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Lightning-induced intensification of the ionospheric sporadic E layer

Nature volume 435, pages 799–801 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

A connection between thunderstorms and the ionosphere has been hypothesized since the mid-1920s1. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain this connection2,3,4,5,6,7, and evidence from modelling8 as well as various types of measurements9,10,11,12,13,14 demonstrate that lightning can interact with the lower ionosphere. It has been proposed, on the basis of a few observed events15, that the ionospheric ‘sporadic E’ layer—transient, localized patches of relatively high electron density in the mid-ionosphere E layer, which significantly affect radio-wave propagation—can be modulated by thunderstorms, but a more formal statistical analysis is still needed. Here we identify a statistically significant intensification and descent in altitude of the mid-latitude sporadic E layer directly above thunderstorms. Because no ionospheric response to low-pressure systems without lightning is detected, we conclude that this localized intensification of the sporadic E layer can be attributed to lightning. We suggest that the co-location of lightning and ionospheric enhancement can be explained by either vertically propagating gravity waves that transfer energy from the site of lightning into the ionosphere, or vertical electrical discharge, or by a combination of these two mechanisms.

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Figure 1: Superposed epoch analyses for lightning and low-pressure events.
Figure 2: Redistribution of δ f oEs values as a result of lightning.
Figure 3: Change in blanketing frequency and E s layer height in response to lightning.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank S. Hockenhull for prompting this investigation, J. Smith for maintaining the Chilton ionosonde, P. Odams of the UK Meteorological Office for supplying the Arrival Time Difference data, A. Ruddell for supplying the pressure data and E. Williams for his support and encouragement. The ionosonde at Chilton is funded by the UK Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, as is the UK Solar System Data Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, where ionospheric data from Chilton and other stations are made available.

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  1. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, OX11 0QX, Oxfordshire, Chilton, UK

    C. J. Davis & C. G. Johnson

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Correspondence to C. J. Davis.

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Davis, C., Johnson, C. Lightning-induced intensification of the ionospheric sporadic E layer. Nature 435, 799–801 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03638

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