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Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 165002 (2007) [4 pages]

Detection of High-Energy Gamma Rays from Winter Thunderclouds

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H. Tsuchiya1, T. Enoto2, S. Yamada2, T. Yuasa2, M. Kawaharada1, T. Kitaguchi2, M. Kokubun3, H. Kato1, M. Okano1, S. Nakamura4, and K. Makishima1,2
1Cosmic Radiation Laboratory, Riken, 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
2Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
3Department of High Energy Astrophysics, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, 3-1-1, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 229-8501, Japan
4Department of Physics, Tokyo University of Science, 1-3, Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan

Received 21 June 2007; published 17 October 2007

A report is made on a comprehensive observation of a burstlike γ-ray emission from thunderclouds on the Sea of Japan, during strong thunderstorms on 6 January 2007. The detected emission, lasting for ∼40  sec, preceded cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. The burst spectrum, extending to 10 MeV, can be interpreted as consisting of bremsstrahlung photons originating from relativistic electrons. This ground-based observation provides the first clear evidence that strong electric fields in thunderclouds can continuously accelerate electrons beyond 10 MeV prior to lightning discharges.

© 2007 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.165002
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.165002
PACS:
92.60.Pw, 82.33.Xj, 93.85.−q
 
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