Journal of Atmospheric and Solar–Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920

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Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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Estimate of the source parameters of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes observed

at low-Earth-orbit satellites
Vadim Surkov a, b, Vyacheslav Pilipenko b, c, *
a
Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere, and Radio Wave Propagation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Troitsk, 108840, Russia
b
Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123995, Russia
c
Space Research Institute, Moscow, 117997, Russia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A special attention has been paid in the past decades to studies of terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) observed
Terrestrial gamma-ray flash above active thunderstorms. The physical mechanism of the TGF generation and its source location in the at­
Atmospheric electric discharge mosphere have not been firmly established. A numerical modelling, such as Monte Carlo simulation, is
Runaway electrons
commonly used to analyze the problem having regard to the complexity of basic electrodynamic and transport
Bremsstrahlung
equations. Here, in contrast to previous numerical studies, we have constructed a suitably idealized analytical
model of a point source of gamma-rays in a vertically inhomogeneous atmosphere. An energy-distribution of
gamma photons is assumed to be determined by the energy spectrum of electron bremsstrahlung resulted from
the relativistic runaway electron avalanche in a strong electric field. The absorption of photon energy due to
photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and the electron-positron pair production have been accounted for
approximately with an effective coefficient of energy absorption. A photon mean free path in the atmosphere is
assumed to be dependent on its energy and altitude. A spatiotemporal distribution of gamma-ray flux density and
photon fluence at a low-Earth orbit (LEO) are estimated as functions of the TGF source altitude, total number of
photons emitted by the source, and other parameters. The model matches the LEO observations indicating that
the TGF source is located at an altitude about 10 − 14 km. The same model can be applied for the description of
the recently found downward-directed TGF detected by the large-area Telescope Array cosmic ray observatory.

1. Introduction flash is about F = 0.1 − 1 photon/cm2 which corresponds to the total

Since their discovery (Fishman et al., 1994) the brief bursts of
upward-directed X-ray and gamma-ray radiation termed as terrestrial
gamma-ray flashes (TGFs) are of a special interest for atmospheric
electricity. TGFs were first observed above active electric storms and
thunderclouds by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE)
onboard the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory. These studies were
continued by other space missions, e.g. the Atmosphere-Space In­
teractions Monitor (ASIM) which was mounted at the International
Space Station (Neubert et al., 2019; Østgaard et al., 2019a, 2019b; Sarria
et al., 2020). TGFs consist of one or more pulses lasting typically from
tens to few hundreds of μsecs (Gjesteland et al., 2010; Østgaard et al.,
2019b). The photon energy spectrum of the TGFs typically extends from
∼ 25 keV to ∼ 30 − 40 MeV (Smith et al., 2005; Briggs et al., 2010;
Marisaldi et al., 2010). Analysis of data gathered by low-Earth-orbit
(LEO) satellites showed that the mean fluence of an individual TGF
energy ∼ 1 − 102 kJ and photon number ∼ 1017 − 1019 photons per
flash (Carlson et al., 2007; Gjesteland et al., 2015).
It is now commonly accepted that these high-energy photon beams
arise from the bremsstrahlung of relativistic electrons in the atmosphere.
The electron production at time scales of μsecs is assumed to be caused
by the development of relativistic runaway electron avalanche (RREA)
in a strong electric field (Gurevich, 1961; Gurevich et al., 1992). The
analytical study of the high energy electron interaction with air mole­
cules leads to complicated expressions for angular distribution of
bremsstrahlung photons depending of their energies. However, if the
relativistic electrons occur within a thundercloud, the emitted brems­
strahlung photons are mainly released in forward direction (Köhn and
Ebert, 2014). The seed population of relativistic electrons required to
start the RREA process can arise from cosmic ray scattering in the at­
mosphere followed by the generation of high-energy electrons, which in
turn can be accelerated to relativistic energies in the large-scale

