Open AccessResearch Spotlight: New observations of blue sprite spectra
Author(s) -
Kumar Mohi,
Ofori Leslie,
Tretkoff Ernie
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/eo091i032p00288-04
Subject(s) - sprite (computer graphics) , spectrograph , spectral line , optics , physics , ionosphere , geology , meteorology , geophysics , astronomy , computer science , computer graphics (images)
Sprite lightning, a striking and unusual type of lightning that occurs in the upper atmosphere above thunderclouds, consists of a main portion, usually red, and thin tendril‐like streamers that emanate from the main portion. These have a streamer head, followed by a column‐shaped glow. Kanmae et al. captured several images of sprite streamers using a high‐speed spectrograph at 10,000 frames per second in August 2009. The new observations have greater spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution than previous studies.