First observations of the transient luminous event effect on ionospheric Schumann resonance, based on the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite

Abstract

Abstract. In this study, we focus on the interactions and interrelated effects among the transient luminous events (TLEs) recorded at the Luoding ground station (22.76° N, 111.57° E), the lightning activities observed by the World Wide Lightning Location Network, and the ionospheric electric field deduced from the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES). The results show that on 25 September 2021, the signal-to-noise ratio of the Schumann resonance at the first mode of 6.5 Hz and the second mode of 13 Hz dropped below 2.5 during the TLEs. A significant enhancement in the energy in extremely low frequencies (ELFs) occurred, and the power spectral density increased substantially. Distinct lightning whistler waves were found in the very low frequency (VLF) band, further indicating that the energy could possibly have been excited by the lightning. Our results suggest that the observations of the electric field from the satellite could possibly be utilised to monitor the lower-atmospheric lightning and its impact on the space environment.