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論文

Negative excursion of surface electric fields during gamma-ray glows in winter thunderstorms

和田 有希*; 鴨川 仁*; 久保 守*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 林 省吾*; 澤野 達也*; 米徳 大輔*; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 128(21), p.e2023JD039354_1 - e2023JD039354_20, 2023/11

 被引用回数:0 パーセンタイル:0.00(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

During the 2020-2021 winter season, we detected 6 gamma-ray glows at Kanazawa University, Japan. Negative surface electric fields (E-fields) were observed by a field mill during all the glow cases. In five of the six cases, the maximum E-field reached $$-$$12 $$mathrm{kV m}^{-1}$$, and the E-field during the glow detection was the strongest in 3 hours before and after the detection time. Therefore, negative charges should have been dominant in the thunderclouds that produced the gamma-ray glows, and electrons were probably accelerated and multiplied by the E-fields between a predominantly negative charge layer and a localized positive charge layer below. In addition, we extracted 8 non-detection cases in the 2020-2021 winter season, in which surface E-fields were stronger than $$-$$12 $$mathrm{kV m}^{-1}$$. In 5 of the 8 cases, radar echoes were inadequately developed, suggesting insufficient charge accumulation. On the other hand, the remaining 3 cases had well-developed radar echoes, and there was no significant difference from the detection cases.

論文

Termination of downward-oriented gamma-ray glow by normal-polarity in-cloud discharge activity

和田 有希*; Wu, T.*; Wang, D.*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 森本 健志*; 中村 佳敬*; 篠田 太郎*; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 128(15), p.e2023JD038606_1 - e2023JD038606_9, 2023/08

 被引用回数:1 パーセンタイル:26.21(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

A gamma-ray glow, a minute-lasting burst of high-energy photons from a thundercloud, was detected by ground-based apparatus at Kanazawa University, Japan, in a winter thunderstorm on 18 December 2018. The gamma-ray glow was quenched by a lightning flash within a brief time window of 40 ms. The lightning flash produced several low-frequency (LF) E-change pulses that were temporally coincident withthe termination of the gamma-ray glow, and that were located within 0.5 km from the observation site by the Fast Antenna Lightning Mapping Array. The LF pulses had the same polarity as a positive cloud-to-ground current and a normal-polarity in-cloud current. Since this polarity is against the upward electric field for producing the gamma-ray glow (accelerating electrons to the ground), we infer that the glow was terminated by a normal-polarity in-cloud discharge activity between a middle negative layer and an upper positive layer.

論文

Citizen science observation of a gamma-ray glow associated with the initiation of a lightning flash

鶴見 美和*; 榎戸 輝掲*; 一方井 祐子*; Wu, T.*; Wang, D.*; 篠田 太郎*; 中澤 知洋*; 辻 直樹*; Diniz, G.*; 片岡 淳*; et al.

Geophysical Research Letters, 50(13), p.e2023GL103612_1 - e2023GL103612_9, 2023/07

 被引用回数:2 パーセンタイル:47.35(Geosciences, Multidisciplinary)

Gamma-ray glows are observational evidence of relativistic electron acceleration due to the electric field in thunderclouds. However, it is yet to be understood whether such relativistic electrons contribute to the initiation of lightning discharges. To tackle this question, we started the citizen science "Thundercloud Project," where we map radiation measurements of glows from winter thunderclouds along Japan's sea coast area. We developed and deployed 58 compact gamma-ray monitors at the end of 2021. On 30 December 2021, five monitors simultaneously detected a glow with its radiation distribution horizontally extending for 2 km. The glow terminated coinciding with a lightning flash at 04:08:34 JST, which was recorded by the two radio-band lightning mapping systems, FALMA and DALMA. The initial discharges during the preliminary breakdown started above the glow, that is, in vicinity of the electron acceleration site. This result provides one example of possible connections between electron acceleration and lightning initiation.

