Intracloud lightning with the high pulse repetition rate can be associated with emission of the high energy photons and neutrons

Leonid V. SorokinEconomic & Mathematical modeling Department,

Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

Thermonuclear reactions in gas discharge • The first public announcement on the thermonuclear reactions in gas discharge was

done by I.V. Kurchatov in his Speech at AERE/Harwell on 25th April 1956 [Kurchatov, 1956].

• Observation of Neutron Bursts Associated with Atmospheric Lightning Discharge [G. N. Shah, H. Razdan, Q. M. Ali, C. L. Bhat, 1985], [Shyam A., Kaushik T. C. 1999].

• The Discovery of Intense Gamma-Ray Flashes from the Earth atmosphere was done in 1994 by the Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory [Fishman, 1994].

• The measurements of the x-ray emission from rocket-triggered lightning was done by Dwyer, J. R., et al. [Dwyer, 2004].

• The laboratory sparks in air was studded after that [Dwyer, 2005] and the X-ray was found from 1.5 to 2.0 m spark gap and 5-10 cm series spark gaps within the 1.5 MV Marx generator.

• The gamma ray attenuation in air from the high-altitude intracloud lightning is not so huge to detect them from space [Williams, 2006].

• Usually TGFs are associated within several milliseconds with lightning current pulses [Carlson, 2009] or with intracloud lightning discharges [Stanley, 2006].

• The BATSE TGFs production are at altitudes less then 20 km and at higher altitudes from 30 km to 40 km and the dispersion signatures can be explained as a pure Compton effect [Østgaard, 2008].

• Neutron production in TGFs have been observed experimentally in coincidence with lightning [Carlson, 2010]

• The 99.99997% of the earth's atmosphere mass is concentrated below 100 km, distributed approximately as 50% is below 5.6 km and 40% from 5.6 km to 16 km. The lightning phenomenon also covers the first 100 km of the earth's atmosphere.

Non luminous emissions• First observed by both the ALEXIS and STRONG satellites in the

1990s, TIPPS or 'Trans-Ionospheric Pulse Pairs' are very intense VHF pulses originating from thunderstorm.

• They are 10,000 times stronger than normal lightnings and last 5µs. The second impulse is due to the reflexion on Earth of the first impulse and it usually separated by 10 to 110µs.

• First detected by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, Gamma ray bursts (1 ms) occur over thunderstorm regions. Their source is believed to lie at altitudes greater than 30 km.

• Sprites are produced by an avalanche of relativistic electrons started a cosmic radiation. This electron beam could interact with the air molecules and produce a X ray radiation and secondary gamma radiation.

• The sprites have an energy of approximately 20ev. But the Gamma ray bursts have an energy of one million ev.

TARANIS (Tool for the Analysis of RAdiations from lightNIngs and Sprites)

The polar orbit at 650 km altitude Payload includes:

2 cameras and 3 photometers (from IR to UV),

X- and -ray detectors (20 kev - 10 Mev), energetic electron detectors (70 kev - 4

Mev), and electric- and magnetic sensors in a wide

range (1 Hz - 30 MHz). Launch is scheduled for 2015.

French micro-satellite project managed by the Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement and Centre National

d'Etudes Spatiales (Orleans)

ASIM

(Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor)Scientific management - by

the National Space Institute, Denmark.

Mounted on the ISS external module Columbus, ASIM will study giant electrical discharges at high altitudes above thunderstorms.

The package of instruments includes 6 specially designed cameras, 6 photometers, and X- and -ray detectors. Expected to be launched in 2013, duration ~2 years.

JEM-GLIMS (Global Lightning and sprIte MeasurementS)

Optical instruments (20 kHz sampling) looking the nadir direction: • 2 wide FOV cameras• 6 wide-angle photometers in various bands VLF receiver: E-field in the range of 1-40 kHz. VHF antenna: in the range of 70-100 MHz

Launch: beginning of 2012

TLEs and TGF observation from Japanese Experiment Module of International Space

Station (ISS).

 FIREFLY.Vission to study terrestrial Gamma-

Ray flashes

Science instrumentationGamma-Ray Detector Instrument. Scintillator system will measure the energy and time of arrival of X- and gamma-rays associated with TGF. The same instrument will be able to detect electrons in the hundreds of keV to few MeV range.

VLF receiver to measure e/m bursts from tens of Hz to tens of KHzPhotometer at high time resolution

Experiments are controlled by the same system which acquires 100 ms of data from all 3 sensors, if signal is above a pre-set threshold.

Expect to detect ~50 strokes per day and ~1 TGF every couple of days.

Launch in March 2011 .Part of the National Science Foundation's

CubeSat program.

TERRESTRIAL GAMMA-RAY FLASH PRODUCTION BY LIGHTNING

• Carlson, BE, Lehtinen NG, Inan US. 2007. Constraints on terrestrial gamma ray flash production from satellite observation. Geophysical Research Letters. 34:8809.

