Joint radio and optical observations of the most radio-powerful intracloud lightning discharges

The most radio-powerful intracloud lightning emissions are associated with a phenomenon variously called "narrow bipolar events" or "compact intracloud discharges". This article examines in detail the coincidence and timing relationship between, on the one hand, the most radio-powerful intracloud lightning events and, on the other hand, optical outputs (or lack thereof) of the same discharge process. This is done, first, using coordinated very high frequency (VHF) and optical observations from the FORTE satellite and, second, using coordinated sferic and all-sky optical observations from the Los Alamos Sferic Array. In both cases, it is found that the sought coincidences are exceedingly rare. Moreover, in the handful of coincidences between optical and intense radio emissions that have been identified, the radio emissions differ from their usual behavior, by being accompanied by approximately simultaneous "conventional" lightning radio emissions. It is implied that the most radio-powerful intracloud emission process essentially differs from ordinary incandescent lightning.

Jet-cloud Interaction in the Nuclear Region of NGC 1068

We examine the innermost 100 parsec scale region of the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068 using a high spatial resolution X-ray image obtained with the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which allows comparison between X-ray emission clumps, optical narrow line ([OIII]) clouds and sub-arcsecond scale radio jet. Based on the combined X-ray, [OIII], and radio continuum morphology, we identify the locations of intense radio jet-cloud interaction. The [OIII] to soft X-ray ratios show that some of these clouds are strongly affected by shock heating. We estimate that the kinematic luminosity of the jet-driven shocks is 6 × 1038 erg s−1.

Revisiting "Narrow Bipolar Event" intracloud lightning using the FORTE satellite

The lightning stroke called a "Narrow Bipolar Event", or NBE, is an intracloud discharge responsible for significant charge redistribution. The NBE occurs within 10–20 μs, and some associated process emits irregular bursts of intense radio noise, fading at shorter timescales, sporadically during the charge transfer. In previous reports, the NBE has been inferred to be quite different from other forms of lightning strokes, in two ways: First, the NBE has been inferred to be relatively dark (non-luminous) compared to other lightning strokes. Second, the NBE has been inferred to be isolated within the storm, usually not participating in flashes, but when it is in a flash, the NBE has been inferred to be the flash initiator. These two inferences have sufficiently stark implications for NBE physics that they should be subjected to further independent test, with improved statistics. We attempt such a test with both optical and radio data from the FORTE satellite, and with lightning-stroke data from the Los Alamos Sferic Array. We show rigorously that by the metric of triggering the PDD optical photometer aboard the FORTE satellite, NBE discharges are indeed less luminous than ordinary lightning. Referred to an effective isotropic emitter at the cloud top, NBE light output is inferred to be less than ~3 × 108 W. To address isolation of NBEs, we first expand the pool of geolocated intracloud radio recordings, by borrowing geolocations from either the same flash's or the same storm's other recordings. In this manner we generate a pool of ~2 × 105 unique and independent FORTE intracloud radio recordings, whose slant range from the satellite can be inferred. We then use this slant range to calculate the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) at the radio source, in the passband 26–49 MHz. Stratifying the radio recordings by ERP into eight bins, from a lowest bin (<5 kW) to a highest bin (>140 kW), we document a trend for the radio recordings to become more isolated in time as the ERP increases. The highest ERP bin corresponds to the intracloud emissions associated with NBEs. At the highest ERP, the only significant probability of temporal neighbors is during times following the high-ERP events. In other words, when participating in a flash, the high-ERP emissions occur at the apparent flash initiation.

Observations of multi-microsecond VHF pulsetrains in energetic intracloud lightning discharges

Certain intracloud lightning discharges emit energetic, multi-microsecond pulsetrains of radio noise. Observations of this distinctive form of lightning date from 1980 and have involved both ground-based and satellite-based radio recording systems. The underlying intracloud lightning discharges have been referred to as "Narrow Bipolar Pulses", "Narrow Bipolar Events", and "Compact Intracloud Discharges". An important discriminant for this species of radio emission is that, in the range above ~30 MHz, it consists of several microseconds of intense radio noise. When the intracloud emission is viewed from a satellite, each radio pulsetrain is received both from a direct lightning-to-satellite path, and after some delay, from a path via ground. Thus one recording of the radio emission, if of sufficient length, contains the "view" of the intracloud emission from two different angles. One view is of radiation exiting the emitter into the upper hemisphere, the other for radiation exiting into the lower hemisphere. However, the propagation conditions are similar, except that one path includes a ground reflection, while the other does not. One would normally expect a stereoscopic double view of the "same" emission process to provide two almost congruent time series, one delayed from the other, and also differing due to the different propagation effects along the two signal paths, namely, the ground reflection. We present somewhat unexpected results on this matter, using recordings from the FORTE satellite at a passband 118–141 MHz, with simultaneous data at 26–49 MHz. We find that the 118–141 MHz pulsetrain's detailed time-dependence is completely uncorrelated between the two views of the process. We examine statistics of the 118–141 MHz pulsetrain's integrated power and show that the power emitted into the lower hemisphere, on average, exceeds the power emitted into the upper hemisphere. Finally, we examine statistical measures of the amplitude distribution and show that the 118–141 MHz signal emitted downward is slightly more dominated by discrete, temporally-narrow impulses than is the signal emitted upward.