Related papers: Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements: Multivariate ana…
In 2023, a series of intense Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) were recorded on Mount Aragats in Armenia, with five events exceeding the fair-weather cosmic ray flux by more than 100 percent. This study comprehensively analyzes these…
We analyzed the structure of the Thunderstorm Ground Enhancement using a particle detector network on Aragats. We performed a statistical analysis of the particle flux enhancement time series on a nanosecond time scale using the largest TGE…
Proceeding from a stormy day of 22 September 2022, when 7 thunderstorm ground enhancements occurred (TGEs, 3 of them very large), we perform an analysis of the most important conditions, on which depend the origination of the large particle…
Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) are bursts of high-energy particle fluxes detected at Earth's surface, linked to the Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche (RREA) mechanism within thunderclouds. Accurate detection of TGEs is vital…
We present the facilities of the Aragats Space Environmental Center in Armenia used during multi-year observations of the thunderstorm ground enhancements (TGEs) and corresponding environmental parameters. We analyze the characteristics of…
During the multiyear monitoring of particle fluxes and near-surface electric field (NSEF) on the Aragats research station, no runway relativistic electron avalanches have been observed in the January-February months. The large peaks and…
Aragats solar neutron telescope (ASNT) is a unique instrument allowing to measure the energy spectra of electrons accelerated and multiplied in the strong electric fields of the atmosphere. We describe the instrument setup, its operation…
The comparative analysis of three thunderstorms on Aragats in May 2021 demonstrates that relativistic runaway electron avalanches are developing in large areas of the thunderous atmosphere.
Thunderstorms produce strong electric fields over regions on the order of kilometer. The corresponding electric potential differences are on the order of 100 MV. Secondary cosmic rays reaching these regions may be significantly accelerated…
Terrestrial Gamma ray Flashes (TGFs) -- very short, intense bursts of electrons, positrons, and energetic photons originating from terrestrial thunderstorms -- have been detected with satellite instruments. TETRA, an array of NaI(Tl)…
Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanches (RREA) are central to understanding a spectrum of high-energy atmospheric phenomena, including Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs), Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs), and gamma-ray glows.…
Terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) are very short bursts of gamma radiation associated to thunderstorm activity and are the manifestation of the highest-energy natural particle acceleration phenomena occurring on Earth. Photon energies up…
We report the observation results of the hard radiation flashes which accompanied the lightning discharges above the mountains of Northern Tien Shan. Time series of the counting rate intensity, numerical estimations of absolute flux, and…
Various particle accelerators operate in the space plasmas, filling the Galaxy with high energy particles, primary cosmic rays. Reaching the atmosphere of the earth, these particles originate extensive air showers consisting of millions of…
This work presents a unified conceptual and observational framework that reinterprets these radiation bursts as manifestations of the same runaway processes happening at different atmospheric depths (Dual-stage model, DSM). We review recent…
Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are short intense flashes of gamma rays associated with lightning activity in thunderstorms. Using Monte Carlo simulations of the relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA) process, theoretical…
During thunderstorms on 2008 September 20, a simultaneous detection of gamma rays and electrons was made at a mountain observatory in Japan located 2770 m above sea level. Both emissions, lasting 90 seconds, were associated with…
Downward Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are sub-millisecond bursts of MeV gamma rays produced in thunderclouds. According to the Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanche model, gamma rays are produced, via bremsstrahlung, from electron…
The Pierre Auger Observatory has detected downward terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) with its Surface Detector. A key to understanding this high-energy radiation in thunderstorms is to combine such measurements with measurements of…
Relativistic runaway electron avalanches (RREAs) imply a large multiplication of high energy electrons (~1 MeV). Two factors are necessary for this phenomenon: a high electric field sustained over a large distance and an energetic particle…