Temporal and spectral characteristics of terrestrial gamma flashes

We have analyzed the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) high-resolution timing data for 13 terrestrial gamma flashes (TGFs) to better characterize this newly identified phenomenon, which may be related to atmospheric lightning. We find that the minimum timescale for TGF variability is similar to 25-250 mu s, with 50 mu s near typical. In general, TGFs are spectrally much harder than cosmic gamma ray bursts (GRBs). We additionally find that as with GRBs, individual pulses within a TGF tend to peak earlier at higher energies. This time-asymmetry rules out models such as sweeping beams. We also find that different pulses can have different spectra, with spectra typically softening as a pulse progresses. Event-averaged spectra for the TGFs were examined and found to be better fit in the 25-500 keV range by a power law than by a blackbody model. However, in general, even a power law is not a perfect fit. We find correlation between minimum TGF timescale and the power law spectral index, with rapidly varying TGFs appearing softer. From empirical comparisons of timescales and structures we speculate that if TGFs are somehow related to known high-atmospheric lightning events, then they are more probably related to red sprites than to blue jets or transionospheric pulse pairs.