* Corresponding author. Institute of Physics of the Earth, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123995, Russia.
E-mail address: space.soliton@gmail.com (V. Pilipenko).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2022.105920
Received 27 January 2022; Received in revised form 28 June 2022; Accepted 5 July 2022
Available online 14 July 2022
1364-6826/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko
quasi-electrostatic (QE) field of a thunderstorm (Gurevich and Zybin,
2001; Dwyer, 2003; Babich et al., 2005). According to other assumption,
the seed runaway electrons arise due to acceleration of low-energy
electrons in the strong inhomogeneous electric field existed in the vi­
cinity of lightning leader tip (Babich, 2003; Babich et al., 2015; Dwyer
et al., 2005; Moss et al., 2006; Carlson et al., 2010; Celestin and Pasko,
2011; Xu et al., 2012; Skeltved et al., 2017; Köhn et al., 2020a, b; Smith
et al., 2020). Recent ASIM observations of the TGFs simultaneously with
optical emissions from associated lightning flashes showed that the
majority of TGFs arose at the onset of a large optical pulses (Heumesser
et al., 2021). These observations supported the assumption that the TGFs
occurred close to the initiation time of the lightning leader current.
Additionally, the electron-positron pair production by collision of
high-energy gamma photons with neutrals as well as the photon back­
scattering can make an additional contribution to the RREA mechanism
of the TGF generation (Dwyer, 2008). In this mechanism, the positrons
and a portion of the scattered photons go back in the direction of the
electric field thereby producing additional air ionization and a new
population of seed electrons. This feedback mechanism can be operative
both in the large-scale QE field of thunderstorm and in the strong electric
field around the leader tip.
Understanding of the TGF mechanism demands the knowledge of the
seed electron production, and the origin of electric field accelerating the
electrons up to relativistic energies. To answer these questions, it is
critically important to identify the TGF source position in the atmo­
sphere. The most probable TGF source is assumed to be the intra cloud
(IC) lightning leader carrying a negative charge upward (Cummer et al.,
2005, 2011, 2015; Stanley et al., 2006; Williams et al., 2006; Lu et al.,
2010; Shao et al., 2010; Mailyan et al., 2016). This kind of IC lightning
discharges frequently occur in powerful thunderstorm clouds in the
range of altitudes 5 − 20 km. The simultaneous measurements of TGFs
by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and lightning radio emis­
sions from lightning mapping arrays (LMAs) and Duke low frequency
(LF) magnetic field sensors have shown that TGFs can be associated with
both slow and isolated LF pulses (Cummer et al., 2011). Also, TGFs can
be associated with energetic in-cloud pulse (EIP) (Lyu et al., 2015, 2016,
2018; Tilles et al., 2020) with peak current up to 441 kA as reported by
National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN). The onset time and
location of IC lightning are usually determined from VLF/LF electric
field observations since the IC optical observations still do not have a
sufficiently high spatio-temporal resolution (Hazelton et al., 2009;
Gjesteland et al., 2011; Iudin et al., 2018; Marisaldi et al., 2019).
Cummer et al. (2014, 2015) reported that a portion of TGFs emerged
several msecs after the onset of radio signals produced by upward
propagating IC leader. At the same time, Østgaard et al. (2019b) showed
that the onset time of TGFs often preceded the onset of the lightning
optical emission by 250 − 400 μsecs. Based on these measurements they
claimed that the source of the TGF-associated radio signals and optical
emissions can be located in a thundercloud at altitudes of about 10− 15
km.
For the time being, most theoretical studies are based on numerical
modelling of TGF, because the corresponding differential equations
describing the development of RREA in the electric field of the lightning
leader are too complicated for an exact analytical solution (Lehtinen
et al., 1997, 1999; Dwyer and Smith, 2005; Carlson et al., 2007;
Østgaard et al., 2008; Xu et al., 2012; Skeltved et al., 2014; Sarria et al.,
2018). A comparison between Monte Carlo numerical simulations of
runaway breakdown and the results of TGF observations makes it
possible to estimate both the source altitude and angular distribution of
the emitted gamma photons. These simulations were consistent with
satellite observations, if the TGF source was supposed to be located at
altitudes ~ 12 − 15 km depending on the total number of emitted
photons (Dwyer and Smith, 2005; Carlson et al., 2007; Hansen et al.,
2013; Köhn et al., 2020b). Nonetheless, the availability of analytical,
though approximate, model would advance the understanding of
physical mechanisms involved and indicate the key parameters.
2
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920
One of the main goals of this study is to derive approximate
analytical relationships that describe some features of the TGF-
associated gamma-ray flux at LEO as a function of both the TGF
source height and the angular distribution of gamma-ray flux in the
atmosphere. The presented theoretical model considers that the photon
energy spectrum is mainly determined by the bremsstrahlung of rela­
tivistic electrons, whereas the effective mean free path of photons is a
function of their energy and source altitude. The model gives a possi­
bility to relate different parameters of the TGF process and can be used
to interpret some observational results.
2. Basic equations and solution of the problem
The propagation of photons emitted by TGFs is accompanied by their
absorption and scattering in air. For energies of interest here, the energy
losses of primary photons are mainly due to the photoelectric effect, the
Compton scattering, and the electron-positron pair production by
photon collisions. Ultimately, the energy lost by photons is spent on
ionization and optical excitation of atoms and molecules of the air.
However, a portion of this energy is converted back into photon energy
because of the secondary radiation such as fluorescence owing to pho­
toeffect, positron annihilation, and secondary bremsstrahlung of recoil
electrons (Leipunsky, 1959). Other photon interactions with matter such
as coherent scattering, nuclear photoeffect, nuclear scattering, etc. are
not so important and thus can be neglected.
The simplest, spherically symmetric, model for the propagation of
gamma photons assumes that an isotropic point source of mono­
chromatic gamma radiation is located in a homogeneous medium.
Therefore, the distribution of radiation intensity depends only on the
distance r to the source. The intensity of direct radiation I0 , that enters
from the source to the radiation receiver, without experiencing scat­
tering, decreases with distance according to the law: I0 (r)∝exp( −
μ0 r) /r2 , where μ0 is the energy absorption coefficient of gamma pho­
tons, depending on their energy and the medium density. In reality, the
scattered and secondary radiation is added to the direct radiation flux,
which differ from direct radiation both in spectral composition and in
the direction of radiation. The total intensity of real radiation decreases
with distance more slowly than I0 (r), since a part of the photons of
scattered and secondary radiation will be added to the photons of direct
radiation. In an inhomogeneous medium, additional difficulties arise
due to the fact that the coefficient μ0 depends on the density of the
medium.
For a given initial gamma photon energy E, the differential cross
section dσ /dE of energies E of Compton scattered photons decreases
′ ′
sharply with energy E ; that is, the differential cross section is largest for
′
small photon energies after scattering (Köhn and Ebert, 2015). This
means that during Compton scattering the largest part of the gamma
photon energy is transferred onto kinetic energy of electrons. In some
sense, the Compton scattering is equivalent to the absorption gamma
photon energy because this results in the removal of these gamma
photons from further consideration. These arguments may justify the
assumption that the Compton scattering can be described in terms of the
energy absorption coefficient of gamma photons.
To obtain a real value of the intensity of gamma radiation the build-
factor is often used - this is a magnitude that enables one to correct the
model of exponential attenuation of photons. To calculate the build-
factor, numerical methods based on the Monte Carlo modelling are
usually used (e.g., Hernández et al., 2019). For a qualitative simplified
analysis of the problem, an approximate method is also used, in which
the exponential damping factor is preserved, but the absorption coeffi­
cient μ0 is replaced by the effective photon absorption coefficient μeff ,
which considers the above secondary processes. One of the possible
variants of this dependence has the form: μeff = (f1 σ ph + f2 σc + f3 σp )nm ,
where nm is the concentration of neutral molecules; σ ph , σc , and σ p are
cross-sections for the photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920

