Articles | Volume 44, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-44-949-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-44-949-2026
Regular paper
 | 
18 Sep 2026
Regular paper |  | 18 Sep 2026

Deducing spatial characteristics of global thunderstorm activity using the observed Schumann resonance frequencies

Oleksandr Koloskov, Masashi Hayakawa, and Alexander P. Nickolaenko

Cited articles

Bliokh, P. V., Nickolaenko, A. P., and Filippov, Y. F.: Global Electromagnetic Resonances in the Earth-Ionosphere Cavity, edited by: Jones, D. L., Peter Peregrinus Ltd., London, UK, 168 pp., ISBN 0-906048-33-8, 1980. 
Galejs, J.: Frequency variations of Schumann resonances, J. Geophys. Res., 75, 3237–3251, https://doi.org/10.1029/JA075i016p03237, 1970. 
Galejs, J.: Terrestrial Propagation of Long Electromagnetic Waves, Pergamon Press, New York, 362 pp., ISBN 0-08-016710-1, 1972. 
Galuk, Y. P.: Schumann resonance in the model of thunderstorm activity uniformly distributed over the globe, Telecommun. Radio Eng., 75, 923–935, https://doi.org/10.1615/TelecomRadEng.v75.i10.60, 2016. 
Greifinger, C. and Greifinger, P.: Approximate method for determining ELF eigenvalues in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide, Radio Sci., 13, 831–837, https://doi.org/10.1029/RS013i005p00831, 1978. 
Download
Short summary
To study global thunderstorm activity we analysed the Schumann Resonance electromagnetic field driven by lightning. We developed formulas to calculate both the distance and the size of thunderstorm areas from frequency changes of either the magnetic or the electric resonance modes alone. Our method can be used by observatories worldwide, which mainly record magnetic fields. This novel technique improves our ability to monitor and understand global lightning activity.
Share