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Lightning triggered from the Earth's magnetosphere as the source of synchronized whistlers

Nature volume 327, pages 405–408 (1987)Cite this article

Abstract

Specific patterns established by natural radio signals echoing periodically in a magnetospheric whistler duct1–3 are sometimes observed to indicate strongly preferred times at which identical, well-defined whistlers occur. Ordinarily such whistlers would be assumed to originate in the stronger ground strokes4 of spontaneous lightning. These nonrandom whistlers are therefore unexpected and raise the possibility that some whistler-source discharges may be triggered from the magnetosphere. The same possibility could also be predicted independently from another type of our recent observations. Selected examples of nonrandom whistlers are given here and the supporting observations described. In the absence of a previously developed theoretical explanation, a trigger mechanism is outlined which emphasizes discontinuous discharge to the upper atmosphere5. Such a mechanism might help explain several related phenomena.

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  1. STARLAB, Stanford University, 324 Durand Building, Stanford, California, 94305, USA

    W. C. Armstrong

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Armstrong, W. Lightning triggered from the Earth's magnetosphere as the source of synchronized whistlers. Nature 327, 405–408 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/327405a0

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