electron-positron pair production, respectively (Leipunsky, 1959). The does not take into account photons that emerge from the main beam due
coefficient f1 takes into account that during photoabsorption a part of to scattering. So, the photon flux density has only the radial component
the absorbed energy of gamma photons is emitted in the form of sec­ jr = nc.
ondary fluorescent radiation; the coefficient f2 considers the secondary Using a spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ) with the center situated
bremsstrahlung upon recoil electrons decelerate; and the coefficient f3 at the gamma-ray source, equation (1) is then reduced to the form
considers the annihilation radiation and bremsstrahlung of the electron ( )
∂n c ∂(nr2 ) nc z0 + r cos θ
and positron. All these coefficients are less than unity, therefore μeff < =− 2 − exp − (2)
∂t r ∂r λ0 l
μ0 . However, for practical purposes, it is more convenient to use the
value of μeff , which is measured experimentally or found using numer­ Let us introduce a new function u = nr2 . Then equation (2) trans­
ical simulations. forms into the inhomogeneous one-way wave equation:
In what follows, we will take into account photon scattering and all ( )
∂u ∂u uc z0 + r cos θ
secondary processes only approximately, using the effective photon =− c − exp − (3)
∂t ∂r λ0 l
absorption coefficient. At first, let us consider the flux of gamma photons
with a fixed energy in the narrow range (E,E + dE). The decrease of the The general solution of a homogeneous one-way wave equation ∂u/
photon number due to their interaction with air over time dt at a length ∂t = − c∂u/∂r has the form u = v(t − r /c), where v is an arbitrary one-
cdt (c is the speed of light in the air) is proportional to μeff cdt = cdt/λeff , time differentiable function. We seek for the solution of equation (3)
where λeff stands for a mean free path of photons in the air. Both μeff and in the form u = v(t − r /c)w(r), where w is also an arbitrary one-time
λeff depend on the photon energy and air density. Let n be the photon differentiable function. Substitution of function u into equation (3)
number density/concentration having energy in the range (E, E +dE) yields after some rearranging
( )
inside a small volume dV. The decrease of the photon number in this dw w z0 + r cos θ
volume due to the photon interaction with air molecules is given by =− exp − (4)
dr λ0 l
dN = − ndVcdt/λeff , while the change in the photon concentration per
unit time is dN /(dVdt) = − nc/λeff . From here we come to the equation Solving this equation, one can find the function w, and then the
functions u, n, and jr . As a result, we finally obtain
describing the change of the photon concentration in space and time
{ [ ( )]}
v(t − r/c)c l exp(− z0 /l) r cos θ
∂n
= − ∇⋅j −
nc
(1) jr = exp − 1 − exp − (5)
∂t λeff r2 λ0 cos θ l
Let the function dN0 (t)/dt be a number of photons radiated by the
where j is the flux density of photons. source per time unit, the function g(E) be the distribution of photon with
A mean free path of photons is inversely proportional to the number respect to their energy E. The function f(θ, φ) describes a relative frac­
density nm of air molecules, which decreases exponentially with height tion of photons radiated into small solid angle dΩ within ranges (θ +dθ)
z; that is, λeff ∝n−m1 ∝exp(z /l) where l ≈ 7.2 km stands for the number and (φ, φ + dφ). These functions are normalized as follows
density/pressure height scale (Leipunsky, 1959). In what follows we use
the following dependence λeff = λ0 (E)exp(z /l), where λ0 (E) is an effec­ ∫∞ ∫
Emax ∫
dN0 dΩ
N0 = dt, g(E)dE = 1, f (θ, φ) =1 (6)
tive mean free path at sea level. dt 4π
Let us suppose that an origin of coordinate system is on the ground 0 Emin

