Correlation of local lightning activity with extra low frequency detector for Schumann Resonance measurements

G Tatsis; A Sakkas; V Christofilakis; G Baldoumas; S K Chronopoulos; A K Paschalidou; P Kassomenos; I Petrou; P Kostarakis; C Repapis; V Tritakis

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147671

Correlation of local lightning activity with extra low frequency detector for Schumann Resonance measurements

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Sep 15:787:147671. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147671. Epub 2021 May 11.

Authors

G Tatsis¹, A Sakkas¹, V Christofilakis¹, G Baldoumas¹, S K Chronopoulos¹, A K Paschalidou², P Kassomenos³, I Petrou⁴, P Kostarakis¹, C Repapis⁵, V Tritakis⁶

Affiliations

¹ Electronics-Telecommunications and Applications Laboratory, Physics Department, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
² Department of Forestry and Management of the Environmental and Natural Resources, Democritus University of Thrace, Orestiada, Greece.
³ Laboratory of Meteorology, Physics Department, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece. Electronic address: pkassom@uoi.gr.
⁴ Laboratory of Meteorology, Physics Department, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
⁵ Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Research, Athens, Greece.
⁶ Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Research, Athens, Greece; Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens, Greece.

PMID: 34004542
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147671

Abstract

A dedicated extremely low frequency (ELF) detector has been constructed and used successfully for Schumann Resonance (SRs) measurements in N.W. Greece. The main objective of this work was to investigate the effect of local lightning activity on the signal of our ELF detector and consequently on the estimated SRs parameters, namely the power, the frequency and the quality factor of each mode. Therefore, several measurements were taken into account for the ELF signal continuously recorded and the lightning intensity in a specific range around the ELF detector. Additionally, a simple filtering technique was used, in order to reject the distorted SRs spectra. The statistical analysis performed showed a positive and statistically significant correlation between the lightning events and the recorded magnetic component of the ELF signal. It was found that local lightnings have a significant impact on the SRs measurements, and it is necessary to be removed from the background signal.

Keywords: Extra low frequency receiver; Lightning; Schumann Resonances.