ELF/VLF Observations of Lightning Discharges, Whistler-mode waves and Electron Precipitation at Palmer Station, Antarctica.

该提案的重点是通过导致电离层参数变化的向上闪电对雷暴与地球辐射带的电动力耦合以及全球闪电对气候的影响进行实验研究。拟议方案的智力价值在于闪电放电对上覆电离层和辐射带的电动耦合的重要性，无论是在闪电引起的电子沉淀方面，还是在由闪电放电产生的能量产生的高空光学和伽马射线发射方面。闪电放电发射的哨声波对辐射带粒子的降水将作为低电离层的相关局部和瞬时扰动进行测量，通过其对地球电离层波导中传播的甚低频信号的相位和幅度的影响进行遥感。拟议的研究计划的更广泛的影响将包括开发闪电探测的新技术，很少有观测地点，并在全球范围内，然后可以在农业，导航和闪电和雷暴可能影响人类生活的其他方式方面为社会造福。拟议的方案是南极半岛站之间国际合作的一部分，并补充了斯坦福大学在其他来源的支持下在北方半球进行的一套类似的测量。需要在两个半球进行协调测量，以研究所观察到的现象的地磁共轭性。

This proposal is focused on experimental studies of the thunderstorms electrodynamic coupling to the Earth's radiation belts through the upward lightning flashes that lead to ionospheric parameters variability, and the global lightning effects on climate. The intellectual merit of the proposed program lies in the importance of the electrodynamic coupling of lightning discharges to the overlying ionosphere and the radiation belts, both in terms of lightning-induced electron precipitation, and in terms of high altitude optical and gamma-ray emissions produced by energy originating in lightning discharges. Precipitation of the radiation belt particles by whistler waves launched by lightning discharges will be measured as associated localized and transient disturbances of the lower ionosphere, which are sensed remotely by means of their effect on the phase and amplitude of very low frequency (VLF) signals propagating in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. The broader impacts of the proposed research program will include the development of new technologies of lightning detection, with few observation sites and on a global scale, which can then be implemented for the benefit of society, both in terms of agriculture, navigation and other ways in which lightning and thunderstorms may affect human life. The proposed program is a part of the international collaboration between the Antarctic Peninsula stations, as well as complements a similar set of measurements that are conducted by the Stanford University in the northern hemisphere under support from other sources. Coordinated measurements in both hemispheres are needed to study the geomagnetic conjugacy of the observed phenomena.