Energetic radiation associated with lightning stepped‐leaders
Open Access
- 1 June 2001
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 28 (11) , 2141-2144
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2001gl013140
Abstract
With the use of a NaI scintillation detector, bursts of radiation with energies in excess of 1 MeV were recorded at a mountain‐top observatory immediately before three, nearby cloud‐to‐ground, negative lightning strikes. Coincident recordings of the electric field changes due to the discharges showed that, in each case, the bursts began between 1 and 2 milliseconds before and continued until the onset of the first return stroke. This radiation was associated with approaching stepped‐leaders and may have influenced their development.Keywords
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