Dataset for Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements terminated by lightning discharges

Published: 9 November 2021| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/p25bb7jrfp.1
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Description

Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) are enhanced fluxes of electrons, gamma rays, and neutrons detected on Earth's surface during strong overhead thunderstorms (Chilingarian et al. (2010, 2011). Some of the TGEs are suddenly terminated by lightning discharges, indicating their association with the strong atmospheric electric fields. Scenarios of TGE initiation are discussed in (Chilingarian et al., 2020a and 2021) This dataset includes a total of 165 events of TGE termination by lightning observed during 2012–2021 at an altitude of 3200 m above sea level on Mount Aragats (Armenia). The dataset is organized as a table with eleven columns, the content of which can be filtered. The first column shows the event ID, the second and third columns show the date and time when the TGE was terminated by lightning flash. The fourth column gives the distance to lightning estimated by the electric field meter (Boltek, EFM-100) placed at the Aragats station. The fifth column shows the polarity of the surge of the near-surface electric field caused by lightning discharge The sixth column shows the polarity of the near-surface electric field during the TGE (for both columns 5 and 6, the electric field is measured at the Aragats station). In this dataset, we use the atmospheric electricity sign convention, according to which the downward directed electric field or field change vector is positive. Lightning type is indicated in the seventh column. The methodology used for lightning type identification is described in the papers by Chilingarian et al. (2017, 2020b). Columns 8 and 9 give time and distance to the lightning for the events detected at Aragats, and found also in the database of the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). The tenth column contains hyperlinks to the figures for each TGE event, demonstrating the abrupt termination of the TGE at the time of lightning discharge. The figures include time series of count rate of a scintillation detector, and near-surface electric field measured by two field mills, one placed at the Aragats station (3200 m a.s.l.), the other one at the Nor Amberd station (2000 m a.s.l.) at a distance of 12.8 km. The last column gives approximate qualitative intensities of the TGEs (weak, medium, and strong enhancement of particle flux). The raw data for this dataset are available via the multivariate visualization software ADEI on the Web page of the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Yerevan Physics Institute http://adei.crd.yerphi.am/adei.

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Yerevan Physics Institute after A Alikhanian

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