surface, while a point TGF-associated source of gamma-rays is located

where N0 denotes the total number of emitted gamma photons, Emin and
on vertical z-axis at the point with coordinate z = z0 as shown in Fig. 1.
Emax are minimum and maximum energies of photons contained in TGF.
The TGF-produced gamma photon flux may be measured either by a
In the case of an axially symmetric photon beam, the function f does not
satellite, shown in Fig. 1 by blue circle, or on the ground by the cosmic
depend on φ. Besides, in proximity of the source, that is in the extreme
ray observatory Telescope Array Surface Detector (TASD) (Abbasi et al.,
case r→0, the photon flux through the elementary area dS must be as
2018; Belz et al., 2020). We also assume that the TGF-source radiates
follows
axially symmetric beam of gamma photons with different energies.
Within the framework of this simplified model, all photons inside the dN0 dΩ
jr (r, θ, φ, t, E)dS = jr r2 dΩ = g(E)f (θ, φ) (7)
beam move in radial directions from the source. This approximation dt 4π
Substituting equation (5) for jr into equation (7), one can find the
function v(t − r /c). Finally, we arrive at
{
g(E)f (θ, φ) dN0 (t − r/c)
jr (r, θ, φ, t, E) = exp
4πr2 dt
[ ( )]}
l exp(− z0 /l) r cos θ
− 1 − exp − (8)
λ0 (E)cos θ l
This equation determines the energy distribution of the flux density
of gamma photons at the point with coordinates (r, θ, φ) at time t.
As the gamma photon production is mainly due to electron brems­
strahlung, the energy distribution of the gamma photons is approxi­
mately described by the relation g∝E− 1 , which is valid for the photon
energies of 0.1 − 10 MeV (Carlson et al., 2007). Such an energy spec­
trum of primary photons was used, for example, in the work of Dwyer
and Smith (2005). The observations of the TGF-produced photons on­
board LEO satellites showed, that the value gE remains approximately
constant up to the photon energy E0 ≈ 7.5 MeV, and then decreases
approximately according to a power law (Fishman et al., 1994; Smith
Fig. 1. Models of medium, TGF source, and location of satellite and ground- et al., 2005; Carlson et al., 2007). The decrease at high energies is largely
based gamma-ray detectors (TASD). due to a natural cutoff in the photon spectrum. Taking these features of

3
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920

the observed spectrum into account, we use a simple Bremsstrahlung

spectrum for E < E0 , and for even higher photon energies we assume
that gE∝E− k . The best agreement with RHESSI TGF spectra is achieved at
k ≈ 0.7. Taking into account the normalization condition (6), the func­
tion g(E) can be thus written as:
{ { [ ( )k ]}− 1
g0 /E, (Emin ≤ E ≤ E0 ); E0 1 E0
g(E)= / g0 = ln + 1−
g0 E0k Ek+1 , (E0 < E ≤ Emax ); Emin k Emax
(9)

where E0 is the cutoff energy.

