Reconstruction of the global lightning distribution from ELF electromagnetic background signals

The global lightning distribution has been obtained for the first time as the result of an inverse problem for the natural extremely low-frequency (ELF) electromagnetic background signals measured simultaneously at three stations: Lekhta (Karelia, Russia), Moshiri (Hokkaido, Japan), and West Greenwich (Rhode Island, USA). We employed a two-step technique consisting of: (1) inversion of ELF field spectra to a source distance distribution (distance profile) for each station of the network and (2) treating the obtained distance profiles as projections in the tomographic method. The structure of the source distance profiles reconstructed from experimental field spectra, varies during a day in a manner specific for each station, which can be explained generally by the temporal distribution of the sources in the tropical continental areas, so-called world thunderstorm centres (WTCs). The comparison of the obtained source distributions with the satellite data on lightning collected by Optical Transient Detector (OTD) and Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) shows satisfactory agreement, which proves that our newly developed inversion technique is a suitable method for mapping global lightning.     

ELF transients associated with sprites and elves in eastern Mediterranean winter thunderstorms

During the northern hemisphere winter of 2005–2006, transient luminous events (TLEs) known as ‘sprites’ and ‘elves’ were imaged over thunderstorm cells in the eastern Mediterranean. Simultaneously, extremely low frequency (ELF) data (ELF: 3–3000 Hz) were recorded at two observation stations in Israel and Hungary in order to qualify and quantify parameters of the parent lightning discharge associated with the transient optical emissions in the upper atmosphere. In this study, we found that for 87% (Israel) and 77% (Hungary) of optically observed TLEs an intense ELF transient event was recorded. These stations are located some 500 and 2100 km, respectively, from the region of the TLEs. All ELF transients that were associated with TLEs were caused by lightning discharges with positive polarity. Calculation of the charge moment change showed values between 600 and 2800 C km with a peak around 1000 C km. Additionally, the time delay between the +CG and ensuing sprite was 76±34 ms and it was displaced up to 50 km from its parent CG.One of our objectives in the present study was to characterize, based on the ELF radiation from lightning, the electromagnetic (EM) waveforms of the lightning discharges which generate TLEs in the time and frequency domains, and to compare them with other lightning discharges occurring in the same thunderstorm cell at approximately the same time, but which did not produce TLEs. The survey for a typical EM waveform showed no unique ELF signature for lightning discharges associated with either sprites or elves.     

ELF/VLF signatures of sprite-producing lightning discharges observed during the 2005 EuroSprite campaign

During the summer of 2005, transient luminous events were optically imaged from the French Pyrénées as part of the EuroSprite campaign. Simultaneously, extremely low frequency (ELF: 3–3000 Hz) and broadband very low frequency (VLF: 3–30 kHz) data were recorded continuously at two separate receivers in Israel, located about 3300 km from the area of the parent lightning discharges responsible for the generation of sprites. Additionally, narrowband VLF data were collected in Crete, at about 2300 km away from the region of sprites.The motivation for the present study was to identify the signature of the sprite-producing lightning discharges in the ELF and VLF electromagnetic frequency bands, to qualify and compare their parameters, and to study the influence of the thunderstorm-activated region on its overlaying ionosphere. For the 15 sprites analyzed, their causative positive cloud-to-ground (+CG) discharges had peak current intensities between +8 and +130 kA whereas their charge moment changes (CMC) ranged from 500 to 3500 C km. Furthermore, the peak current reported by the Météorage lightning network are well correlated with the amplitudes of the VLF bursts, while showing poor correlation with the CMCs which were estimated using ELF methods.Additionally, more than one +CG was associated with six of the sprites, implying that lightning discharges that produce sprites can sometimes have multiple ground connections separated in time and space. Finally, for a significant number of events (33%) an ELF transient was not associated with sprite occurrence, suggesting that long continuing current of tens of ms may not always be a necessary condition for sprite production, a finding which influences the estimation of the global sprite rate based on Schumann resonance (SR) measurements.     

