Transient Luminous Events in the Lower Part of the Atmosphere Originated in the Peripheral Regions of a Thunderstorm

We present and discuss transient luminous events (TLEs) in the lower atmosphere, observed during large disturbances of the near-surface electric fields (NSEF) and coinciding with large enhancements of the particle fluxes (thunderstorm ground enhancements-TGEs). Despite large distances from the strongest electric field region, the maximum energy of TGE particles on 22 and 25 May 2018 reaches approximate to 40 MeV. Thus, the accelerating electric field reaches approximate to 2.0 keV/cm far from the zone of the strong lightning activity on the periphery of the storm. Light glows appearing simultaneously in the skies may be due to the local charge rearrangement generating a small illuminating discharge without initiating the lightning flash. This type of charge rearrangement does not lower the potential difference in the cloud, allowing the electron accelerator to operate and send particle fluxes in the direction of the earth's surface.

Automated summary

This article presents and discusses transient luminous events (TLEs) in the lower atmosphere, which are observed during large disturbances of the near-surface electric fields (NSEF) and coincide with large enhancements of the particle fluxes (thunderstorm ground enhancements-TGEs). The study reveals that the maximum energy of TGE particles can reach a considerable value, even at large distances from the strongest electric field region.