Ultra-sensitive broadband "AWESOME" electric field receiver for nanovolt low-frequency signals.

Longwave (defined here as 500 Hz-500 kHz) radio science drives many scientific and engineering applications, including lightning detection and geolocation, subsea and subsurface sensing and communications, navigation and timing, and ionospheric and magnetospheric remote sensing. The hardware performance (i.e., sensitivity and bandwidth) of the receivers that detect long waves determines the maximum amount of information that can be extracted from the acquired data. In this paper, we present and describe an ultra-sensitive electric field receiver that enables broadband radio reception from near-DC up to 470 kHz, augmenting the legacy of the "Atmospheric Weather Electromagnetic System for Observation Modeling and Education" (AWESOME), a state-of-the-art magnetic field receiver completed previously. The AWESOME electric field receiver uses capacitive coupling with a dipole antenna to detect the electric field components of long waves and attains a sensitivity of 0.677 nV/(mHz). This sensitivity allows the detection of natural radio atmospherics and man-made beacon emissions at a global range. The AWESOME electric field receiver can also be integrated with a magnetic field sensor for simultaneous electric and magnetic field reception. In this paper, we detail the design of the receiver, including the receiver architecture, its working principles, design methodology, and trade-offs. We showcase the receiver performance characterized through both numerical models and empirical measurements. We demonstrate a novel calibration method that is quick and straightforward, suitable for deployments in the field. Finally, we demonstrate some novel applications enabled by this receiver's excellent sensitivity and simultaneous reception capability of electric and magnetic field components of long waves.

Broadband longwave radio remote sensing instrumentation.

We present the performance characteristics of a high-sensitivity radio receiver for the frequency band 0.5-470 kHz, known as the Low Frequency Atmospheric Weather Electromagnetic System for Observation, Modeling, and Education, or LF AWESOME. The receiver is an upgraded version of the VLF AWESOME, completed in 2004, which provided high sensitivity broadband radio measurements of natural lightning emissions, transmitting beacons, and radio emissions from the near-Earth space environment. It has been deployed at many locations worldwide and used as the basis for dozens of scientific studies. We present here a significant upgrade to the AWESOME, in which the frequency range has been extended to include the LF and part of the medium frequency (MF) bands, the sensitivity improved by 10-25 dB to be as low as 0.03 fT/ Hz , depending on the frequency, and timing error reduced to 15-20 ns range. The expanded capabilities allow detection of radio atmospherics from lightning strokes at global distances and multiple traverses around the world. It also allows monitoring of transmitting beacons in the LF/MF band at thousands of km distance. We detail the specification of the LF AWESOME and demonstrate a number of scientific applications. We also describe and characterize a new algorithm for minimum shift keying demodulation for VLF/LF transmitters for ionospheric remote sensing applications.

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

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 of Gigantic 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 that Gigantic Jets may bend when initiated at the edge of clouds with misaligned vertical charge distribution.