Continental thunderstorm ground enhancement observed at an exceptionally low altitude

Kolmašová, Ivana; Santolík, Ondřej; Šlegl, Jakub; Popová, Jana; Sokol, Zbyněk; Zacharov, Petr; Ploc, Ondřej; Diendorfer, Gerhard; Langer, Ronald; Lán, Radek; Strhárský, Igor

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7959-2022

Articles | Volume 22, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7959-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7959-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 12

Research article

|

20 Jun 2022

Research article |

| 20 Jun 2022

Continental thunderstorm ground enhancement observed at an exceptionally low altitude

Ivana Kolmašová, Ondřej Santolík, Jakub Šlegl, Jana Popová, Zbyněk Sokol, Petr Zacharov, Ondřej Ploc, Gerhard Diendorfer, Ronald Langer, Radek Lán, and Igor Strhárský

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Final revised paper (published on 20 Jun 2022)
Preprint (discussion started on 01 Apr 2022)

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

RC1:
'Comment on acp-2022-125', Ashot Chilingarian, 05 Apr 2022

The comment was uploaded in the form of a supplement: https://acp.copernicus.org/preprints/acp-2022-125/acp-2022-125-RC1-supplement.pdf

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-RC1
- AC1:
  'Reply on RC1', Ivana Kolmasova, 21 Apr 2022
  
  We thank Ashot Chilingarian for careful reading of the manuscript and for his helpful comments and suggestions. We responded to all of them and revised the manuscript accordingly. Our responses together with reviewer´s comments are listed in the attached document.
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-AC1
  - RC2: 'Reply on AC1', Ashot Chilingarian, 21 Apr 2022
    
    I'm satisfied with the explanations given by the authors and by modifications they made to the manuscript.
    I recommend the paper for publication.
    
    Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-RC2
EC1: 'Comment on acp-2022-125', Heini Wernli, 21 Apr 2022

Many thanks to Dr. Chilingarian for the review and to Dr. Kolmašová for already replying to these comments. But please keep in mind that a 2nd review will come in the following days and the authors should wait with revising the manuscript until all reviews are submitted and the open discussion phase has been closed. With best regards, Heini Wernli (co-editor)

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-EC1
RC3:
'Comment on acp-2022-125', Martino Marisaldi, 06 May 2022

This is an interesting paper that reports a very detailed characterization of two Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements detected at low altitude in the Czech Republic. In addition to particle measurements, the paper includes meteo, electric field and radar measurements which are carefully detailed and essential to investigate the environment at the origin of these phenomena. I think the paper is very clear and well written, and I enjoyed reading it. I definitely recommend the paper for publication after my comments are addressed.

The main comments regard the estimate of the cloud base, already addressed also by Ashot, and the methodology used for the simulations. I think there are also some missing references. The comments are attached as annotated pdf (I recommend the use of acrobat reader to view it, as for my experience some comments do not show up in other pdf viewers)

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-RC3
- AC2: 'Reply on RC3', Ivana Kolmasova, 21 May 2022
  
  We thank Martino Marisaldi for careful reading of the manuscript and for his helpful comments and suggestions. We responded to all of them and revised the manuscript accordingly. Our responses together with reviewer´s comments are listed in the attached document.
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-125-AC2

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload

AR by Ivana Kolmasova on behalf of the Authors (21 May 2022) Author's response Author's tracked changes Manuscript

ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (23 May 2022) by Heini Wernli

RR by Martino Marisaldi (03 Jun 2022)

RR by Ashot Chilingarian (03 Jun 2022)

ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (03 Jun 2022) by Heini Wernli

AR by Ivana Kolmasova on behalf of the Authors (05 Jun 2022) Author's response Manuscript

Short summary

Gamma ray radiation related to thunderstorms was previously observed at the high-altitude mountain observatories or on the western coast of Japan, usually being terminated by lightning discharges. We show unusual observations of gamma rays at an altitude below 1000 m, coinciding with peculiar rapid variations in the vertical electric field, which are linked to inverted intracloud lightning discharges. This indicates that a strong, lower positive-charge region was present inside the thundercloud.