{
  "abstract": "Relativistic runaway electron avalanches (RREAs) are commonly characterized by an empirical relation linking the avalanche length to the electric-field excess above the runaway threshold. In this study, CORSIKA simulations are used to examine the behavior of this parameterization under different atmospheric densities and electric-field conditions and to investigate the subsequent propagation of particles beyond the accelerating field region. Simulations are performed for four high-altitude observational sites. The effective avalanche lengths derived from the vertical electron profiles exhibit inter-station scatter when fitted with a single coefficient across the combined dataset. Incorporating an additional density-dependent term reduces this scatter and improves the fit, increasing the coefficient of determination from R ² ≈0.90 to R ² ≈0.99. Simulations of particle propagation beyond the electric-field region show different attenuation behavior for the electron and gamma-ray components. Reassessment of the empirical free path distance (FPD) formulation for a 100 m field-to-detector separation yields an electron–gamma energy coefficient of C ₁ ≈1.37, while the density dependence of electron energy losses is accounted for using stopping-power data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) ESTAR (Stopping Powers and Range Tables for Electrons) database.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "A. Alikhanyan National Laboratory (Yerevan, Armenia)"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Liza Hovhannisyan",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-9067-6180"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/95cnr4kx38mnd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.5194/gmd-19-9289-2026",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "95cnr4kx38mnd",
  "issns": [
    "1991-9603"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/19/9289/2026/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215051955",
  "pdf_url": "https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/19/9289/2026/gmd-19-9289-2026.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Copernicus GmbH",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/95cnr4kx38mnd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:49Z",
      "native_id": "10.5194/gmd-19-9289-2026",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/19/9289/2026/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Lightning and Electromagnetic Phenomena",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Relativistic runaway electron avalanches: unified density-dependent scaling and transport",
  "title_text": "Relativistic runaway electron avalanches: unified density-dependent scaling and transport",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:49Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/95cnr4kx38mnd",
  "venue": "Geoscientific Model Development",
  "versions": [
    {
      "doi": "10.5194/egusphere-2026-2078",
      "pid": null,
      "relation": "preprint",
      "title": null,
      "venue": null
    }
  ]
}