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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L14812,
doi:10.1029/2008GL033984,
2008
Rare measurements of a sprite with halo event driven by a negative lightning discharge over Argentina
M. J. Taylor
Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
M. A. Bailey
Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
P. D. Pautet
Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA
S. A. Cummer
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
N. Jaugey
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
J. N. Thomas
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA National Geomagnetism Program, USGS, Denver, Colorado, USA
N. N. Solorzano
Physics Department, Digipen Institute of Technology, Redmond, Washington, USA
F. Sao Sabbas
National Institute of Space Research, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil
R. H. Holzworth
Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
O. Pinto
National Institute of Space Research, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil
N. J. Schuch
Brazilian Southern Regional Space Research Center, Santa Maria, Brazil
Abstract
As
part of a collaborative campaign to investigate Transient Luminous
Events (TLEs) over South America, coordinated optical, ELF/VLF, and
lightning measurements were made of a mesoscale thunderstorm observed
on February 22–23, 2006 over northern Argentina that produced 445 TLEs
within a ∼6 hour period. Here, we report comprehensive measurements of
one of these events, a sprite with halo that was unambiguously
associated with a large negative cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning
discharge with an impulsive vertical charge moment change (ΔMQv) of −503
C.km. This event was similar in its location, morphology and duration
to other positive TLEs observed from this storm. However, the downward
extent of the negative streamers was limited to 25 km, and their
apparent brightness was lower than that of a comparable positive event.
Observations of negative CG events are rare, and these measurements
provide further evidence that sprites can be driven by upward as well
as downward electric fields, as predicted by the conventional breakdown
mechanism.
Received 13
March
2008;
accepted 23
June
2008;
published 29
July
2008.
Keywords: atmospheric lightning;
mesospheric sprites;
negative charge moments.
Index Terms: 3304
Atmospheric Processes: Atmospheric electricity; 3360 Atmospheric
Processes: Remote sensing; 3332 Atmospheric Processes: Mesospheric
dynamics; 3329 Atmospheric Processes: Mesoscale meteorology.
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Citation: Taylor, M. J., et al.
(2008),
Rare measurements of a sprite with halo event driven by a negative lightning discharge over Argentina,
Geophys. Res. Lett.,
35,
L14812,
doi:10.1029/2008GL033984.
Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.
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