On the hourly contribution of global cloud-to-ground lightning activity to the atmospheric electric field in the Antarctic during December 1992

ELF magnetic field measurements from 10 to 135 Hz at Arrival Heights, Antarctica, are used as a proxy measure of global cloud-to-ground lightning activity. Simultaneous hourly recordings of the atmospheric electric field on the surface of the Earth at South Pole during December 1992 make possible a detailed comparison between global cloud-to-ground lightning activity and the atmospheric electric field. Although the mean diurnal variation of the ELF magnetic field and the atmospheric electric field exhibit a remarkable similarity in shape and phase, the hourly departures from their mean diurnal variations are poorly correlated. We quantify the variability of the atmospheric electric field which can be explained by global cloud-to-ground lightning activity through linear regression analysis. To estimate an accuracy of this method, it is applied to simultaneous measurements of the ELF magnetic field at Søndrestrømfjord, Greenland, for comparison. The resulting hourly contribution of global cloud-to-ground lightning activity to the atmospheric electric field in the Antarctic during December 1992 is ∼40±10%, and the contribution of global cloud-to-ground lightning activity to hourly departures from the mean diurnal variation of the atmospheric electric field is ∼25±10%.     

Some results of observations of positive lightning discharges and relative phenomena in the east of Siberia

We have considered spatial distributions of positive lightning discharges in the east of Siberia for the summer seasons of 2003–2007 and properties of their electromagnetic signals with the ELF “slow tail”, which, as is known, can be accompanied by sprites. There are two main regions of positive discharges located in the south and west of Yakutsk. Two other “centers” (the northeastern and the eastern) are located in high-mountainous regions. In these regions the positive discharges intensity can exceed the negative discharge intensity.The electromagnetic signals in the ELF range (usually in the form of two half-cycles) were observed after the VLF atmospherics were recorded in the high-latitude regions. The delay of ELF pulses relative to the corresponding atmospherics was 0–7 ms. The long (up to 350 ms) events of quasi-periodic ELF oscillations with the period of about 7 ms (which corresponds to the quasi-period of ELF pulses) were revealed.     

电磁监测台站观测的舒曼谐振背景变化

舒曼谐振是由闪电激发的电离层与地面之间的全球电磁震荡,在地球与电离层空腔中传播,由于共振作用,其电磁波能量明显高于其他频率电磁波能量.舒曼谐振具有稳定的频域参数和频谱结构,近几年的研究发现,地震发生前会使这些固有参数发生扰动,因此利用舒曼谐振异常来进行地震短临监测可能是一种行之有效的手段.要判断舒曼谐振地震电磁异常,了解舒曼谐振电磁场背景变化规律是前提.本文利用极低频电磁台站观测的天然电磁场数据,处理和分析了各台站观测的舒曼谐振频率电磁场功率谱随时间的变化,得到了舒曼谐振随季节和纬度的背景变化规律.并提出将舒曼谐振背景变化规律应用到地震短临监测预报中,能够为今后辨别地震监测中的舒曼谐振异常提供物理依据.     

Estimation of lightning and sprite parameters based on observation of sprite-producing lightning power spectra

Spectrograms and ELF power spectra of magnetic variations originated from sprite-producing lightning discharges have been analyzed to extract both parent lightning and sprite parameters. Some of the spectrograms and power spectra have been found to have approximately quasi-oscillatory shape in the frequency range 0–40 Hz with maximum repetition period about 15–20 Hz. A theory predicts that this interesting peculiarity of the power spectra can be due to interference between electromagnetic fields originated from the parent lightning discharge and from the sprite. A smooth envelope of the power spectrum was shown to have a form of damped oscillations with period close to reciprocal value of sprite lag time. A technique of extracting sprite parameters based on the sprite-producing lightning power spectrum is proposed. The lack of the first Schumann resonance and other features occasionally observed in spectral resonance structure were also discussed.     