論文

Catalog of gamma-ray glows during four winter seasons in Japan

和田 有希*; 松本 崇弘*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 古田 禄大*; 米徳 大輔*; 澤野 達哉*; 岡田 豪*; 南戸 秀仁*; et al.

Physical Review Research (Internet), 3(4), p.043117_1 - 043117_31, 2021/12

In 2015 the Gamma-Ray Observation of Winter Thunderstorms (GROWTH) collaboration launched a mapping observation campaign for high-energy atmospheric phenomena related to thunderstorms and lightning discharges. This campaign has developed a detection network of gamma rays with up to 10 radiation monitors installed in Kanazawa and Komatsu cities, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, where low-charge-center winter thunderstorms frequently occur. During four winter seasons from October 2016 to April 2020, in total 70 gamma-ray glows, minute-lasting bursts of gamma rays originating from thunderclouds, were detected. Their average duration is 58.9 sec. Among the detected events, 77% were observed in nighttime. The gamma-ray glows can be classified into temporally-symmetric, temporally-asymmetric, and lightning-terminated types based on their count-rate histories. An averaged energy spectrum of the gamma-ray glows is well fitted with a power-law function with an exponential cutoff, whose photon index, cutoff energy, and flux are 0.613 $$pm$$ 0.009, 4.68 $$pm$$ 0.04 MeV, and (1.013 $$pm$$ 0.003) $$times$$ 10$$^{-5}$$ erg cm$$^{-2}$$s$$^{-1}$$ (0.2-20.0 MeV), respectively. The present paper provides the first catalog of gamma-ray glows and their statistical analysis detected during winter thunderstorms in the Kanazawa and Komatsu areas.

論文

Multiple gamma-ray glows and a downward TGF observed from nearby thunderclouds

久富 章平*; 中澤 知洋*; 和田 有希*; 辻 結菜*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 篠田 太郎*; 森本 健志*; 中村 佳敬*; 湯浅 孝行*; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 126(18), p.e2021JD034543_1 - e2021JD034543_12, 2021/09

 被引用回数:16 パーセンタイル:74.16(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

Around 17:00 on January 12, 2020 (UTC), radiation detectors installed at two locations with a 1.35 km separation in Kanazawa City, Japan, captured a total of four gamma-ray enhancements. The first pair was simultaneously observed at the two locations at 17:03 and were abruptly terminated by a lightning discharge. The remaining two enhancements were also nearly simultaneously observed $$sim$$3 min later, and one of them was also terminated by another lightning discharge. At the last termination, a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash and a negative energetic in-cloud pulse were observed. Both pairs were associated with thundercloud cells. In the first pair, simultaneous detection in two locations 1.35 km apart suggests either a gamma-ray glow emerged in-between and time variability of its intensity were directly observed or there were two (or more) gamma-ray glows in the cell which reached the two detectors coincidentally. In the latter pair, the peak time in the downwind detector was $$sim$$40 s later than that of the upwind detector. If the irradiation region moved with the cell, it would have taken $$sim$$110 s. The discrepancy suggests either the glow moved 2.5 times faster than the cell or there were two (or more) glows in the cell. Also, the fact that the thunderstorm cell hosting the latter glows experienced the lightning discharge $$sim$$3 min before suggests that the strong electric field in the cell can develop within a few minutes.

論文

Gamma-ray observations at the coastal area of Japan Sea in winter seasons

土屋 晴文; 榎戸 輝揚*; 和田 有希*; 古田 禄大; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 楳本 大悟*; 牧島 一夫*; GROWTH Collaboration*

