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Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Music: Glacial Fields and The Piper from Killer Tracks.

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Complete transcript available.

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Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: Glacial Fields and The Piper from Killer Tracks.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "" } }, { "id": 259625, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 851785, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012400/a012452/Fermi_TGF_Tropical_Storm_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt", "filename": "Fermi_TGF_Tropical_Storm_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt", "media_type": "Captions", "alt_text": "Storm clouds produce some of the highest-energy light naturally made on Earth: terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). Using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and ground-based lightning detection networks, scientists tracking these fleeting outbursts are beginning to learn more about how conditions in hurricanes, typhoons and other tropical weather systems set the stage for TGFs. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: Glacial Fields and The Piper from Killer Tracks.Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.", "label": "English", "language_code": "" } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 330593, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12452/#media_group_330593", "widget": "Basic text with HTML", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "About a thousand times a day, thunderstorms fire off fleeting bursts of some of the highest-energy light naturally found on Earth. These events, called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), last less than a millisecond and produce gamma rays with tens of millions of times the energy of visible light. Since its launch in 2008, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has recorded more than 4,000 TGFs, which scientists are studying to better understand how the phenomenon relates to lightning activity, storm strength and the life cycle of storms.

Now, for the first time, a team of NASA scientists has analyzed dozens of TGFs launched by the largest and strongest weather systems on the planet: tropical storms, hurricanes and typhoons.

Scientists suspect TGFs arise from the strong electric fields near the tops of thunderstorms. Under certain conditions, these fields become strong enough to drive an \"avalanche\" of electrons upward at nearly the speed of light. When these accelerated electrons race past air molecules, their paths become deflected slightly. This change causes the electrons to emit gamma rays.

The team studied 37 TGFs associated with, among other storms, typhoons Nangka (2015) and Bolaven (2012), Hurricane Paula (2010), the 2013 tropical storms Sonia and Emang and Hurricane Manuel, and the disturbance that would later become Hurricane Julio in 2014.

What the scientists have learned so far is that TGFs from tropical systems do not have properties measurably different from other TGFs detected by Fermi. Weaker storms are capable of producing greater numbers of TGFs, which may arise anywhere in the storm. In more developed systems, like hurricanes and typhoons, TGFs are more common in the outermost rain bands, areas that also host the highest lightning rates in these storms.

Most of the tropical storm TGFs occurred as the systems intensified. Strengthening updrafts drive clouds higher into the atmosphere where they can generate powerful electric fields, setting the stage for intense lightning and for the electron avalanches thought to produce TGFs.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 330595, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12452/#media_group_330595", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Hurricane Manuel launched a TGF on Sept. 15, 2013, shortly after it made landfall in the Mexican state of Michoacán (lower inset image). Manuel fired off a second TGF the following day. The magenta symbols mark the TGF locations on satellite images of the storm.

Credit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center", "items": [ { "id": 259632, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 417767, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012400/a012452/Manuel_Still.jpg", "filename": "Manuel_Still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Hurricane Manuel launched a TGF on Sept. 15, 2013, shortly after it made landfall in the Mexican state of Michoacán (lower inset image). Manuel fired off a second TGF the following day. The magenta symbols mark the TGF locations on satellite images of the storm. Credit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 330596, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12452/#media_group_330596", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "During a period of rapid strengthening on Aug. 23, 2012, Typhoon Bolaven launched its only TGF from an outer rain band located nearly 490 miles (785 km) from the storm's center (roughly bottom center of the full image). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Bolaven the following day.

