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Интеллектуальная Система Тематического Исследования НАукометрических данных |
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The problem of the thundercloud electrification and how lightning is initiated inside thunderclouds is one of the biggest unsolved problems in atmospheric sciences. The relationship between thundercloud electrification, lightning activity, wideband radio emission and particle fluxes have not been yet unambiguously established. One of most intriguing opportunities opening by observation of the high-energy processes in the atmosphere is their relation to lightning initiation. C.T.R. Wilson postulated acceleration of electrons in the strong electric fields inside thunderclouds in 1924. In 1992 Gurevich et al. developed the theory of the runaway breakdown, now mostly referred to as relativistic runaway electron avalanches – RREA. The separation of positive and negative charges in thundercloud and existence of a stable ambient population of the cosmic ray MeV electrons in the atmosphere enables acceleration of the electrons in direction of the Earth’s surface (Thunderstorm ground enhancements, TGEs) and to open space (Terrestrial gamma flashes, TGFs). Thus both TGEs and TGFs precede the lightning activity and can be used for the research of poorly understood lightning initiation processes providing key research instrument – fluxes of electrons, neutrons and gamma rays originated in the thunderclouds. Information acquired from the time series of TGEs and TGFs along with widely used information on the temporal patterns of the radio waveforms will help to develop both reliable model of lightning initiation and detailed mechanism of electron acceleration in thunderclouds.