High altitude atmospheric discharges according to the runaway air breakdown mechanism
High altitude optical transients - red sprites, blue jets, and elves - are modeled in the context of the relativistic electron runaway air breakdown mechanism. These emissions are usually associated with large mesoscale convective systems (hereafter MCS). In thunderstorms cloud electrification proceeds over a time scale long enough to permit the conducting atmosphere above the cloud to polarize and short out the thunderstorm electric field. When a lightning strike rapidly neutralizes a cloud charge layer runaway driving fields can develop in the stratosphere and mesosphere. According to present simulations of the full runaway process the variety of observed optical emissions are due to the nature of the normal lightning event in the MCS that kick starts the runaway avalanche. In this paper the authors describe some details of the model, present the results of the evolution of the primary electron population, and summarize the initial conditions necessary for different types of discharges. Two companion papers present (a) the predicted optical, gamma ray, and radio emissions caused by these electrical discharges, and (b) the time evolution of the secondary electron population and its implications in terms of observables.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 484525
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-97-342; CONF-970724-3; ON: DE97004773; TRN: 97:003835
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 23. international conference on phenomena in ionized gases, Toulouse (France), 17-22 Jul 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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