Proceedings of Science (Internet), 358, p.1163_1 - 1163_6, 2021/07

Since 2006, the GROWTH experiment has been successfully operating at the coastal area of Japan Sea. The GROWTH experiment aims at elucidating how particles in lightning and thunderclouds are accelerated to relativistic energies to produce gamma rays and occasionally neutrons. According to observations done by the GROWTH experiment, it is found that there are two types of radiation bursts associated with winter thunderstorms. One is long bursts lasting for a few tens of seconds to a few minutes, being not clearly related to lightning. The other is short bursts in association with lightning. To better understand the production mechanism of these radiation bursts, we have developed a small-type of radiation detectors and increased observational points with the new detectors. In this presentation, we show an overview of observations done by the GROWTH experiment. Then we focus on recent several findings observed by the new detectors. One, which is categorized into long bursts, implies a relationship between a long burst and an intra/inter-cloud discharge. Another is a combination of short bursts and long ones, showing simultaneous detections of prompt gamma rays extending up to 10 MeV and the 511-keV annihilation ones. These gamma-ray signals demonstrate the occurrence of photonuclear reactions in lightning. Based on these results, we discuss the production mechanism of gamma rays related to thunderstorms.

論文

Meteorological aspects of gamma-ray glows in winter thunderstorms

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 久保 守*; 中澤 知洋*; 篠田 太郎*; 米徳 大輔*; 澤野 達哉*; 湯浅 孝行*; 牛尾 知雄*; 佐藤 陽祐*; et al.

Geophysical Research Letters, 48(7), 11 Pages, 2021/04

 被引用回数:20 パーセンタイル:85.25(Geosciences, Multidisciplinary)

graupels

論文

Photonuclear reactions in lightning, 2; Comparison between observation and simulation model

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 古田 禄大; 小高 裕和*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 125(20), p.e2020JD033194_1 - e2020JD033194_15, 2020/10

 被引用回数:2 パーセンタイル:7.97(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

During a winter thunderstorm on 6th February 2017 in Japan, photonuclear reactions such as $$^{14}$$N($$gamma,n$$)$$^{13}$$N were triggered by a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), as reported by Enoto et al. (2017). In the present paper, we compare the observation with a simulation model of downward TGFs and subsequent photonuclear reactions constructed by the first paper of the series and Wada, Enoto, Nakazawa, et al. (2019). The observation and model consist of three components: annihilation gamma rays from positrons produced by $$beta^+$$-decay nuclei, de-excitation gamma rays originating from neutron captures, and radiation doses by TGF photons. Each component of the observation is reproduced by the simulation model, and we constrain a relation between the number of avalanche electrons and their production altitude of the downward TGF. The constrains by three components match within an order of magnitude. The downward TGF is estimated to comprise $$(0.5-2.5) times$$ 10$$^{19}$$ avalanche electrons above 1 MeV produced at an altitude of 1.4-2.7 km. Despite differences in altitude, direction, and season, downward TGFs in winter thunderstorms are thought to have the same mechanism of electron acceleration and multiplication in lightning as TGFs observed by in-orbit satellites.

論文

Photonuclear reactions in lightning, 1; Verification and modeling of reaction and propagation processes

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 小高 裕和*; 古田 禄大; 土屋 晴文

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 125(20), p.e2020JD033193_1 - e2020JD033193_17, 2020/10

 被引用回数:3 パーセンタイル:12.78(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

We report simulation results of photonuclear reactions in the atmosphere triggered by a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash in lightning. Possible channels of reactions in the atmosphere and their cross sections are verified with the ENDF/B-VII.1 library. Monte-Carlo simulations with two stages are then performed with the Geant4 framework. In the first stage, electrons following the relativistic runaway electron avalanche spectrum are produced in a mass model of the atmosphere, and production of photoneutrons and $$beta^{+}$$-decay nuclei is calculated based on the nuclear data library. In total 1$$times$$$$10^{13}$$ neutrons and 4$$times$$$$10^{12}$$ $$beta^{+}$$-decay nuclei are produced by $$10^{18}$$ energetic electrons above 1 MeV. In the second stage, propagation of the photoneutrons and positrons from the $$beta^{+}$$-decay nuclei in the previous stage is calculated. As a result, we model on-ground distributions of fluxes and energy spectra for neutrons, neutron-related gamma rays, and annihilation ones. The simulation model is to be compared with photonuclear events detected in low-charge-center winter thunderstorms.

