loading page

Constraining spectral models of a terrestrial gamma-ray flash from a terrestrial electron beam observation by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor
  • +19
  • David Sarria,
  • Nikolai Østgaard,
  • Pavlo Kochkin,
  • Nikolai Lehtinen    ,
  • Andrew Mezentsev,
  • Martino Marisaldi,
  • Anders Lindanger,
  • Carolina Maiorana,
  • Brant Edward Carlson,
  • Torsten Neubert,
  • Víctor Reglero,
  • Kjetil Ullaland,
  • Shiming Yang,
  • Georgi Genov,
  • Bilal Hasan Qureshi,
  • Carl Budtz-Jørgensen,
  • Irfan Kuvvetli,
  • Freddy Cristiansen,
  • Olivier Chanrion,
  • Javier Navarro-Gonzalez,
  • Paul Henry Connell,
  • Christopher J Dr Eyles
David Sarria
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Nikolai Østgaard
Birkeland Centre for Space Science,University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science,University of Bergen
Author Profile
Pavlo Kochkin
University of Bergen, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Nikolai Lehtinen    
University of Bergen, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Andrew Mezentsev
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Birkeland Centre for Space Science
Author Profile
Martino Marisaldi
University of Bergen, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Anders Lindanger
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Carolina Maiorana
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Brant Edward Carlson
Carthage College, Carthage College
Author Profile
Torsten Neubert
Department of Solar System Physics, Denmark, Department of Solar System Physics, Denmark
Author Profile
Víctor Reglero
University of Valencia, University of Valencia
Author Profile
Kjetil Ullaland
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Shiming Yang
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Georgi Genov
Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Bilal Hasan Qureshi
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
Author Profile
Carl Budtz-Jørgensen
Technical University of Denmark, Technical University of Denmark
Author Profile
Irfan Kuvvetli
Department of Solar System Physics, Denmark, Department of Solar System Physics, Denmark
Author Profile
Freddy Cristiansen
DTU Space, DTU Space
Author Profile
Olivier Chanrion
National Space Institute (DTU Space), National Space Institute (DTU Space)
Author Profile
Javier Navarro-Gonzalez
University of Valencia, University of Valencia
Author Profile
Paul Henry Connell
University of Valencia, University of Valencia
Author Profile
Christopher J Dr Eyles
University of Birmingham, University of Birmingham
Author Profile

Abstract

Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) are short flashes of high energy photons, produced by thunderstorms. When interacting with the atmosphere, they produce relativistic electrons and positrons, and a part gets bounded to geomagnetic field lines and travels large distances in space. This phenomenon is called a Terrestrial Electron Beam (TEB). The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) mounted on-board the International Space Station detected a new TEB event on March 24, 2019, originating from the tropical cyclone Johanina. Using ASIM’s low energy detector, the TEB energy spectrum is resolved down to 50 keV. We provide a method to constrain the TGF source spectrum based on the detected TEB spectrum. Applied to this event, it shows that only fully developed RREA spectra are compatible with the observation. More specifically, assuming a TGF spectrum ∝ 1/E exp(-E/ε), the compatible models have ε ≥ 6.5 MeV (E is the photon energy and ε is the cut-off energy). We could not exclude models with ε of 8 and 10 MeV.