In further calculations, we use Table 1 of values of λ0 (E) that ac­
counts for not only the primary processes of the photo absorption,
Compton scattering, and electron-positron pair production, but also the
secondary radiation such as fluorescence owing to photoeffect, positron
annihilation, and secondary bremsstrahlung of recoil electrons (Lei­
punsky, 1959, Table 17, p. 149). These values of λ0 (E) are shown in
Fig. 2 as a stepwise function. In the energy range from tens of keV to tens
of MeV, the Compton scattering makes a main contribution to the
photon energy absorption and thus to the effective absorption coeffi­ Fig. 2. Mean free path length of photons at sea level as a function of their
cient μeff and the photon mean free path λeff . Upon increasing the photon energy. The tabular data by Leipunsky (1959) is shown with a polyline. The
approximation of this dependence by a continuous function is also shown.
energy, the cross-section of the photoeffect decreases as ∝ E− 1 at E > 0.5
MeV, whereas the cross-section of the electron-positron pair production
increases and becomes predominant at E > 20 MeV (Leipunsky, 1959). N0 g0 f (θ, φ)
Considering these circumstances, we approximate the dependence λ0 (E) F(r, θ, φ) = I(z0 , θ) (12)
2π r 2
by a smooth function of the form: λ0 ≈ a1 /E + a2 + a3 E1/2 , which is
shown in Fig. 2 as a solid line. The following parameters have been used: where the function I is given by
a1 = 20 m⋅MeV, a2 = 140 m, and a3 = 120 m/MeV1/2.
∫A1 { } ∫1 { }
Let us substitute the above relationship for g into equation (8) and αx dx αx
I(z0 , θ) = exp − + exp − x2k− 1 dx (13)
then perform integration over the photon energy. As a result, we obtain q(x) x q(x)
the flux density of gamma photons of all energies
1 A2

⎧ E ⎫ Here the following abbreviations have been introduced

∫0 ∫
Emax
g0 f (θ, φ) dN0 (t − r/c) ⎨ dE E0k dE⎬ / ) ( )1/2 ( )1/2
Jr (r, θ, φ, t) = G(E) + G(E) k+1 , x(a2 + a1 x2 E0 E0 E0
4πr2 dt ⎩ E E ⎭ q=1+ , A 1 = , A2 = ,
Emin E0 1/2 Emin Emax
a3 E0
(10) [ ( )] (14)
l exp(− z0 /l) r cos θ
α= 1 − exp − .
where
1/2 l
a3 E0 cos θ
{ [ ( )]}
l exp(− z0 /l) r cos θ At θ = π/2 the parameter α is given by α = r exp( − z0 /l) /a3 E1/2
0 .
G(E) = exp − 1 − exp − . (11)
λ0 (E)cos θ l
3. Angular distribution of gamma photons
Here, the first term in the curly brackets in equation (10) determines
the contribution of the simple bremsstrahlung spectrum, and the second
The factor I(z0 , θ) determines the dependence of fluence (12) on
term determines the contribution of the exponential tail. Notice that one
altitude z0 of the gamma-ray source. In the special case of isotropic
may neglect the exponential function in square brackets in equation (11)
gamma-ray source, i.e. f(θ, φ) = 1, this factor determines all the prop­
under the requirement that r≫l; that is, starting from distances ≫ 7− 10
erties of the gamma-ray angular distribution. To illustrate this, the
km. In this case, the factor G(E) coincides with the same factor used by
angular factor I was calculated from equation (13) using the above nu­
Williams et al. (2006) to estimate the attenuation of the upward gamma
merical values of the parameters for Emin ≈ 25 keV and Emax ≈ 20 MeV.
ray flux at satellite altitude. However, to estimate the dependence of this
Fig. 3 displays the decimal logarithm of the factor I(z0 , θ) at the angle
factor on the photon energy, they used the absorption coefficient μ0
θ = 0 versus altitude of the source. It is evident from this figure that this
rather than μeff .
factor strongly depends on altitude, mainly due to the exponential in­
Substituting the functions λ0 (E) in equation (10) and integrating this
crease in the photon free path with altitude.
equation over time from the initial time t = r/c to infinity one may find a
The dependence of the factor I(z0 , θ) on angle θ for different altitudes
fluence (total number) of photons crossing the unit area oriented
of the source is shown in Fig. 4. It shows that the effective angular width,
perpendicular to the gamma-ray flux. Introducing a new integration
at which the factor I(z0 , θ) is halved, increases with the source altitude.
variable x = (E0 /E)1/2 , we come to the following equation for the Formally, upon an unlimited increase of the source altitude, the factor
fluence I(z0 , θ) tends to the isotropic distribution. Indeed, if z0 →∞, then the
parameter α in equation (14) will tend to zero for any value of θ.
Table 1 Therefore, in this limiting case, the factor I(z0 , θ) in equation (13) ceases
Dependence of the effective photon mean free path in the air on the photon to depend on θ.
energy (Leipunsky, 1959, Table 17, p. 149). The features shown in Figs. 3 and 4 are related to the vertical in­
λ0 , m 341 323 296 275 266 263 265 272 282 homogeneity of the atmosphere. Since the density of the atmosphere
E, MeV 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 decreases exponentially with altitude, the absorption of gamma photons
λ0 , m 314 338 379 402 432 457 492 518 minimizes in the vertical direction. Upon an increase of the angle θ, the
E, MeV 1.5 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 atmosphere density decreases more slowly with distance along the

