[M-IS25] Atmospheric electricity: Electrical phenomena associated with extreme weather

[MIS25-05] Citizen science "Thundercloud project" for mapping observations of gamma rays from thunderstorms

*Teruaki Enoto¹, Yuko Ikkatai², Yuuki Wada¹, Gabriel Diniz¹, Masaki Numazawa¹, Yo Kato¹, Shoko Miyake³, Kazuhiro Nakazawa⁴, Shohei Hisadomi⁴, Yuna Tsuji⁴, Takayuki Yuasa, Harufumi Tsuchiya⁵, Takeshi Morimoto⁶, Yoshitaka Nakamura⁷, Masashi Kamogawa⁸ (1.RIKEN, 2.The University of Tokyo, 3.National Institute of Technology, Ibaraki College, 4.Nagoya University, 5.JAEA, 6.Kinki University, 7.Kobe City College of Technology, 8.Global Center for Asian and Regional Research, University of Shizuoka)

Keywords:high-energy atmospheric physics, gamma rays from thunderstorms, citizen science

The Gamma-ray Observation of Winter Thunderclouds (GROWTH) collaboration has measured high-energy atmospheric phenomena along the Sea of Japan since 2006. This campaign observed prolonged bremsstrahlung radiations from relativistic electrons accelerated by thunderclouds' electric field and short bursts from photonuclear reactions induced by terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). Since the gamma rays can fly only a few hundred meters in the atmosphere, mapping observations is essential to compare high-energy events with meteorological observations. We are now distributing portable radiation detectors to citizen supporters and establish a new extended mapping observation network at Kanazawa that incorporates the Citizen Science method. The device is named Cogamo (Compact Gamma-ray Monitor), which operates with a single button and automatically sends data over the network. We aim to have citizen supporters take pictures of gamma-ray emitting clouds and study whether relativistic electron flow in thunderclouds is involved in the initiation of lightning discharges.