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Different types of corona discharges associated with high-altitude positive Narrow Bipolar Events nearby cloud top
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  • Dongshuai Li,
  • Alejandro Luque,
  • F. J. Gordillo-Vazquez,
  • F. J. Pérez-Invernón,
  • Lasse Husbjerg,
  • Torsten Neubert,
  • Olivier Chanrion,
  • Gaopeng Lu,
  • Hongbo Zhang,
  • Jing Han,
  • Nikolai Lehtinen    ,
  • Nikolai Østgaard   ,
  • Víctor Reglero
Dongshuai Li
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Alejandro Luque
Institute for Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC)
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F. J. Gordillo-Vazquez
Institute for Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC)
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F. J. Pérez-Invernón
Institute for Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC)
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Lasse Husbjerg
National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU Space)
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Torsten Neubert
National Space Institute
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Olivier Chanrion
National Space Institute
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Gaopeng Lu
School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China
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Hongbo Zhang
Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Jing Han
Hainan Institute of Meteorological Sciences
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Nikolai Lehtinen    
University of Bergen
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Nikolai Østgaard   
University of Bergen
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Víctor Reglero
University of Valencia
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Abstract

Single- and multi-pulse blue corona discharges are frequently observed in thunderstorm clouds. Although we know they often correlate with Narrow Bipolar Events (NBEs) in Very Low Frequency/Low Frequency (VLF/LF) radio signals, their physics is not well understood. Here, we report a detailed analysis of different types of blue corona discharges observed by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) during an overpass of a thundercloud cell nearby Malaysia. Both single- and multi-pulse blue corona discharges were associated with positive NBEs at the top of the cloud, reaching about 18 km altitude. We find that the primary pulses of multi-pulse discharges have weaker current moments than the single-pulse discharges, suggesting that the multi-pulse discharges either have shorter vertical channels or have weaker currents than the single-pulse discharges. The subsequent pulse trains of the multi-pulse discharges delayed some milliseconds are likely from horizontally oriented electrical discharges, but some NBEs, correlated with both single-and multi-pulse discharges, include small-amplitude oscillations within a few microseconds inside their waveforms, which are unresolved in the optical observation and yet to be understood. Furthermore, by jointly analyzing the optical and radio observations, we estimate the photon free mean path at the cloud top to be ~ 6 m.
27 Feb 2023Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres volume 128 issue 4. 10.1029/2022JD037883