4
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko
Fig. 3. Factor I(z0 , θ) as a function of altitude of gamma-ray source at angle θ =
0.
Fig. 4. Factor I(z0 , θ) as a function of angle θ for different altitudes of the
gamma-ray source. For the sake of convenience, the graphs corresponding to
the source altitudes of 7, 10, and 15 km are enlarged 10, 5 and 2 times,
respectively.
photon trajectory, which results in an increase of the photon energy
absorption. This tendency weakens with an increase in the source
height, because in this case the photon free path length formally tends to
infinity, and the factor I(z0 , θ) tends to a constant value independent of
the angle θ.
The function f(θ, φ) which determines the angular distribution of
gamma-rays directly in the source region depends on the spatial distri­
bution of the electron beam. The parameters of the TGF-associated
electron beam depend on both the mechanism of the seed electron for­
mation and the accelerating electric field. One of the most likely sources
of the TGF is the bremsstrahlung of relativistic electrons arising in the
strong electric fields of the upward IC lightning leader (Cummer et al.,
2005; Stanley et al., 2006). Köhn et al. (2020b) supposed that the leader
electric field alone cannot explain the acceleration of electrons to rela­
tivistic energies without taking the effect of associated streamer coronae
into account. In their model, before the leader step, electrons are
accelerated up to energies of ∼ 100 − 200 eV by the electric field be­
tween the leader tip and the upper layer of the positive charge of the
5
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920
cloud. Afterwards, streamer coronae form, one positive corona moving
downward from the upper charge layer, and one negative upwards
propagating corona ahead the leader tip. While the streamer coronae
develop, their electric fields increase thereby accelerating electrons into
the runaway regime. However, there are still many issues related to
physical mechanism of this phenomenon. Therefore, phenomenological
models are often used in simulation of TGF. For example, in the model of
Carlson et al. (2007) the angular distribution of gamma-rays in the
source is assumed to be uniform inside a cone with a half-angle γmax and
zero outside it. In this approximation one can find the function f using
the normalization condition (6) as follows
f = 2 / (1 − cos γmax ) for 0 ≤ θ ≤ γ max and f = 0 for γmax < θ ≤ π (15)
The complexity of the basic equations prevents the construction of a
more accurate analytical model of the function f(θ, φ) using, for
example, a Gaussian angular distribution (e.g., Hazelton et al., 2009). In
the numerical simulation by Carlson et al. (2007), the following pa­
rameters were used: γmax = 1◦ (bremsstrahlung produced by parallel flux
of electrons with E = 35 MeV), 25◦ (bremsstrahlung and characteristic
radiation produced by runaway electrons in a uniform electric field), 45◦
and 90◦ (wide beams of RREAs which can be formed in large-scale QE
fields). Such a large dispersion of the parameter γmax values is caused by
the fact that possible mechanisms responsible for the production and
acceleration of the high-energy electron beams associated with TGF are
still disputable. However, one may expect that the accounting of the
function (15) or more accurate function f(θ, φ) will result in a narrower
angular distribution compared to that shown in Fig. 4.
4. Dependence of the photon fluence at the satellite orbit on the
TGF source altitude
Let us use equations (12)–(14) for a fluence of photons to analyze the
conditions under which TGFs can be detectable at LEO satellite altitudes.
The LEO satellite trajectory for an arbitrary case is shown in Fig. 1 with a
horizontal dotted line. To estimate the maximum effect that can be
observed on the satellite, suppose that this trajectory intersects the axis
z. In addition, at the time the TGF burst was detected, the satellite was
directly above the TGF source, on the axis z. Fig. 5 shows the depen­
dence of decimal logarithm of the fluence normalized by the number of
gamma photons radiated by TGF on the source altitude. The fluence of
gamma photons has been calculated for the satellite altitude 600 km
(r = 600 km, θ = 0◦ ). The angular distribution of photons in the source
has been approximated by a stepwise function (15). It is evident from
this figure that the fluence increases sharply with the source altitude z0
Fig. 5. Fluence F of high-energy photons normalized by the total number N0 of
photons as a function of the TGF source altitude for different half-angles γmax of
the gamma ray beams. The fluence is calculated assuming that the LEO satellite
is at an altitude of 600 km directly above the TGF source.
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko
due to the presence of exponential function in the factor I(z0 , θ). This
relationship also shows that the smaller the cone half-angle γmax , the
larger is the fluence F for a given total number N0 of the photons.
The average value of the TGF fluence recorded by LEO satellites
during the BATSE and RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar
Spectroscopy Imager) experiments was about 0.1 − 1 photon/cm2
(Fishman et al., 1994; Smith et al., 2005) in the photon energy range
from tens of keV to 20 MeV. Monte Carlo numerical simulation showed
that the total number of runaway electrons, which can arise in the
electric field of IC lightning leader, depended on the altitude of the
