A Study on TGF Detectability at 2165 m Altitude: Estimates for the Mountain-Based Gamma-Flash Experiment
, Gonzalo Rodriguez Fernandez 2, Alessandra Tiberia 3, Enrico Virgilli 4, Enrico Arnone 5, Enrico Preziosi 6, Riccardo Campana 4 and Marco Tavani 1,2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This paper presented estimates on TGF which could be expected by an Italian program for comprehensive observation experiment of TGFS, gamma-ray glows and associated neutron emissions. The key parts of the work are numerical simulations of gamma-ray propagation in the mid-latitude atmosphere and a qualitative analytical modeling. The results appear sound. In addition, the paper is well written (including many detailed parts), perhaps it deserves to be published in a journal.
I just have one minor comment. Please check line 388, “localizing the associated lightning flashes with an accuracy of ∼ 75 km and an overall average efficiency of ∼ 2 kA (95%)” and make sure the corresponding unit and expression are correct.
Author Response
We wish to thank the anonymous referee for the useful comments, that improved the quality of our work. We addressed the point, answering to the question and highlighting in bold characters our text changes.
This paper presented estimates on TGF which could be expected by an Italian program for comprehensive observation experiment of TGFS, gamma-ray glows and associated neutron emissions. The key parts of the work are numerical simulations of gamma-ray propagation in the mid-latitude atmosphere and a qualitative analytical modeling. The results appear sound. In addition, the paper is well written (including many detailed parts), perhaps it deserves to be published in a journal.
I just have one minor comment. Please check line 388, “localizing the associated lightning flashes with an accuracy of ∼ 75 km and an overall average efficiency of ∼ 2 kA (95%)” and make sure the corresponding unit and expression are correct.
Yes, it was a typo, we now corrected it. The LINET network has a mean spatial resolution of 75 m, in a well deployed network. We also checked the new LINET datasheet and it reports an average efficiency of ~ 4 kA (98%).
Reviewer 2 Report
Many thanks to the authors for this investigation and the preparation of the extensive, detailed paper!
Just a few comments:
Line 216: What are N (without 0) and K in equation (2)?
On page 13 line 388: it should read "an mean accuracy of ~ 75 m" instead of "an accuracy of ~ 75 km" (m instead of km and "mean" added).
In the caption of Figure 10, the black line indicates the ground on Mt. Cimone at L = 0 (H = 2.165 m ~ 2 km), not for the surrounding area up to L = 6 km, correct?
Line 408: change "Fig 9" to "Fig. 9" please.
Line 530 reference 19.: in "165002-+," delete "-+" if necessary
Lines 569 and 570 reference 33.: is there any information missing here?
Author Response
We wish to thank the anonymous referee for the useful comments, that improved the quality of our work. We addressed all the points, answering to the questions and highlighting in bold characters our text changes.
Many thanks to the authors for this investigation and the preparation of the extensive, detailed paper!
Just a few comments:
Line 216: What are N (without 0) and K in equation (2)?
dN/dE is the differential number of counts per unit energy adopted to define a spectrum, while K is a normalization constant, used to fit the model to the observed data. We now clarified it in the text.
On page 13 line 388: it should read "an mean accuracy of ~ 75 m" instead of "an accuracy of ~ 75 km" (m instead of km and "mean" added).
Yes, it was a typo. LINET average spatial resolution is 75 m, in a well deployed network. We also checked the new LINET datasheet and it reports an efficiency of ~ 4 kA (98%). We corrected it.
In the caption of Figure 10, the black line indicates the ground on Mt. Cimone at L = 0 (H = 2.165 m ~ 2 km), not for the surrounding area up to L = 6 km, correct?
Yes, we adopted an average H = 2 km horizontal line to represent the elevation profile in the surroundings of the installation site. We use it as a reference to discriminate between flashes occurring in air (ICs) and on ground (CGs). A detailed altimetric profile cannot be reported, as the distribution is calculated considering the mean distance R from the installation site, which do not correspond to any specific longitude-latitude configuration. We specified it in the text.
Line 408: change "Fig 9" to "Fig. 9" please.
Yes, corrected.
Line 530 reference 19.: in "165002-+," delete "-+" if necessary
Yes, I guess it was an error in the bibtex file, we corrected it.
Lines 569 and 570 reference 33.: is there any information missing here?
Yes, there was an error in the reference bibtex, now fixed. It became now reference 31.
