Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

P Schellart¹, T N G Trinh², S Buitink^{1

3}, A Corstanje¹, J E Enriquez¹, H Falcke^{1

4

5

6}, J R Hörandel^{1

4}, A Nelles¹, J P Rachen¹, L Rossetto¹, O Scholten^{2

7}, S Ter Veen^{1

5}, S Thoudam¹, U Ebert^{8

9}, C Koehn⁸, C Rutjes⁸, A Alexov¹⁰, J M Anderson¹¹, I M Avruch^{12

13}, M J Bentum^{5

14}, G Bernardi¹⁵, P Best¹⁶, A Bonafede¹⁷, F Breitling¹⁸, J W Broderick^{19

20}, M Brüggen¹⁷, H R Butcher²¹, B Ciardi²², E de Geus^{5

23}, M de Vos⁵, S Duscha⁵, J Eislöffel²⁴, R A Fallows⁵, W Frieswijk⁵, M A Garrett^{5

25}, J Grießmeier^{26

27}, A W Gunst⁵, G Heald^{5

13}, J W T Hessels^{5

28}, M Hoeft²⁴, H A Holties⁵, E Juette²⁹, V I Kondratiev^{5

30}, M Kuniyoshi³¹, G Kuper⁵, G Mann¹⁸, R McFadden⁵, D McKay-Bukowski^{32

33}, J P McKean^{5

13}, M Mevius^{5

13}, J Moldon⁵, M J Norden⁵, E Orru⁵, H Paas³⁴, M Pandey-Pommier³⁵, R Pizzo⁵, A G Polatidis⁵, W Reich⁶, H Röttgering²⁵, A M M Scaife²⁰, D J Schwarz³⁶, M Serylak¹⁹, O Smirnov^{37

38}, M Steinmetz¹⁸, J Swinbank²⁸, M Tagger²⁶, C Tasse³⁹, M C Toribio⁵, R J van Weeren¹⁵, R Vermeulen⁵, C Vocks¹⁸, M W Wise^{5

28}, O Wucknitz⁶, P Zarka³⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² University of Groningen, KVI Center for Advanced Radiation Technology, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands.
³ Astrophysical Institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
⁴ Nikhef, Science Park Amsterdam, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁵ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany.
⁷ Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
⁸ Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI), PO Box 94079, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
¹¹ Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, DeutschesGeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Department 1: Geodesy and Remote Sensing, Telegrafenberg, A17, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
¹² SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹³ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁴ University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
¹⁵ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
¹⁶ Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, United Kingdom.
¹⁷ University of Hamburg, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany.
¹⁸ Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany.
¹⁹ Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom.
²⁰ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
²¹ Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Mt. Stromlo Observatory, via Cotter Road, Weston, Australian Capital Territory 2611, Australia.
²² Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl Schwarzschild Straße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany.
²³ SmarterVision BV, Oostersingel 5, 9401 JX Assen, The Netherlands.
²⁴ Thüringer Landessternwarte, Sternwarte 5, D-07778 Tautenburg, Germany.
²⁵ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
²⁶ LPC2E, Universíte d'Orleans/CNRS, 45071 Orleans Cedex 2, France.
²⁷ Station de Radioastronomie de Nancay, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS/INSU, USR 704, Universíte Orleans, OSUC, Route de Souesmes, 18330 Nancay, France.
²⁸ Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁹ Astronomisches Institut der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
³⁰ Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute, Profsoyuznaya Street 84/32, Moscow 117997, Russia.
³¹ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan.
³² Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, University of Oulu, Tähteläntie 62, 99600 Sodankylä, Finland.
³³ STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
³⁴ Center for Information Technology (CIT), University of Groningen, PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands.
³⁵ Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon, Observatoire de Lyon, 9 Avenue Charles André, 69561 Saint Genis Laval Cedex, France.
³⁶ Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, Postfach 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany.
³⁷ Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
³⁸ SKA South Africa, 3rd Floor, The Park, Park Road, Pinelands 7405, South Africa.
³⁹ LESIA, UMR CNRS 8109, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon, France.

PMID: 25955053
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.165001

Free article

Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

P Schellart et al. Phys Rev Lett. 2015.

Free article

. 2015 Apr 24;114(16):165001.

doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.165001. Epub 2015 Apr 24.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, PO Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² University of Groningen, KVI Center for Advanced Radiation Technology, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands.
³ Astrophysical Institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
⁴ Nikhef, Science Park Amsterdam, 1098 XG Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁵ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁶ Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, 53121 Bonn, Germany.
⁷ Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Dienst ELEM, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
⁸ Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI), PO Box 94079, 1090 GB Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁹ Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), PO Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
¹¹ Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, DeutschesGeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Department 1: Geodesy and Remote Sensing, Telegrafenberg, A17, 14473 Potsdam, Germany.
¹² SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹³ Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, PO Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁴ University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
¹⁵ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
¹⁶ Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, United Kingdom.
¹⁷ University of Hamburg, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany.
¹⁸ Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany.
¹⁹ Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom.
²⁰ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.
²¹ Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Australian National University, Mt. Stromlo Observatory, via Cotter Road, Weston, Australian Capital Territory 2611, Australia.
²² Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Karl Schwarzschild Straße 1, 85741 Garching, Germany.
²³ SmarterVision BV, Oostersingel 5, 9401 JX Assen, The Netherlands.
²⁴ Thüringer Landessternwarte, Sternwarte 5, D-07778 Tautenburg, Germany.
²⁵ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
²⁶ LPC2E, Universíte d'Orleans/CNRS, 45071 Orleans Cedex 2, France.
²⁷ Station de Radioastronomie de Nancay, Observatoire de Paris, CNRS/INSU, USR 704, Universíte Orleans, OSUC, Route de Souesmes, 18330 Nancay, France.
²⁸ Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
²⁹ Astronomisches Institut der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany.
³⁰ Astro Space Center of the Lebedev Physical Institute, Profsoyuznaya Street 84/32, Moscow 117997, Russia.
³¹ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan.
³² Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, University of Oulu, Tähteläntie 62, 99600 Sodankylä, Finland.
³³ STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom.
³⁴ Center for Information Technology (CIT), University of Groningen, PO Box 72, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands.
³⁵ Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon, Observatoire de Lyon, 9 Avenue Charles André, 69561 Saint Genis Laval Cedex, France.
³⁶ Fakultät für Physik, Universität Bielefeld, Postfach 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany.
³⁷ Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa.
³⁸ SKA South Africa, 3rd Floor, The Park, Park Road, Pinelands 7405, South Africa.
³⁹ LESIA, UMR CNRS 8109, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon, France.

PMID: 25955053
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.165001

Abstract

We present measurements of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers that took place during thunderstorms. The intensity and polarization patterns of these air showers are radically different from those measured during fair-weather conditions. With the use of a simple two-layer model for the atmospheric electric field, these patterns can be well reproduced by state-of-the-art simulation codes. This in turn provides a novel way to study atmospheric electric fields.

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Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

Affiliations

Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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Full Text Sources