lightning. The ratio of bremsstrahlung photons to energetic runway
electrons depends on the electric field magnitude (Skeltved et al., 2014).
To make numerical calculations consistent with magnitudes of TGF
fluence observed onboard LEO satellites, it was necessary to assume that
there were (1) ~10 runaway electrons per an emitted gamma photon
(Carlson et al., 2007), and (2) the total number of runaway electrons was
~ 2⋅1017 for the gamma-ray source altitude z0 = 15 km or ~ 1018
electrons for z0 = 12 km (Dwyer and Smith, 2005; Carlson et al., 2007;
Hansen et al., 2013). Under these assumptions, the total number of
photons emitted during individual TGF was estimated to be of the order
of N0 = 2⋅1016 − 1017 photons while the total energy of energetic pho­
tons produced by TGF source was estimated to be as high as 1− 10 kJ.
To estimate the altitude of the gamma-ray source, we use the same
values of N0 , and fluence F = 1 photon/cm2 as in (Carlson et al., 2010).
We also choose the angle γmax = 25◦ , which was used by Carlson et al.
(2007) for bremsstrahlung produced by runaway electrons in a uniform
electric field. Using Fig. 5 with these parameters, we find that z0 = 10−
14 km. This altitude range of the gamma-ray source is compatible with
the assumption that the TGFs are produced at the altitudes of IC light­
ning flashes during the upward negative breakdown at the flash begin­
ning (e.g., Cummer et al., 2015).
The fluence dependence on the source altitude at γmax = 45◦ is also
shown in Fig. 5, which corresponds to the model of bremsstrahlung
produced by wide beams of RREAs in large-scale QE fields. In this model
the strong QE field is assumed to arise just after intense lightning
discharge, which exhibits extremely large value of charge moment
change, > 2500 C⋅km (Lehtinen et al., 2001). In such a case, we find
from Fig. 5 that the appropriate source altitudes are z0 = 13− 20 km.
Certainly, this result makes sense if a strong large-scale QE field indeed
occurs at these altitude range. In the case of γ max = 180◦ shown in Fig. 5
we obtain that the source altitude must exceed 20 km, which, appar­
ently, does not correspond to reality. Thus, the results presented in Fig. 5
are in best agreement with the model in which the source of TGF is an
upwardly directed intracloud lightning leader.
Recently, Abbasi et al. (2018) and Belz et al. (2020) have reported
the first high-resolution ground-based observations of downward TGFs
detected by the large-area TASD, schematically shown in Fig. 1. The
TGFs were observed during strong initial breakdown pulses in the first
few msecs of negative cloud-to-ground (CG) and low-altitude IC flashes.
Three TGFs were recorded over area 3–4 km in diameter when break­
down was at 3.3 km above ground level. The TGF fluences of gamma
photons was estimated as high as 1012 − 1014 photons (Abbasi et al.,
2018); that is, several orders of magnitude less than satellite-inferred
fluences 1016 − 1018 photons.
Assume that the TGF source shown in Fig. 1 can emit gamma photons
not only upwards but also downwards. Suppose that the downward
directed gamma-ray beam is uniformly distributed inside the cone with
half angle γ max . Consider a gamma-ray detector located on the ground at
a distance ρ from the vertical axis z. This detector, conventionally shown
1/2
in Fig. 1 as a blue cube, located at a distance r = (z20 + ρ2 ) from the
source of TGF. The angle θ, which forms the gamma radiation flux
directed to this detector, is found from the relation cos θ = − z0 /r.
Substituting these relations into equations (10) and (11) we find the flux
density of gamma-photons directed to the detector. In this case, the
exponential function in square brackets in equation (11) cannot be
6
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920
neglected since the distances r and l are comparable. Then, integrating
equation (10) over time, we obtain equation for the photon fluence
similar to equations (12)–(14), in which the parameters α should be
replaced by the following:
{ ( z )}
rl
(16)
0
α= 1/2
1 − exp −
z0 a3 E0 l
Fig. 6 illustrates the spatial distribution of the gamma photon fluence
F(ρ) over the ground for downward directed gamma-ray beam with
γ max = 45◦ . Here we have used the above parameters, as well as N0 =
1013 photons, and z0 = 3.3 km. Fig. 6 shows that the fluence decreases
from 0.25 to 0.05 photon/cm2 at distances from 0 to 2.5 km. It seems
likely that the most favorable location for detection of downward TGF
events on the ground is at the radial distance of no more than 3 − 4 km
from the vertical projection of the TGF source. This conclusion is
compatible with the TGF radial plan spread of 2.4 km as obtained by
Belz et al. (2020) from the TASD footprints.
5. Discussion and conclusion
In contrast to previous numerical studies and Monte Carlo simula­
tions, we have constructed a suitable idealized analytical model of the
propagation of gamma photons radiated by TGF in an inhomogeneous
atmosphere. This analytical model gives the possibility to analyze the
mutual dependencies between TGF parameters. It follows from the
model that the density of the photon flux at LEO increases sharply with
an increase of the TGF source height. In the lower atmosphere, at 10 −
20 km altitudes comparable to the vertical scale of atmospheric in­
homogeneity, this dependence is almost exponential. For the TGF source
altitude below 10 km, the absorption of the photon energy in the at­