論文

Thundercloud project; Exploring high-energy phenomena in thundercloud and lightning

湯浅 孝行*; 和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 古田 禄大; 土屋 晴文; 久富 章平*; 辻 結菜*; 奥田 和史*; 松元 崇弘*; 中澤 知洋*; et al.

Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physics (Internet), 2020(10), p.103H01_1 - 103H01_27, 2020/10

 被引用回数:14 パーセンタイル:70.11(Physics, Multidisciplinary)

We designed, developed, and deployed a distributed sensor network aiming at observing high-energy ionizing radiation, primarily gamma rays, from winter thunderclouds and lightning in coastal areas of Japan. Starting in 2015, we have installed, in total, more than 15 units of ground-based detector system in Ishikawa Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture, and accumulated 551 days of observation time in four winter seasons from late 2015 to early 2019. In this period, our system recorded 51 gamma-ray radiation events from thundercloud and lightning. Highlights of science results obtained from this unprecedented amount of data include the discovery of photonuclear reaction in lightning which produces neutrons and positrons along with gamma rays, and deeper insights into the life cycle of a particle-acceleration and gamma-ray-emitting region in a thunder-cloud. The present paper reviews objective, methodology, and results of our experiment, with a stress on its instrumentation.

論文

Photoneutron detection in lightning by gadolinium orthosilicate scintillators

和田 有希*; 中澤 知洋*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Physical Review D, 101(10), p.102007_1 - 102007_6, 2020/05

 被引用回数:2 パーセンタイル:13.90(Astronomy & Astrophysics)

During a winter thunderstorm on November 24, 2017, a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash took place and triggered photonuclear reactions with atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen nuclei, coincident with a lightning discharge at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Japan. We directly detected neutrons produced by the photonuclear reactions with gadolinium orthosilicate scintillation crystals installed at sea level. Two gadolinium isotopes included in the scintillation crystals, $$^{155}$$Gd and $$^{157}$$Gd, have large cross sections of neutron captures to thermal neutrons such as $$^{155}$$Gd(n,$$gamma$$)$$^{156}$$Gd and $$^{157}$$Gd(n,$$gamma$$)$$^{158}$$Gd. De-excitation gamma rays from $$^{156}$$Gd and $$^{158}$$Gd are self-absorbed in the scintillation crystals, and make spectral-line features which can be distinguished from other non-neutron signals. The neutron burst lasted for $$sim$$100 ms, and neutron fluences are estimated to be $$>$$ 58 and $$>$$ 31 neutrons cm$$^{-2}$$ at two observation points at the power plant. Gadolinium orthosilicate scintillators work as valid detectors for thermal neutrons in lightning.

論文

High peak-current lightning discharges associated with downward terrestrial gamma-ray flashes

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中村 佳敬*; 森本 健志*; 佐藤 光輝*; 牛尾 知雄*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 米徳 大輔*; 澤野 達也*; et al.

Journal of Geophysical Research; Atmospheres, 125(4), p.e2019JD031730_1 - e2019JD031730_11, 2020/02

 被引用回数:23 パーセンタイル:77.71(Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences)

During 2017-2018 winter operation of the Gamma-Ray Observation of Winter Thunderclouds experiment in Japan, two downward terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) that triggered atmospheric photonuclear reactions were detected. They took place during winter thunderstorms on 5 December 2017 and 9 January 2018 at Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Each event coincided with an intracloud/intercloud discharge, which had a negative-polarity peak current higher than 150 kA. Their radio waveforms in the low-frequency band are categorized as a distinct lightning type called energetic in-cloud pulse (EIP). Negative-polarity EIPs have been previously suggested to be highly associated with downward TGFs, and the present observations provide evidence of the correlation between them for the first time. Furthermore, both of the downward TGFs followed gamma-ray glows, minute-lasting high-energy emissions from thunderclouds. It is suggested that the negative EIPs took place with downward propagating negative leaders or upward positive ones developed in highly electrified regions responsible for the gamma-ray glows.