Peculiar transient events in the Schumann resonance band and their possible explanation

Superimposed on the continuous Schumann resonance (SR) background in the extremely low frequency (ELF) band, transient signals (e.g. bursts) can be observed, which originate from intense lightning discharges occurring at different locations on the globe. From the many transients that were observed at the Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory (AGO) of Comenius University near Modra, western Slovakia, in the vertical electric field component mainly during May and June of 2006, a peculiar group of events could be recognized. According to the waveform analysis, these peculiar events in most cases consist of two overlapping transients with a characteristic time difference of 0.13–0.15 s between the onsets. On the other hand, the spectrum of these peculiar transients showed discernible SR peaks for higher modes as well (n>7). The same events could be found in the records of the Széchenyi István Geophysical Observatory of the Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences near Nagycenk, Hungary (NCK). The natural origin of the peculiar events was verified from the NCK data and the source location was determined from the second transient. The results suggest that the two consecutive transients originated in the same thunderstorm. Furthermore, the phase spectrum analysis indicates that the sources have coherently excited the Earth-ionosphere cavity. These findings seem to support the idea that electromagnetic waves orbiting the Earth might trigger lightning discharges. The possibility that electromagnetic waves may trigger discharges was first considered by Nikola Tesla.     

Estimation of global lightning activity and observations of atmospheric electric field

Variations in the global atmospheric electric circuit are investigated using a wide range of globally spaced instruments observing VLF (∼10 kHz) waves, ELF (∼300 Hz) waves, Schumann resonances (4–60 Hz), and the atmospheric fair weather electric field. For the ELF/VLF observations, propagation effects are accounted for in a novel approach using established monthly averages of lightning location provided by the Lightning Image Sensor (LIS) and applying known frequency specific attenuation parameters for daytime/nighttime ELF/VLF propagation. Schumann resonances are analyzed using decomposition into propagating and standing waves in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. Derived lightning activity is compared to existing global lightning detection networks and fair weather field observations. The results suggest that characteristics of lightning discharges vary by region and may have diverse effects upon the ionospheric potential.     

Fractal analysis for VHF electromagnetic noises and the identification of preseismic signature of an earthquake

Multi-fractal analysis under the self-organized criticality (SOC) hypothesis is performed for the VHF electromagnetic noises observed before an earthquake. A rather strong (M=7.2) earthquake took place in the off-sea of Sendai, and we have utilized the corresponding VHF noise (at 49.5 MHz) data at several stations in the Tohoku area. Among the three observing stations used for analysis, the VHF data only at one station (Kunimi) have exhibited significant precursors; that is, a significant increase in multi-fractal complexity at the last stage of the rupture. The use of fractal analysis enables to sort out the lithospheric effect following the SOC, among the few possible noise sources at VHF. The change observed only at this station might be related with the geological structure around this station because there are fault regions around the station.     

鄂西地区宽频地震台阵背景噪声特征

利用鄂西地区长时间段宽频地震台站的三分量背景噪声记录,采用波形互相关方法得到台站对间的互相关函数,并通过聚束分析获得瑞雷波和勒夫波的慢度谱,研究鄂西地区背景噪声源的时空分布特征。结果表明,5~10 s周期范围,背景噪声来源于南太平洋且没有季节变化;10~20 s周期范围,慢度谱上显示明显的能量环,表明噪声源来源于多个方向,且表现出强烈和急剧的季节变化;20~40 s周期范围,慢度谱上也存在明显的能量环,其产生机制可能与此周期下提出的次重力波机制相似。在不同的周期范围内,噪声源分布方位有所不同,但在周期10~40 s范围噪声源在各方向均有分布。因此,利用长时间段连续噪声数据计算的互相关函数在周期10~40 s范围内满足背景噪声面波层析成像的理论前提。     

Characteristics of Japanese winter sprites and their parent lightning as estimated by VHF lightning and ELF transients

Sprites are newly discovered optical emissions in the mesosphere over large thunderstorms. This paper is the observational summary of winter sprites in the Hokuriku area of Japan and their parent lightning in the winter of 2004/2005, by using the coordinated optical and electromagnetic (VHF and ELF) measurements in Japan. As the results of optical observations at two stations, we have found that this campaign has yielded a variety of sprite shapes; V-angle shaped structures have been often observed (25%) in addition to columnar structures familiar for us. All of the sprite events are found to be associated with $+$CG lightning, as seen from the macroscopic information by ELF data at Moshiri. However, examining the microscopic properties of parent lightning as seen from the VHF SAFIR lightning detection network, has suggested very complicated characteristics of parent lightning discharges inducing sprites, as compared with the ELF data. One half of the sprite events are also found to be associated with $+$CG by the SAFIR observation, but another half has yielded rather new results as compared with earlier results. Four events are definitely associated with $-$CG and the remaining three events, inter-cloud flashes. The overall picture for Japanese winter sprites and their parent lightning discharges, is significantly different from that for the summer-time, continental sprites. This is indicative of complexity of winter lightning in the Hokuriku area of Japan and this would provide new information on the sprite generation mechanism.     

