Streamers and diffuse glow observed in upper atmospheric electrical discharges

Author

Gerken, Elizabeth ; Inan, Umran

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY, USA

Volume

33

Issue

2

fYear

2005

fDate

4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

282

Lastpage

283

Abstract

A telescopic imaging system was designed to observe fine structure in high-altitude lightning-related electrical discharges known as "sprites". Hundreds of sprites were observed and much of the fine structure can be categorized in terms of streamer and diffuse glow discharges. A streamer/diffuse glow transition occurs at varying altitudes and is dependent on the ambient mesospheric/lower ionospheric conductivity profile. Both stationary and dynamic beading is observed and this feature is currently unexplained by prevailing sprite theories.

Keywords

glow discharges; ionosphere; lightning; mesosphere; telescopes; ambient mesospheric conductivity; atmospheric electrical discharges; diffuse glow discharges; dynamic beading; fine structure; lightning; lower ionospheric conductivity; sprites; stationary beading; streamers; telescopic imaging; Cameras; Charge-coupled image sensors; Conductivity; Glow discharges; High-resolution imaging; Ionosphere; Lightning; Sprites (computer); Streaming media; Telescopes; Glow discharges; lightning; sprites; telescopes;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2005.845010

Filename

1420437