論文

Downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash observed in a winter thunderstorm

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 中村 佳敬*; 森本 健志*; 松元 崇弘*; 牧島 一夫*; 土屋 晴文

Physical Review Letters, 123(6), p.061103_1 - 061103_6, 2019/08

AA2018-0706.pdf:0.79MB

 被引用回数:34 パーセンタイル:86.83(Physics, Multidisciplinary)

During a winter thunderstorm on 2017 November 24, a strong burst of gamma-rays with energies up to $$sim$$10 MeV was detected coincident with a lightning discharge, by scintillation detectors installed at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant at sea level in Japan. The burst had a sub-second duration, which is suggestive of photoneutron productions. The leading part of the burst was resolved into four intense gamma-ray bunches, each coincident with a low-frequency radio pulse. These bunches were separated by 0.7$$-$$1.5 ms, with a duration of $$<$$1 ms each. Thus, the present burst may be considered as a "downward" terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), which is analogous to up-going TGFs observed from space. Although the scintillation detectors were heavily saturated by these bunches, the total dose associated with them was successfully measured by ionization chambers, employed by nine monitoring posts surrounding the power plant. From this information and Monte Carlo simulations, the present downward TGF is suggested to have taken place at an altitude of 2500$$pm$$500 m, involving $$8^{+8}_{-4} times10^{18}$$ avalanche electrons with energies above 1 MeV which is comparable to those in up-going TGFs.

論文

Gamma-ray glow preceding downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash

和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中村 佳敬*; 古田 禄大; 湯浅 孝行*; 中澤 知洋*; 森本 健志*; 佐藤 光輝*; 松元 崇弘*; 米徳 大輔*; et al.

Communications Physics (Internet), 2(1), p.67_1 - 67_9, 2019/06

 被引用回数:51 パーセンタイル:92.33(Physics, Multidisciplinary)

Two types of high-energy events have been detected from thunderstorms. One is "terrestrial gamma-ray flashes" (TGFs), sub-millisecond emissions coinciding with lightning discharges. The other is minute-lasting "gamma-ray glows". Although both phenomena are thought to originate from relativistic runaway electron avalanches in strong electric fields, the connection between them is not well understood. Here we report unequivocal simultaneous detection of a gamma-ray glow termination and a downward TGF, observed from the ground. During a winter thunderstorm in Japan on 9 January 2018, our detectors caught a gamma-ray glow, which moved for $$/sim$$ 100 s with ambient wind, and then abruptly ceased with a lightning discharge. Simultaneously, the detectors observed photonuclear reactions triggered by a downward TGF, whose radio pulse was located within $$sim$$ 1 km from where the glow ceased. It is suggested that the highly-electrified region producing the glow was related to the initiation of the downward TGF.

論文

雷放電が拓く高エネルギー大気物理学

榎戸 輝揚*; 和田 有希*; 土屋 晴文

日本物理学会誌, 74(4), p.192 - 200, 2019/04

近年、日本海沿岸にある原子力発電所や自治体がもつ放射線モニタリングポストにより、冬に発生する雷や雷雲の接近に伴い、高エネルギーの放射線の増大が観測されていた。この増大の正体を明かすために、日本海沿岸に位置する柏崎刈羽原子力発電所構内に新型の検出器を設置し、2006年から観測を実施している。また2015年には安価で小型な観測装置を開発し、金沢市や小松市などにも観測拠点を構築してきた。そうした10年以上にわたる観測の結果、雷や雷雲が電子を相対論的なエネルギーに加速できる天然の粒子加速器であることを観測的に実証するとともに、雷が光核反応を引き起こし、中性子や陽電子の発生にも寄与しているという驚くべき事実も明らかにしてきた。こうした放射線観測は、従来の光や電波観測からだけではわからなかった、雷や雷雲が高エネルギー物理現象の現場であるという側面を浮かび上がらせた。本稿では、我々が得た観測結果を解説するとともに、古典的な可視光から電波の観測のみならず、X線や$$gamma$$線の観測、宇宙線,原子核物理や大気化学に広がる「雷雲や雷の高エネルギー大気物理学」という新しい学際分野を紹介する。

