The First GECAM Observation Results on Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes and
Terrestrial Electron Beams
Abstract
Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky
Monitor (GECAM) is a space-borne instrument dedicated to monitoring
high-energy transients, thereinto Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs)
and Terrestrial Electron Beams (TEBs). We propose a TGF/TEB search
algorithm, with which 147 bright TGFs and 4 TEBs are identified during
an effective observation time of $\sim$ 9 months. We
show that, with gamma-ray and charged particle detectors, GECAM can
effectively identify and distinguish TGFs and TEBs, and measure their
temporal and spectral properties in detail. Moreover, we find an
interesting TEB consisting of two pulses with a separation of
$\sim$ 150 ms, which is expected to originate from a
lightning process near the geomagnetic footprint. We also find that the
GECAM TGF’s lightning-association ratio is $\sim$
80\% in the east Asia region using the GLD360 lightning
network, which is significantly higher than previous observations.