Thunderstorm coupling to the magnetosphere and associated ionospheric effects

Abstract

This project deals with the coupling of electromagnetic energy released during a thunderstorm to the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Both the effects of an individual lightning event as well the aggregate of all the lightning events during a thunderstorm are considered. Energy in the very low frequency (VLF) band can play a variety of roles in the magnetospheric and ionospheric physics: generation of plasmaspheric hiss believed to be responsible for the slot region in the radiation belts, generation of lower hybrid waves that can heat ions in the auroral and subauroral regions, precipitation of energetic electrons, ionospheric heating etc. While these phenomena have been identified, and characterized to some extent, the influence and role of thunderstorm energy on the magnetosphere and ionosphere at a global scale is not known. Only recently, simultaneous high resolution (temporal and spatial) data sets from ground based lightning detectors and space and ground based VLF detectors have become available, and thus it has become possible to raise a question of the kind mentioned above and try to answer it quantitatively. Work on the correlation between individual lightning discharges in a thunderstorm as detected by the lightning network and the whistlers observed on the DE-1 satellite continued during this period. Results are summarized.