論文

Termination of electron acceleration in thundercloud by intracloud/intercloud discharge

和田 有希*; Bowers, G. S.*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 鴨川 仁*; 中村 佳敬*; 森本 健志*; Smith, D.*; 古田 禄大*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; et al.

Geophysical Research Letters, 45(11), p.5700 - 5707, 2018/06

 被引用回数:30 パーセンタイル:78.60(Geosciences, Multidisciplinary)

An on-ground observation program for high energy atmospheric phenomena in winter thunderstorms along Japan Sea has been performed via lightning measurements of $$gamma$$-ray radiation, atmospheric electric field and low-frequency radio band. On February 11, 2017, the radiation detectors recorded $$gamma$$-ray emission lasting for 75 sec. The $$gamma$$-ray spectrum extended up to 20 MeV and was reproduced by a cutoff power-law model with a photon index of 1.36$$^{+0.03}_{-0.04}$$, being consistent with a Bremsstrahlung radiation from a thundercloud (as known as a $$gamma$$-ray glow). Then the $$gamma$$-ray glow was abruptly terminated with a nearby lightning discharge. The low-frequency radio monitors, installed $$sim$$50 km away from Noto School, recorded intra/inter-cloud discharges spreading over $$sim$$60km area with a $$sim$$300 ms duration. The timing of the $$gamma$$-ray termination coincided with the moment when a sequence of intra/inter-cloud discharges passed 0.7 km horizontally away from the radiation monitors. The atmospheric electric-field measurement presented that negative charge was located in the cloud base and not neutralized by the lightning discharge. This indicates that the $$gamma$$-ray source was located at an higher region than the cloud base.

論文

Photonuclear reactions triggered by lightning discharge

榎戸 輝揚*; 和田 有希*; 古田 禄大*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 奥田 和史*; 牧島 一夫*; 佐藤 光輝*; 佐藤 陽祐*; 中野 俊男*; et al.

Nature, 551(7681), p.481 - 484, 2017/11

 被引用回数:122 パーセンタイル:97.38(Multidisciplinary Sciences)

Relativistic electrons accelerated by electric fields of lightnings and thunderclouds emit bremsstrahlung $$gamma$$ rays, which have been detected at ground observations. The energy of the $$gamma$$ rays is sufficiently high to potentially invoke atmospheric photonuclear reactions $$^{14}$$N($$gamma$$, n)$$^{13}$$N, which would produce neutrons and eventually positrons via $$beta^{+}$$ decay of generated unstable radioactive isotopes, especially $$^{13}$$N. However, no clear observational evidence for the reaction has been reported to date. Here we report the first detection of neutron and positron signals from lightning with a ground observation. During a thunderstorm on 6 February 2017 in Japan, an intense $$gamma$$-ray flash ($$<$$1 ms) was detected at our monitoring sites. The subsequent initial burst quickly subsided with an exponential decay constant of 40-60 ms, followed by a prolonged line emission at $$sim$$0.511MeV, lasting for a minute. The observed decay timescale and spectral cutoff at $$sim$$10 MeV of the initial emission are well explained with de-excitation $$gamma$$ rays from the nuclei excited by neutron capture. The centre energy of the prolonged line emission corresponds to the electron-positron annihilation, and hence is the conclusive indication of positrons produced after the lightning. Our detection of neutrons and positrons is unequivocal evidence that natural lightning triggers photonuclear reactions.

論文

Observation of an energetic radiation burst from mountain-top thunderclouds

土屋 晴文*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 鳥居 建男; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 鳥井 俊輔*; 福山 太郎*; 山口 貴弘*; 加藤 博*; 岡野 眞治*; et al.

