Thunderstorm Electric Field Modeling from Electrification to Terrestrial
Gamma-ray Flash Production
Abstract
Knowledge of the electric field structures inside thunderstorms is
necessary for understanding of thunderstorm electrification, lightning
initiation, and terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) production. However,
existing knowledge comes largely from weather balloon measurements that
provide a limited view that entangles motion of the balloon (spatial
variability) with overall evolution of the storm (temporal variability).
More advanced interpretation of such data and connection of it to the
broader context requires comprehensive modeling of the full process. We
describe such a model, built on simple approximations of electrification
processes, the resulting currents, charge structures, and electric
fields, including a crude probabilistic lightning model. The result is a
reasonably realistic model of thunderstorm field and its evolution that
can be used to predict possible balloon measurements of electric field,
with results that are in good qualitative agreement with existing
balloon data. The resulting electric field is then also used as input to
a Geant4 simulation of relativistic electron behavior to understand when
and where TGF production is likely to occur in the dynamic thunderstorm
electric field. The combination of meteorological drivers of
electrification, constrained by comparison to balloon data, and in turn
how they may give rise to TGFs, provides a unique tool to aid in our
understanding of such processes and how they are linked.