Probing Atmospheric Electric Fields in Thunderstorms through Radio Emission from Cosmic-Ray-Induced Air Showers

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how radio emissions from cosmic-ray air showers during thunderstorms can be used to probe atmospheric electric fields, revealing significant differences from fair-weather conditions and validating a simple two-layer model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to study atmospheric electric fields using radio emission patterns from cosmic-ray air showers during thunderstorms.

Findings

Radio emission patterns differ significantly during thunderstorms.

A two-layer atmospheric electric field model reproduces observed patterns.

The method offers a new way to investigate atmospheric electric fields.

Abstract

We present measurements of radio emission from cosmic ray air showers that took place during thunderstorms. The intensity and polarization patterns of these air showers are radically different from those measured during fair-weather conditions. With the use of a simple two-layer model for the atmospheric electric field, these patterns can be well reproduced by state-of-the-art simulation codes. This in turn provides a novel way to study atmospheric electric fields.