Physical Review Letters, 102(25), p.255003_1 - 255003_4, 2009/06

 被引用回数:72 パーセンタイル:90.41(Physics, Multidisciplinary)

2008年9月20日に標高2770mの乗鞍観測所において$$gamma$$線と電子が同時に検出された。これらの放出は、雷雲活動によるもの考えられ90秒続いた。$$gamma$$線のエネルギーは10MeVに達し、距離60$$sim$$130mにある線源からの制動放射線によるものと推定された。電子は、雷雲中での加速によって生成されたものと考えられる。

口頭

日本海沿岸における冬の雷や雷雲に伴う放射線観測

土屋 晴文; 榎戸 輝揚*; 和田 有希*; 古田 禄大*; 中澤 知洋*; 湯浅 孝行*; 奥田 和史*; 牧島 一夫*; 佐藤 光輝*; 佐藤 陽祐*; et al.

no journal, , 

日本海沿岸地域にある原子力発電所や自治体が持つモニタリングポストにより、冬の雷の発生や雷雲の通過に伴った3MeV以上の高エネルギー放射線量の増大が観測されていた。こうした放射線は、雷や雷雲がもつ電場によって加速された電子の制動放射$$gamma$$線であると考えられている。また、近年、雷や雷雲に付随して中性子や陽電子の信号を捉えたという報告もあった。これは、制動放射だけではなく様々な高エネルギー反応が雷や雷雲の中で起こっている可能性を示唆しており、活発な議論がなされている。本発表では、現在までに原子力センシング研究グループが観測したロングバーストと呼ばれる雷雲の通過に伴って放射線量が数分ほど増大する事象と、雷に同期して発生する継続時間が1秒以下のショートバーストの観測結果について報告する。特に、2017年2月の落雷に伴って発生したショートバーストでは、雷が光核反応を誘発し、中性子, 陽電子および酸素や炭素の放射性同位体を生成した実験的な証拠を初めて確認することに成功した。本発表では、それらの生成メカニズムについても議論する。

口頭

Observation of a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash and the flash-induced neutrons

土屋 晴文; 和田 有希*; 榎戸 輝揚*; 中澤 知洋*

no journal, , 

Gamma Ray Observation of Winter Thundercloud (GROWTH) has been operating at the coastal area of the Japan sea since 2006. The area is famous for its frequent thunderstorms in winter seasons. GROWTH aims at elucidating how electrons are accelerated to relativistic energies inside lightning and thunderclouds. To this end, we installed newly developed radiation systems at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant to observe bremsstrahlung photons and neutrons that originate from the accelerated electrons. The radiation systems have bismuth germanate (BGO) scintillation detectors and gadolinium orthosilicate (GSO) scintillation detectors. During a winter thunderstorm on 24 November 2017, a lightning discharge occurred near the power plant and caused a downward terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF) emitted from electrons through the bremsstrahlung process. Observations by the radiation systems showed that the TGF lasts for $$<$$10 ms and extends to around 10 MeV. The TGF was so intense that the BGO detectors were saturated during the main part of the flash. However, using the BGO data and data obtained from ionization chambers of monitoring posts at the power plant, we evaluated the total dose of the TGF and the number of $$>$$1 MeV electrons responsible for the TGF. The evaluated number of $$>$$1 MeV electrons, $$sim10^{18}$$ was consistent with that for a TGF frequently observed with space detectors. This implies that the production mechanism of TGFs detected on the ground is the same as or similar to that observed in space. In addition, the GSO detectors caught neutrons for $$sim50$$ ms after the lightning. The subsequent neutrons are thought to be generated via photonuclear reactions with atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen nuclei. These observations indicate that electrons are accelerated to at least 10 MeV in lightning. In this presentation, we discuss the production processes of the intense downward TGF and the subsequent neutrons.

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