Intensive X-ray emission bursts during thunderstorms

The intensive X-ray emission during thunderstorms was studied at a height of 3340 m above sea level. For the first time, short-time (1-5 min) bursts of X-ray emission were observed. The bursts are highly correlated over a wide space region (about 0.5 km). The main component of X-ray Emission in bursts has energies between 50-80 keV. The observed bursts could be attributed to the bremsstrahlung determined by the runaway breakdown (RB) effect in the thundercloud's electric field. Ground-based observations of RE open a wide range of opportunities for the studies of fundamental processes in thunderstorms. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.