闪电放电过程的近红外光谱及温度沿放电通道的演化特征

利用无狭缝红外光谱仪, 获得山东地区闪电放电过程760~970 nm范围的近红外光谱.光谱特征分析得出: 近红外光谱主要是峰值电流之后、放电后期的辐射, 谱线主要是中性原子的贡献.首次讨论了放电后期的通道温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道的演化特征.结果表明, 通道温度较回击电流上升至峰值阶段降低, 约为16000 K; 不同闪电的光谱结构、通道温度差异不大, 反映了放电等离子体复合阶段的特性; 地闪通道的温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道略呈单调变化趋势, 接地点附近最大; 云闪通道的温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道非单调变化, 在通道的拐弯、分叉以及结点附近发生突变.     

闪电放电过程的近红外光谱及温度沿放电通道的演化特征

利用无狭缝红外光谱仪, 获得山东地区闪电放电过程760~970 nm范围的近红外光谱.光谱特征分析得出: 近红外光谱主要是峰值电流之后、放电后期的辐射, 谱线主要是中性原子的贡献.首次讨论了放电后期的通道温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道的演化特征.结果表明, 通道温度较回击电流上升至峰值阶段降低, 约为16000 K; 不同闪电的光谱结构、通道温度差异不大, 反映了放电等离子体复合阶段的特性; 地闪通道的温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道略呈单调变化趋势, 接地点附近最大; 云闪通道的温度和光谱总强度沿放电通道非单调变化, 在通道的拐弯、分叉以及结点附近发生突变.     

The Background Variation of Natural Source ELF and Its EM Abnormal Phenomena in Yunnan Earthquakes

In order to add earthquake monitoring methods and develop new method research, the ELF Network for Earthquake Monitoring selected 30 stations in the Capital Circle and the Sichuan-Yunnan region. Finding electromagnetic field background variation is the basis of distinguishing the seismic electromagnetic anomalies. This paper introduces the data acquisition and selection of the Shexian, Anqiu, Lijiang and Dali stations which have recorded for longer time with better data and are located on the similar latitude. Then we use the natural source electromagnetic field''s auto-power spectrum to express the intensity of the electromagnetic field. By using power spectral data of many frequencies in the observation frequency band, after the data pre-processing and sliding average noising, the background variation of extremely low frequency stations and the range ability were acquired. Taking the Baoshan M5.1 earthquake on October 30, 2015 and Dali M5.0 earthquake on May 18, 2016 as examples, the authors analyzed the earthquake electromagnetic anomaly characteristic of ELF stations around the earthquakes.     

Source side seismic tomography(3STomo):A novelmethod to image the subsurface structure beneath seismically active region

We propose a novel seismic tomography method,Source Side Seismic Tomography(3STomo),which is designed particularly to image the subsurface structure beneath seismically active regions.Unlike the teleseismic tomography,in which the data are relative traveltime residuals between closely spaced stations for each teleseismic event,3STomo uses relative traveltime shifts between earthquakes within the study region for each distant station.Given the relatively evener distribution of global seismic stations,this method has unique advantages for imaging the structure beneath regions that have numerous earthquakes but lack of dense seismic stations,for example,some subduction zones and spreading ridges in the ocean.In addition,3STomo has potentially better vertical resolution at shallow depths than the traditional teleseismic tomography.The effect of the inaccurate source parameters on its resolution can be minimized by using depth phases and the technique of joint source and structure inversion.Numerical experiments and application to Luzon Island,Philippines show that 3STomo can be a valuable tool to investigate the subsurface structure beneath some areas where the traditional method cannot be applied to,or at least it can be used as a complementary component of conventional teleseismic tomography to obtain better back-azimuth coverage and achieve higher resolution at shallow depths in the inversion.     

