Sprites produced by quasi-electrostatic heating and ionization in the lower ionosphere
- STAR Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, California (United States)
- XCM, Computational Science Methods, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (United States)
Quasi-electrostatic (QE) fields that temporarily exist at high altitudes following the sudden removal (e.g., by a lightning discharge) of thundercloud charge at low altitudes lead to ambient electron heating (up to {approximately}5eV average energy), ionization of neutrals, and excitation of optical emissions in the mesosphere/lower ionosphere. Model calculations predict the possibility of significant (several orders of magnitude) modification of the lower ionospheric conductivity in the form of depletions of electron density due to dissociative attachment to O{sub 2} molecules and/or in the form of enhancements of electron density due to breakdown ionization. Results indicate that the optical emission intensities of the 1st positive band of N{sub 2} corresponding to fast ({approximately}1ms) removal of 100{endash}300 C of thundercloud charge from 10 km altitude are in good agreement with observations of the upper part ({open_quotes}head{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}hair{close_quotes} [{ital Sentman} {ital et al.}, 1995]) of the sprites. The typical region of brightest optical emission has horizontal and vertical dimensions {approximately}10km, centered at altitudes 70 km and is interpreted as the head of the sprite. The model also shows the formation of low intensity glow ({open_quotes}hair{close_quotes}) above this region due to the excitation of optical emissions at altitudes {approximately}85km during {approximately}500{mu}s at the initial stage of the lightning discharge. Comparison of the optical emission intensities of the 1st and 2nd positive bands of N{sub 2}, Meinel and 1st negative bands of N{sub 2}{sup +}, and 1st negative band of O{sub 2}{sup +} demonstrates that the 1st positive band of N{sub 2} is the dominating optical emission in the altitude range around {approximately}70km, which accounts for the observed red color of sprites, in excellent agreement with recent spectroscopic observations of sprites. (Abstract Truncated)
- OSTI ID:
- 530064
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 102, Issue A3; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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