Search for Thunderstorm Associated Nuclear Gamma Rays
Abstract
We present results from further analysis of thunderstorm data taken with a liquid nitrogen-cooled germanium spectrometer with energy range from 13 keV-2.6 MeV that was setup on South Baldy Peak at Langmuir Laboratory in New Mexico during June through August of 2005. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the suggestion made by Greenfield et al. (2003) that delayed gamma ray emissions associated with thunderstorms may be attributed to Chlorine-39 and Chlorine-38. We improve upon results of Boggs et al. (2005) by doing a careful spectral calibration to improve sensitivity.Two methods to determine the presence of chlorine emission lines were used; we created storm length background-subtracted spectra, and also examined the change in count rates in energy bins that correspond to the Chlorine emission energies. Both these methods confirm the conclusions of Boggs et al. that chlorine emission was not detected and any signature of Chlorine production was below the detectability of the detector. These results lead to an upper limit on photon flux in chlorine line emission that can be used to place an upper limit on chlorine production during thunderstorms.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2007
- Bibcode:
- 2007AGUFMAE31A0047L
- Keywords:
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- 3304 Atmospheric electricity;
- 3324 Lightning;
- 3359 Radiative processes;
- 3394 Instruments and techniques