Atmospheric Electrical Activity in central Argentina and its relationship with phenomena observed at the Auger Observatory

NICORA, MARIA GABRIELA; BAISSAC, DAIANA M; VILLAGRAN, CONSTANZA; SOLARI, F. I.; M. FLORENCIA BARLE; PINI, LUCIA; BERTONE, FIORELA; VELAZQUEZ, Y.R.

Simposio; AtmoHEAD 2022; 2023

Thunderstorms in Argentina have great spatial variability explained by variousmechanisms on different spatio-temporal scales, associated with the meridional extension andorography of the region. The Pierre Auger Observatory is located in Mendoza Province incentral-western Argentina where the unique meteorological and geographical conditions resultin a high spacial density of convective storms. Atmospheric electrical activity (AEA) producesTransient Luminous Events (TLEs) of which ELVES are the most prominent members of theextraordinary family that includes halos, jetstorms, and sprites. Northern Argentina and SouthernBrazil are prolific producers of TLEs, which can be observed at the Pierre Auger Observatoryby the Fluorescence Detector (FD) 24 UV telescope. In this work, we present the characterizationof the AEA in the study region and the most important meteorological characteristics to aid inunderstanding which of the dynamical or microphysical processes could act in the formation ofTLEs.