极低频电磁观测数据噪声处理方法研究

“十五”期间,在全国各地震台站共安装了约12套ELF极低频电磁观测仪器,从记录到的观测资料来看,所有台站均不同程度地受到工频50 Hz及其谐波的干扰,同时还有一些不必要的信息存在,因此,对ELF观测数据进行滤波处理显得尤其重要。该文用MATLAB编程软件设计了FIR数字滤波器,运用理论数据和ELF实测数据对滤波器的性能进行了验证,分析了ELF时间序列经过带通滤波和陷波处理后的效果,发现其对台站ELF观测数据的处理有一定的应用价值。     

Reconstructing Regional Ionospheric Electron Density: A Combined Spherical Slepian Function and Empirical Orthogonal Function Approach

The computerized ionospheric tomography is a method for imaging the Earth’s ionosphere using a sounding technique and computing the slant total electron content (STEC) values from data of the global positioning system (GPS). The most common approach for ionospheric tomography is the voxel-based model, in which (1) the ionosphere is divided into voxels, (2) the STEC is then measured along (many) satellite signal paths, and finally (3) an inversion procedure is applied to reconstruct the electron density distribution of the ionosphere. In this study, a computationally efficient approach is introduced, which improves the inversion procedure of step 3. Our proposed method combines the empirical orthogonal function and the spherical Slepian base functions to describe the vertical and horizontal distribution of electron density, respectively. Thus, it can be applied on regional and global case studies. Numerical application is demonstrated using the ground-based GPS data over South America. Our results are validated against ionospheric tomography obtained from the constellation observing system for meteorology, ionosphere, and climate (COSMIC) observations and the global ionosphere map estimated by international centers, as well as by comparison with STEC derived from independent GPS stations. Using the proposed approach, we find that while using 30 GPS measurements in South America, one can achieve comparable accuracy with those from COSMIC data within the reported accuracy (1 × 10¹¹ el/cm³) of the product. Comparisons with real observations of two GPS stations indicate an absolute difference is less than 2 TECU (where 1 total electron content unit, TECU, is 10¹⁶ electrons/m²).     

综合治理是地震前兆台站防雷保护的必由之路

雷电灾害是气象自然灾害的一个组成部分。地震前兆台站的防雷问题是一个十分重要的问题,然而防雷技术目前在国际上尚未过关。经过多年的研究与实践,该文作者及其同事认为,综合治理是地震前兆台站防雷保护的必由之路。     

Estimation and spatial interpolation of rainfall intensity distribution from the effective rate of precipitation

Great emphasis is being placed on the use of rainfall intensity data at short time intervals to accurately model the dynamics of modern cropping systems, runoff, erosion and pollutant transport. However, rainfall data are often readily available at more aggregated level of time scale and measurements of rainfall intensity at higher resolution are available only at limited stations. A distribution approach is a good compromise between fine-scale (e.g. sub-daily) models and coarse-scale (e.g. daily) rainfall data, because the use of rainfall intensity distribution could substantially improve hydrological models. In the distribution approach, the cumulative distribution function of rainfall intensity is employed to represent the effect of the within-day temporal variability of rainfall and a disaggregation model (i.e. a model disaggregates time series into sets of higher solution) is used to estimate distribution parameters from the daily average effective precipitation. Scaling problems in hydrologic applications often occur at both space and time dimensions and temporal scaling effects on hydrologic responses may exhibit great spatial variability. Transferring disaggregation model parameter values from one station to an arbitrary position is prone to error, thus a satisfactory alternative is to employ spatial interpolation between stations. This study investigates the spatial interpolation of the probability-based disaggregation model. Rainfall intensity observations are represented as a two-parameter lognormal distribution and methods are developed to estimate distribution parameters from either high-resolution rainfall data or coarse-scale precipitation information such as effective intensity rates. Model parameters are spatially interpolated by kriging to obtain the rainfall intensity distribution when only daily totals are available. The method was applied to 56 pluviometer stations in Western Australia. Two goodness-of-fit statistics were used to evaluate the skill—daily and quantile coefficient of efficiency between simulations and observations. Simulations based on cross-validation show that kriging performed better than other two spatial interpolation approaches (B-splines and thin-plate splines).