Sprites triggered by negative lightning discharges

High altitude air breakdown, manifested as 'red sprites,' is reported in close association with negative cloud-to-ground lightning (-CG) on at least two occasions above an unusual storm on August 29, 1998. Data from high speed photometry, low-light-level video, and receivers of lightning electromagnetic signatures in the frequency range 10 Hz to 20 kHz are used to establish the association and indicate that the causative -CG discharges effected unusually large vertical charge moment changes (ΔM(Qv)) of up to 1550 C·km in 5 ms. The existence of sprites caused by -CG's, rather than the regularly associated +CG's, has immediate implications for sprite models and observations.

Duke Scholars

Author Steven A. Cummer Electrical and Computer Engineering