Global Thunderstorm Activity and its Effects on the Radiation Belts and the Lower Ionspher

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This award will provide funding and logistical support to continue the operation of very low frequency (VLF) radio receivers at Palmer Station Antarctica. The receivers detect impulsive signals (sferics) from thunderstorms, longer, frequency-dispersed, signals (whistlers) that come from electromagnetic waves that thunderstorms launch into the Earth's magnetosphere and thunderstorm induced perturbations in transmitted VLF signals. This last capability permits the location of thunderstorms to be determined by triangulation using several VLF transmitters in different parts of the US. The experimenters are working in collaboration with colleagues who have similar receivers at Commandante Ferraz Station (Brazil) and Rothera Station (UK) in Antarctica. The network of receiving sites coupled with the distributed transmitters in the US provides powerful tools to determine the location and characteristics of thunderstorms over much of the globe. Stanford University has been a leader in VLF research for many years