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team", "items": [ { "id": 259633, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 417768, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012400/a012452/bolaven_tmo_2012237_Terra.jpg", "filename": "bolaven_tmo_2012237_Terra.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "During a period of rapid strengthening on Aug. 23, 2012, Typhoon Bolaven launched its only TGF from an outer rain band located nearly 490 miles (785 km) from the storm's center (roughly bottom center of the full image). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Bolaven the following day. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team", "width": 6800, "height": 9200, "pixels": 62560000 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 330597, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12452/#media_group_330597", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasas-fermi-catches-gamma-ray-flashes-from-tropical-storms/](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasas-fermi-catches-gamma-ray-flashes-from-tropical-storms/)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Science writer", "people": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "Syneren Technologies" } ] } ], "missions": [ "Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope" ], "series": [ "Astrophysics Features", "Narrated Movies" ], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Earth", "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Ast", "Astrophysics", "Edited Feature", "Fermi", "Gamma Ray", "HDTV", "Music", "Terrestrial Gamma Flash", "Tropical Storm" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 10278, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10278/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Fermi Helps Scientists Study Gamma-ray Thunderstorms", "description": "New research merging Fermi data with information from ground-based radar and lightning networks shows that terrestrial gamma-ray flashes arise from an unexpected diversity of storms and may be more common than currently thought. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. For complete transcript, click here. || Florida_TGF_still_print.jpg (1024x576) [115.1 KB] || Florida_TGF_still.jpg (1280x720) [169.4 KB] || Florida_TGF_still_thm.png (80x40) [8.7 KB] || Florida_TGF_still_searchweb.png (320x180) [75.0 KB] || Florida_TGF_still_web.jpg (320x180) [20.8 KB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_appletv_subtitles.m4v (960x540) [66.4 MB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_ProRes_1280x720_5994.mov (1280x720) [2.7 GB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_appletv.webm (960x540) [21.7 MB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_appletv.m4v (960x540) [66.5 MB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_MPEG4_1280X720_2997.mp4 (1280x720) [36.8 MB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_1280x720.wmv (1280x720) [62.5 MB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_H264_Good_1280x720_2997.mov (1280x720) [65.2 MB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_H264_Best_1280x720_5994.mov (1280x720) [801.8 MB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_ipod_lg.m4v (640x360) [28.5 MB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_SRT_Captions.en_US.vtt [3.7 KB] || 10278_Fermi_TGF_Radar_SRT_Captions.en_US.srt [3.7 KB] || G2014-107_Fermi_TGF_Radar_FINAL_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [13.0 MB] || ", "release_date": "2014-12-15T13:29:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:13.481174-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 448216, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010200/a010278/Florida_TGF_still.jpg", "filename": "Florida_TGF_still.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "New research merging Fermi data with information from ground-based radar and lightning networks shows that terrestrial gamma-ray flashes arise from an unexpected diversity of storms and may be more common than currently thought. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel. For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 11131, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11131/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Fermi Improves Its Vision For Thunderstorm Gamma-ray Flashes", "description": "Thanks to improved data analysis techniques and a new operating mode, the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is now 10 times better at catching the brief outbursts of high-energy light mysteriously produced above thunderstorms. The outbursts, known as terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), last only a few thousandths of a second, but their gamma rays rank among the highest-energy light that naturally occurs on Earth. The enhanced GBM discovery rate helped scientists show most TGFs also generate a strong burst of radio waves, a finding that will change how scientists study this poorly understood phenomenon.Lightning emits a broad range of very low frequency (VLF) radio waves, often heard as pop-and-crackle static when listening to AM radio. The World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), a research collaboration operated by the University of Washington in Seattle, routinely detects these radio signals and uses them to pinpoint the location of lightning discharges anywhere on the globe to within about 12 miles (20 km).Scientists have known for a long time TGFs were linked to strong VLF bursts, but they interpreted these signals as originating from lightning strokes somehow associated with the gamma-ray emission.\"Instead, we've found when a strong radio burst occurs almost simultaneously with a TGF, the radio emission is coming from the TGF itself,\" said co-author Michael Briggs, a member of the GBM team. The researchers identified much weaker radio bursts that occur up to several thousandths of a second before or after a TGF. They interpret these signals as intracloud lightning strokes related to, but not created by, the gamma-ray flash. Scientists suspect TGFs arise from the strong electric fields near the tops of thunderstorms. Under certain conditions, the field becomes strong enough that it drives a high-speed upward avalanche of electrons, which give off gamma rays when they are deflected by air molecules. \"What's new here is that the same electron avalanche likely responsible for the gamma-ray emission also produces the VLF radio bursts, and this gives us a new window into understanding this phenomenon,\" said Joseph Dwyer, a physics professor at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Fla., and a member of the study team. Because the WWLLN radio positions are far more precise than those based on Fermi's orbit, scientists will develop a much clearer picture of where TGFs occur and perhaps which types of thunderstorms tend to produce them.Watch this video on YouTube. || ", "release_date": "2012-12-06T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:32.658099-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 471001, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011131/Fermi_TGF_Still_1.jpg", "filename": "Fermi_TGF_Still_1.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Lightning in the clouds is directly linked to events that produce some of the highest-energy light naturally made on Earth: terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). An instrument aboard NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope was recently fine-tuned to better catch TGFs, and this allowed scientists to discover that TGFs emit radio waves, too.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 10706, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10706/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes Create Antimatter", "description": "NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has detected beams of antimatter launched by thunderstorms. Acting like enormous particle accelerators, the storms can emit gamma-ray flashes, called TGFs, and high-energy electrons and positrons. Scientists now think that most TGFs produce particle beams and antimatter.For additional animations showing bremsstrahlung and pair production gamma ray reactions, go here.For more visualizations showing Fermi's TGF detections, go to#3747, #3748, and #3756.For animations of the Fermi spacecraft and matter/antimatter, go to#10707 and #10651. || ", "release_date": "2011-01-10T16:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:55.719114-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 488484, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010706/TGF_Still_1280x720.jpg", "filename": "TGF_Still_1280x720.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "TGFs produce high-energy electrons and positrons. Moving near the speed of light, these particles travel into space along Earth's magnetic field.Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }