First ten months of TGF observations by ASIM

N. Østgaard*, T. Neubert, V. Reglero, K. Ullaland, S. Yang, G. Genov, M. Marisaldi, A. Mezentsev, P. Kochkin, N. Lehtinen, D. Sarria, B.H. Qureshi, A. Solberg, C. Maiorana, K. Albrechtsen, C. Budtz‐Jørgensen, I. Kuvvetli, F. Christiansen, O. Chanrion, M. HeumesserJ. Navarro‐Gonzalez, P. Connell, C. Eyles, H. Christian, S. Al‐Nussirat

*Corresponding author for this work

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    Abstract

    The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on April 2, 2018. The ASIM payload consists of two main instruments, the Modular X- and Gamma-ray Sensor (MXGS) for imaging and spectral analysis of Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs) and the Modular Multi-spectral Imaging Array (MMIA) for detection, imaging and spectral analysis of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) and lightning. ASIM is the first space mission designed for simultaneous observations of TLEs, TGFs and optical lightning. During the first ten months of operation (June 2, 2018 to April 1, 2019) the MXGS has observed 217 TGFs. In this paper we report several unprecedented measurements and new scientific results obtained by ASIM during this period: 1) simultaneous TGF observations by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and ASIM MXGS revealing the very good detection capability of ASIM MXGS and showing substructures in the TGF, 2) TGFs and Elves produced during the same lightning flash and even simultaneously have been observed, 3) first imaging of TGFs giving a unique source location, 4) strong statistical support for TGFs being produced during the upward propagation of a leader just before a large current pulse heats up the channel and emits a strong optical pulse, and 5) the t50 duration of TGFs observed from space is shorter than previously reported.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
    Volume124
    Issue number24
    Pages (from-to)14024-14036
    ISSN2169-897X
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019

    Bibliographical note

    ©2019. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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