mosphere becomes so large that the upward-directed photon beam be­
comes practically undetectable at satellite orbits.
The theoretical analysis has also shown that the angular distribution
of the gamma-ray flux density is strongly dependent on the altitude of
the TGF source. This effect is due to both the vertical inhomogeneity of
the atmosphere and the dependence of the photon mean free path on
altitude. The reason is that as the polar angle θ of the photon trajectory
increases, the distance-integrated density of the atmosphere and the
probability of photon energy absorption increase faster with distance
along the photon trajectory. The effect of the atmospheric in­
homogeneity is especially significant below 12 km where the mean free
path of photon becomes much smaller than the characteristic height
Fig. 6. Photon fluence distribution on the ground surface z = 0 km caused by
the gamma-ray radiation coming from the TGF source located at the altitude of
z0 = 3.3 km. In making this plot the cone half-angle γmax = 45◦ have been used.
V. Surkov and V. Pilipenko
scale of the atmospheric density. Our model predicts that the gamma-ray
radiation at such altitudes is concentrated into a cone with a half-angle
< 40◦ − 50◦ . Additional limitation on this angle can be imposed by the
properties of radiation pattern of the TGF source itself. Although, in
accordance with another hypothesis which states that TGFs originate
from the bremsstrahlung generated by wide beams of RREAs in large-
scale QE fields, the cone of TGF radiation may be wider. In such a
case our model gives the best fit to the satellite observation data when
the TGF source is supposed to be located within z0 = 13 − 20 km.
However, this result has sense if strong QE fields can indeed arise at
these altitudes.
The low-energy photons undergo a strong scattering in the atmo­
sphere and therefore can deviate from the vertical by a large angle θ that
results in a strong absorption of a portion of these photons. Therefore,
the contribution of the low-energy photons to the fluence F predicted by
equation (10) may be overestimated as compared to the results of the
Monte Carlo numerical simulation. However, the proposed analytical
model gives the best fit to LEO data with the same parameters which
were previously used for numerical modelling. Thus, despite its
simplicity, the analytical model predicts the photon flux and fluence at
LEO which are consistent with the results of numerical simulation. Our
calculations support the conclusions obtained by other authors based on
numerical simulation of the TGF phenomenon.
The model is most consistent with the assumption that TGFs are
associated with upward-propagating IC lightning leader (Cummer et al.,
2005; Stanley et al., 2006; Williams et al., 2006). In a few case studies,
TGFs were initiated several msecs after the leader onset when the leader
length reached 1 − 2 km (Cummer et al., 2015). According to our model,
the time lag of TGF after the start of the leader propagation can be
explained by the same effect of gamma photon absorption in the at­
mosphere. One may assume that the radiation of gamma photons starts
just after the leader initiation, but this radiation can be undetectable at
satellite orbit due to a strong photon absorption until the leader (that is
the TGF source) reaches a certain altitude.
The theoretical predictions and estimates of the TGF-produced flux
density and fluence of photons are consistent with data measured on­
board LEO satellites under the assumptions that
(1) photon energy spectrum is mainly determined by the brems­
strahlung of relativistic electrons;
(2) TGF source emits ∼ 1017 photons in the energy range from tens of
keV to ~20 MeV;
(3) photon mean free path in the atmosphere is proportional to the
number density of air molecules and depends on photon energy;
and
(4) TGF source is located at the altitude of about 12− 14 km or even
higher.
The model proposed in this study has been applied to describe the
recently discovered downward-directed TGFs detected by the large-area
TASD (Abbasi et al., 2018; Belz et al., 2020). The best agreement with
the experimental data has been achieved under the assumption that
TGFs produced by the low-latitude CG and IC flashes radiated ∼ 1013
photons per flash. In this case the model predicts that the area most
favorable for the ground-based registration of TGF has a size of about 3
km, which is consistent with the observational data. Based on this result,
it can be assumed that the downward-directed TGF resulting from the
CG flashes may occur frequently in nature. However, due to the strong
absorption of gamma radiation in the atmosphere, these events can only
be recorded on the ground within small areas located directly under the
lightning flash.
In conclusion, we note that to solve the problem of the governing
mechanism of the TGF generation, more advanced theoretical models of
this phenomenon and new statistical data on simultaneous observations
of TGF and lightning discharges are needed.
7
Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 237 (2022) 105920
Key points
• The model predicts that the fluence dependence on TGF height is
almost exponential.
• TGF source is likely located at 12–14 km altitude.
• Inhomogeneous atmosphere greatly affects the photon radiation
pattern.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by the state contracts with IPE, SRI, and
IZMIRAN.
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