Elves: Lightning‐induced transient luminous events in the lower ionosphere
Authors:
Open Access
- 1 August 1996
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 23 (16) , 2157-2160
Abstract
Observations of optical phenomena at high altitude above thunderstorms using a multichannel high‐speed photometer and image intensified CCD cameras were carried out at Yucca Ridge Field Station (40°40′N, 104°, 56′W), Colorado as part of the SPRITES'95 campaign from 15 June to August 6, 1995. These new measurements indicate that diffuse optical flashes with a duration of < 1 ms and a horizontal scale of ∼100–300 km occur at 75–105 km altitude in the lower ionosphere just after the onset of cloud‐to‐ground lightning discharges, but preceding the onset of sprites. Here we designate these events as “elves” to distinguish them from “red sprites”. This finding is consistent with the production of diffuse optical emissions due to the heating of the lower ionosphere by electromagnetic pulses generated by lightning discharges as suggested by several authors.Keywords
This publication has 18 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sprite spectra; N2 1 PG band identificationGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- Preliminary results from the Sprites94 Aircraft Campaign: 1. Red spritesGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- Preliminary results from the Sprites94 Aircraft Campaign: 2. Blue jetsGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- Lightning driven EMP in the upper atmosphereGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- Heating, ionization and upward discharges in the mesosphere, due to intense quasi‐electrostatic thundercloud fieldsGeophysical Research Letters, 1995
- Observations of lightning in the stratosphereJournal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 1995
- Characteristics of luminous structures in the stratosphere above thunderstorms as imaged by low‐light videoGeophysical Research Letters, 1994
- The interaction with the lower ionosphere of electromagnetic pulses from lightning: Excitation of optical emissionsGeophysical Research Letters, 1993
- Lightning induced brightening in the airglow layerGeophysical Research Letters, 1992
- Heating and ionization of the lower ionosphere by lightningGeophysical Research Letters, 1991