Abstract

Short, intense bursts of gamma ray emission up to 40 MeV have been detected from thunderstorms by detectors on the CGRO, RHESSI, AGILE, and Fermi satellite missions. A campaign to measure the low energy/low intensity end of the TGF spectrum has used an array of sodium iodide detectors at ground level. Observations will be presented of events detected correlated with nearby lightning flashes. In addition, a complementary campaign of balloon observations of nearby thunderstorms is planned to provide information about the source of the particle acceleration responsible for the gamma rays in a way that is not possible from space.