• Ostgaard, N, Gjestland T, Stadsnes J, Connell PH, Carlson BE. 2008. Production altitude and time delays of the terrestrial gamma flashes: Revisiting the Burst and Transient Source Experiment spectra. Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics). 113:2307.

• Carlson, BE, Lehtinen NG, Inan US. 2008. Runaway relativistic electron avalanche seeding in the Earth's atmosphere. Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics). 113:10307.

• Carlson, BE, Inan US. 2008. A novel technique for remote sensing of thunderstorm electric fields via the Kerr effect and sky polarization. Geophysical Research Letters. 35:22806.

• Carlson, BE. 2009. Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flash Production by Lightning. • Carlson, BE, Lehtinen NG, Inan US. 2009. Terrestrial gamma ray flash production

by lightning current pulses. Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics). 114 • Carlson, BE, Lehtinen NG, Inan US. 2010. Neutron production in terrestrial gamma

ray flashes. Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics). 115 • Carlson, BE, Lehtinen NG, Inan US. 2010. Observations of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray

Flash Electrons. American Institute of Physics Conference Series. 1118:84-91.

A.P.J. van Deursen

High-voltage laboratory at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands (28 October 2010).

Nguyen, C.V.

• Plasma turbulence in the Spark discharge 1MV with 1m channel. Author’s color video at 1200 fps taken on the camera Casio Exlim EX-F1 in the High-voltage laboratory at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands (28 October 2010). Courtesy to A.P.J. van Deursen and C.V. Nguyen

The pinch effect• The pinch effect can create instability of continuous gas discharge;

it can be due to the current oscillations that lead to the plasma density variation, the shock waives or some turbulence in the hot plasma.

• The X-ray emission usually observed during the pinch effect in the hot plasma conditions [Kurchatov, 1956] that is very common to the parameters of lightning stroke.

• The electrons and ions will be accelerated in the huge electric field for the energies of some MeV, and after that collide with emitting X-ray burst together with the high energy photons.

• The collision of relativistic electrons with Krypton (Kr) and Xenon (Xe) in the plasma discharge can significantly intensify the X-ray emission due to their bigger atomic charge.

17/05/2010, Moscow, 17:31

Burst of pulses in lightning electromagnetic radiation

• E. P. Krider, G. J. Radda and R.C. Noggle, Regular radiation field pulses produced by intracloud lightning discharges, J. Geophys. Res. 80, 3801-3804 (1975)

• V. A. Rakov, M. A. Uman, G. R. Hoffman, M. W. Masters and M. Brook, Burst of pulses in lightning electromagnetic radiation: Observations and implications for lightning test standards, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat. 38, 156-164 (1996)

• Y. Wang, G. Zhang, T. Zhang, Y. Li, Y. Zhao, T. Zhang, X. Fan and B. Wu, The regular pulses bursts in electromagnetic radiation from lightning, Asia-Pacific International Symposium on electromagnetic compatibility, Beijing, China, DOI 10.1109/APEMC.2010.5475814 (2010)

• E. P. Krider and R. C. Noggle, Broadband antenna system for lightning magnetic fields, J. Appl. Meteorol. 14, 252-256 (1974)

• I. Kolmašová1, O. Santolík., The submicrosecond structure of unipolar magnetic field pulse trains generated by lightning discharges // 1st TEA – IS Summer School, June 17th – June 22nd 2012, Málaga, Spain, Pp. 132-133.

An example of the most frequently measured burst type

• Source: I. Kolmašová1, O. Santolík., The submicrosecond structure of unipolar magnetic field pulse trains generated by lightning discharges // 1st TEA – IS Summer School, June 17th – June 22nd 2012, Málaga, Spain, Pp. 132-133.

A typical shape of negative unipolar pulses

• Source: I. Kolmašová1, O. Santolík., The submicrosecond structure of unipolar magnetic field pulse trains generated by lightning discharges // 1st TEA – IS Summer School, June 17th – June 22nd 2012, Málaga, Spain, Pp. 132-133.

Concentration of Deuterium

• It looks like the Deuterium concentration is too small in the regular water for the nuclear fusion reactions.

• The hydrogen isotopes concentration in water is Hydrogen 99.985% and Deuterium 0.015%, so about one in 6420 Hydrogen atoms in seawater is Deuterium.

• About one molecule of semiheavy water HDO can be in 3210 molecules of the regular water and heavy water D2O occurs in the proportion of one molecule in 41.2 million.

• The sea water evaporates from the sea surface and the water vapor rising in the atmosphere. During the cloud formation the air humidity in the cloud is close to 100% and a big amount of water is condensate in the droplets and ice particles.

• Due to the different freezing points of the water (TH20=0˚C) and heavy water (TD2O=3.82˚C) the concentration of heavy water will be bigger in the cloud ice particles.

