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Reduction of electron density in the night-time lower ionosphere in response to a thunderstorm

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 29–33 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Tropospheric thunderstorms have been reported to disturb the lower ionosphere, at altitudes of 65–90 km, by convective atmospheric gravity waves1,2,3,4,5 and by electric field changes produced by lightning discharges6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15. Theoretical simulations suggest that lightning electric fields enhance electron attachment to O2 and reduce electron density in the lower ionosphere7,8. Owing to the low electron density in the lower ionosphere, active probing of its electron distribution is difficult16,17, and the various perturbative effects are poorly understood. However, it is now possible to probe the lower ionosphere in a spatially and temporally resolved manner by using remotely detected time waveforms of lightning radio signals4,5,18,19. Here we report such observations of the night-time ionosphere above a small thunderstorm. We find that electron density in the lower ionosphere decreased in response to lightning discharges. The extent of the reduction is closely related in time and space to the rate of lightning discharges, supporting the idea that the enhanced electron attachment is responsible for the reduction. We conclude that ionospheric electron density variations corresponding to lightning discharges should be considered in future simulations of the ionosphere and the initiation of sprite discharges.

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Figure 1: Concept of using remotely detected lightning signals to probe the lower ionosphere.
Figure 2: Contours used to find the best-matched τ and R for a measurement at 876-km range and 270° azimuth (black curve in Fig. 1c) from simulated waveforms, and therefore the most likely electron profile described by q and h.
Figure 3: Temporal variations of the lower ionosphere compared to lightning rate in the underlying small storm.
Figure 4: Spatial maps of electron density at 80 and 75 km altitudes at four selected 6-minute time periods.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Los Alamos National Laboratory by Laboratory Directed Research and Development project 20110184ER. We thank P. Colestock and J. Zinn for useful discussions on air chemistry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space and Remote Sensing Group, ISR-2, MS D436, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

    Xuan-Min Shao & Erin H. Lay

  2. Earth and Space Sciences Department, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA

    Abram R. Jacobson

Authors
  1. Xuan-Min Shao
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  2. Erin H. Lay
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Contributions

X-M.S. drafted the manuscript, developed the ground-wave model and integrated it with the ionosphere reflection model, and supervised the project. E.H.L. analysed the lightning data, compared the data with the model and derived the electron profiles from the comparisons. A.R.J. developed and improved the ionosphere reflection model. All authors contributed to the discussion of the results and the preparation of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xuan-Min Shao.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Shao, XM., Lay, E. & Jacobson, A. Reduction of electron density in the night-time lower ionosphere in response to a thunderstorm. Nature Geosci 6, 29–33 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1668

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