Assessment of Unusual Gigantic Jets observed during the Monsoon season: First observations from Indian Subcontinent

Abstract

Gigantic Jets are electric discharges from thunderstorm cloud tops to the bottom of ionosphere at ~90 km altitude and electrically connect the troposphere and lower ionosphere. Since their first report in 2002, sporadic observations have been reported from ground and space based observations. Here we report first observations ofGigantic Jets in Indian subcontinent over the Indo-Gangetic plains during the monsoon season. Two storms each produced two jets with characteristics not documented so far. Jets propagated ~37 km up remarkably in ~5 ms with velocity of ~7.4 × 106ms−1 and disappeared within ~40–80 ms, which is faster compared to jets reported earlier. The electromagnetic signatures show that they are of negative polarity, transporting net negative charge of ~17–23 C to the lower ionosphere. One jet had an unusual form observed for the first time, which emerged from the leading edge of a slowly drifting complex convective cloud close to the highest regions at ~17 km altitude. A horizontal displacement of ~10 km developed at ~50 km altitude before connecting to the lower ionosphere. Modeling of these gigantic jets suggests thatGigantic Jets may bend when initiated at the edge of clouds with misaligned vertical charge distribution.