• The D-T, D-D and D-3He reactions can go with the resulting energy barrier approximately from 100 KeV. We consider the D-D reactions going with the equal probability:

(1)(2)

• The products of the D-D reaction can collide with Deuterium:

(3)(4)

Basic Equations

)MeV 2.45()MeV 0.82( 10

32

21

21 nHeHH

)MeV 3.02()MeV 1.01( 11

31

21

21 pHHH

)MeV 14.1()MeV 3.5( 10

42

21

31 nHeHH

)MeV 14.7()MeV 3.6( 11

42

21

32 pHeHHe

Proton capture reaction • The proton capture reaction is well known

nuclear reactions of type (p,γ) and (p,a), so it can affect the chemical element and isotope structure of air gas mixture.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

MeV 5.4932

21

11 HeHH

MeV .8149131

11 HH

MeV 1.94137

126

11 NCH

MeV 22.201

136

137 eeCN

MeV 7.55147

136

11 NCH

MeV 7.29158

147

11 ONH

MeV 76.201

157

158 eeNO

(10)

(11)

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

MeV 4.97126

157

11 CNH

MeV .1321168

157

11 ONH

MeV .60179

168

11 FOH

MeV .615189

178

11 FOH

MeV .9947199

188

11 FOH

MeV .983157

188

11 NOH

Isotopes

• The isotopes of Cl, K, F, Na, Br, Rb, I, Cs can appear in the proton capture reactions with Ar, Ne, Kr, Xe.

(16)

(17)

11

11

XXH AZ

AZ

42

31

11

XXH AZ

AZ

(n, n)

• The absorption cross section is often highly dependent on neutron energy. So the fast neutrons (2.45 MeV) should be slowdown to the thermal neutrons in the reaction (18). In the wet air it is possible due to the reaction of type (n, n) on the atoms of Hydrogen (1H), Carbon (12С), Nitrogen (14N) and Oxygen (16О).

(18)nXnX AZ

AZ

10

10

(n,γ)• After that for the thermal neutrons are used,

the process is called thermal capture. This reaction of type (n,γ) (19) can go on Helium (3He), Krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe) and others isotopes with huge absorption cross section.

(19)• Xenon-135 is a perfect neutron absorber (20)

due to its huge cross section for thermal neutrons σ = 2.65x 10+6 barns.

(20) XenXe 13654

10

13554

XnX AZ

AZ

110

(n,p)

• The reaction of type (n,p) goes with proton emitting

(21)

• The examples of this reaction of type (n,p) can be the Tritium, σ= 5400 barns (22) and Carbon-14 (23) production.

(22)

pXnX AZ

AZ

111

10

MeVpHHen 76.011

31

32

10

Carbon-14 • Carbon-14 is produced (23) in the upper layers of the

troposphere and the stratosphere on the altitudes from 9 to 15 km by thermal neutrons absorbed by Nitrogen-14 atoms [Ramsey, 2008]. This altitude is very common to the intracloud lightning discharges and X-rays from them [M. A. Stanley, 2006]. The Carbon-14 production rates vary because of changes to the cosmic ray flux and due to variations in the Earth’s magnetic field and had not agreed with high geomagnetic latitudes models [Ramsey, 2008].

MeVpCNn 63.011

146

147

10 (σ= 1.75 barns),

KeVeNC e 47.156147

146

(n,a) & (n,2n)

• The reaction of type (n,a) goes with emitting of α-particle (4He nucleus)

(24)

• The reaction of type (n,2n) goes with emitting of two neutrons

(25)

42

32

10

XnX AZ

AZ

nnXnX AZ

AZ

10

10

110

Discussion• X-ray and gamma-ray bursts with neutrons appear not in every lightning

discharge, they are rare in CG lightning and usually associated with intracloud lightning where the high pulse repetition rate can be observed.

• It is possible to explain this phenomenon by pinch effect or hot plasma instability with the plasma focus conditions in the compact area of plasma channel.

• The conditions for the pinch effect can be only in the case when the next lightning discharge goes in the same channel during the continuous current stage.

• For the intracloud lightning the repetition rate can go up to some hundreds within 0.1 ms, so the pinch effect can be common for them.

• The CG lightning usually goes with lower rate of some events per second and choosing the new channel for the next stroke. But it can happen that CG lightning goes in the same channel within some ms twice.

• So for the CG lightning the probability of pinch effect is lower then for intracloud lightning.

• This fact can explain that a few CG lightning can produce X-rays and gamma-rays with neutrons and for the intracloud lightning the high energy photons and neutrons are common.

Conclusion• The production of neutrons 2.45 MeV and protons

3.02 MeV in D–D Fusion reaction together with proton capture and neutron capture reactions can explain the production of the radioactive materials, gamma-ray radiation and the air ionization during the lightning discharges within a thunderstorm.

• The role of Helium ( 3He), Krypton (Kr), Xenon (Xe) and others isotopes with huge absorption cross section is significant for the thermal neutrons capture.

• The X-ray and gamma-ray signatures from lightning can be explained due to the Compton scattering effect.

• The observation of the long period gamma-ray radiation during the thunderstorm can be due to the decay of isotopes.

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