Gamma-ray flash from a lightning leader Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are millisecond pulses of gamma rays produced by thunderstorms. Neubert et al. observed a TGF from above, using instruments on the International Space Station. High-speed photometry in optical, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma-ray bands allowed them to determine the sequence of events that produced the TGF. Emission from an intracloud lightning leader was followed within a millisecond by the TGF. The subsequent lightning flash produced an electromagnetic pulse, which induced expanding waves of ultraviolet emission in the ionosphere above the thunderstorm, called an elve. The authors conclude that high electric fields produced within the lightning leader generated the TGF. Science, this issue p. 183 High-speed photometry shows that a terrestrial gamma-ray flash was generated by an intra-cloud lightning leader in a thunderstorm. Terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are transient gamma-ray emissions from thunderstorms, generated by electrons accelerated to relativistic energies in electric fields. Elves are ultraviolet and optical emissions excited in the lower ionosphere by electromagnetic waves radiated from lightning current pulses. We observed a TGF and an associated elve using the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor on the International Space Station. The TGF occurred at the onset of a lightning current pulse that generated an elve, in the early stage of a lightning flash. Our measurements suggest that the current onset is fast and has a high amplitude—a prerequisite for elves—and that the TGF is generated in the electric fields associated with the lightning leader.

中文翻译：

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由闪电驱动的地面伽马射线闪光和电离层紫外线发射

来自闪电先导者的伽马射线闪光 陆地伽马射线闪光 (TGF) 是雷暴产生的毫秒级伽马射线脉冲。纽伯特等人。使用国际空间站上的仪器从上方观察到 TGF。光学、紫外线、X 射线和伽马射线波段的高速测光使他们能够确定产生 TGF 的事件序列。TGF 在一毫秒内跟踪云内闪电先导的发射。随后的闪电产生了一个电磁脉冲，在雷暴上方的电离层中引起了紫外线辐射的扩展波，称为精灵。作者得出结论，闪电先导内产生的高电场产生了 TGF。科学，这个问题 p。183 高速光度测量表明，雷暴中的云内闪电先导产生了地面伽马射线闪光。地面伽马射线闪光 (TGF) 是雷暴的瞬态伽马射线发射，由在电场中加速到相对论能量的电子产生。精灵是由闪电电流脉冲辐射的电磁波在低电离层中激发的紫外线和光发射。我们使用国际空间站上的大气-空间相互作用监测器观察到了一个 TGF 和一个相关的精灵。在闪电的早期阶段，TGF 发生在产生精灵的闪电电流脉冲开始时。