Radiative emission and energy deposition in transient luminous events

Kuo, Cheng-Ling; Chen, A. B.; Chou, Jung-Hua; Tsai, Lin; Hsu, R.; Su, H.; Frey, H. U.; Mende, S. B.; Takahashi, Yasuhiro; Lee, L. C.

doi:10.1088/0022-3727/41/23/234014

Cited by 55 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…The ISUAL payload globally surveys transient luminous events (TLEs) and other luminous emissions in the upper atmosphere with a side-looking view from the 891 km altitude orbit [Chern et al, 2003;Mende et al, 2005]. Using the satellite information recorded with the TLE events, the altitude and location of the events can be determined by assuming that the bright center of the observed accompanying lightning-illuminated cloud has a height of 10 km [Kuo et al, 2008].…”

Section: The Payload and The Formosat-2 Tle Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The 762 nm emissions of sprites

et al. 2011

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[1] We report the 762 nm emissions in sprites recorded by the ISUAL experiment onboard the FORMOSAT-2 satellite. The 762 nm imager filter is centered at 763.3 nm with a 7 nm bandwidth at 50% transmittance. Sprite emissions in this passband include the N 2 first positive (1PN 2 ) bands, (2, 0) and (3, 1), the O 2 atmospheric (atm) band (0, 0), and the hydroxyl (4, 0) emissions. Because these mixed emissions cannot be resolved in the 762 nm narrowband filter, a zero-dimensional plasma chemistry model is used to estimate the expected relative intensities of these emission bands in sprites. The computed 1PN 2 brightness in a single streamer is 1.4 MR and 2.6 kR for the O 2 atm band emissions at frame integration times of 30 ms. In the 762 nm passband, the 1PN 2 emissions are the dominant emissions in sprites, and the ratio of 1PN 2 to O 2 atmospheric emissions is ∼500, while the hydroxyl emissions can be neglected. In this ISUAL 762 nm campaign, the brightest sprite out of the four recorded events has possible O 2 atm band emissions that lasted more than 90 ms, and its observed brightness is consistent with the model prediction. Even though the lightning 762 nm emissions are strongly absorbed by O 2 below 60 km, the ISUAL observed parent lightning emissions in this passband are still more than a factor of two brighter than those from ISUAL observed sprites. Hence for spacecraft nadir TLE detection missions, 762 nm bands may not be used as the sole signature to identify sprites, and auxiliary emission bands are needed.

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Section: The Payload and The Formosat-2 Tle Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 1 shows the theoretical rotational-vibrational spectrum of 1PN 2 , which was computed based on the work of Kuo et al [2008]. The assumed rotational temperature, 220 K, is the ambient temperature of the neutral species at 70 km altitude [Brasseur and Solomon, 1986].…”

Section: Sprite Emissions In the 762 Nm Passbandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The 762 nm emissions of sprites

et al. 2011

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“…where ( ) I k m is the band emission from N 2 1P or N 2 LBH given in the work by Kuo et al (2008), and ( ) R m is the relative sensor response function is shown in Fig. 1…”

Section: Instruments and Data Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transmittance calculation follows Lambert's law and the parameters are the same as that used in a work by Kuo et al (2008 and the references therein). The quenching factor q k (h) is defined by the same formula and parameters used in a work by Kuo et al (2008, and the references therein). The band contribution B k for the chosen events that occurred at 90 km is shown in Fig.…”

Section: Instruments and Data Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The far-ultraviolet (FUV) emissions emitted by transient luminous events (TLEs) originated in the Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) band of nitrogen molecule N 2 . From the ISUAL data analyses, it is known that elves Kuo et al 2007Kuo et al , 2008Chang et al 2010), halos Kuo et al 2008), sprites (Kuo et al 2005Liu and Pasko 2005;Liu et al 2006), and gigantic jets (Kuo et al , 2009Chou et al 2010) are accompanied by FUV emissions. However, blue jets without the FUV emission were also reported (Chou et al 2010) as the longer life time of the N 2 LBH band upper state results in quenching at the lower altitudes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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ISUAL Imager and far-ultraviolet spectrophotometer degradation

Chang

Hsu

et al. 2017

Terr. Atmos. Ocean. Sci.

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The Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) has been operated for more than ten years. The onboard spectrophotometer channel-1 (SP1) was designed to detect the far-ultraviolet (FUV) emissions (N 2 Lyman-Birge-Hopfield band) from space. It was found that most of the transient luminous events (TLEs), such as sprites, halos, elves, and gigantic jets, are usually accompanied by FUV emissions. The FUV emission could be utilized as an indicator for searching TLEs because the FUV emission of lightning is severely attenuated in the atmosphere during propagation, although the TLE FUV emissions are still detectable. Furthermore, the elves FUV emission photon flux can also be used to estimate the parent lightning peak current. Therefore, SP1 sensitivity degradation assessment, which affects the observed intensity of FUV emissions, is important. Although ISUAL has a lightemitting diode (LED) which is preset as a standard light source, the emission wavelength range of the LED does not cover the FUV band. We established a method in this study to determine the ISUAL Imager and SP1 sensitivity degradation. We found that the annual degradation rates of the ISUAL Imager and the SP1 are 8.4 and 9.7%, respectively.

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Infrasonic acoustic waves generated by fast air heating in sprite cores

Silva

Pasko

2014

Geophysical Research Letters

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Acceleration, expansion, and branching of sprite streamers can lead to concentration of high electrical currents in regions of space, that are observed in the form of bright sprite cores. Driven by this electrical current, a series of chemical processes take place in the sprite plasma. Excitation, followed by quenching of excited electronic states leads to energy transfer from charged to neutral species. The consequence is heating and expansion of air leading to emission of infrasonic acoustic waves. Results indicate that ≳0.01 Pa pressure perturbations on the ground, observed in association with sprites, can only be produced by exceptionally strong currents in sprite cores, exceeding 2 kA.

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Radiative emission and energy deposition in transient luminous events

Cited by 55 publications

References 51 publications

The 762 nm emissions of sprites

The 762 nm emissions of sprites

ISUAL Imager and far-ultraviolet spectrophotometer degradation

Infrasonic acoustic waves generated by fast air heating in sprite cores

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