the 56 intense TGE they recorded. .

The most intense TGEs occurred mostly from May to July, and the strongest ones were recorded on Lomnický Stít Mountain in Slovakia in May. For this one event, the particle flux was 100 times higher than normal in clear weather. In total, there were seven events that exceeded the clear weather by more than 75%.

“We measured a constant flow of electrons over the Earth’s surface, covering a hundred thousand square meters. Several methods provide this stability for a minute or more,” explains Chilingarian.

“A large electron beam appears in storm clouds, where the charge structure changes on a second time scale. The escape ​​​​atmosphere kills the possible difference, but the flow is constant. It’s very interesting to measure,” he said.

Surprisingly, the researchers also found that the electric field was much closer to the ground than they thought. They measured the strength of strong electric fields up to 50 meters above the ground.

“This discovery surprised meteorologists, who didn’t believe it until we presented complete evidence,” Chilingarian said.

The consistency of the acceleration, which is able to maintain the particle flux for several minutes, as well as the low height of the electric field, reveals new details about the structure of the atmospheric electric field, and thunderstorms, which we did not know before. .

For example, TGE can provide a path that allows lightning strikes to reach the ground. And his role in geophysics needs to be studied. The researchers have made the TGE open access database available to the scientific community to explore and analyze.

Their thunderstorm research is only part of the work being done at Aragats. This year, the Sun has reached its peak as it approaches solar zenith, the peak of its activity cycle, sending jets of particles into space. powered by large coronal discharges.

Chilingarian and his colleagues have also detected solar events with mountain instruments, published three papers and a fourth is in progress.

“The powerful explosion in our galaxy also sent very high energy particles into the Solar System. Recently, the Pevatron, a 1015 eV gamma-ray source, was discovered. We critically analyzed the discovery this is based on our knowledge of atmospheric physics,” said Chilingarian.

“The cooperation between atmospheric accelerators, space and the sun is important for understanding nature,” he concluded.

(rns/rns)