Ground Observation of Negative Sprites Over a Tropical Thunderstorm as the Embryo of Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Wang, Yongping; Lu, Gaopeng; Cummer, S. A.; Lucena, Frankie; Cohen, M. B.; Ren, H.; Li, Jiagen; Cheng, Z. W.; Zhang, Shoubao

doi:10.1029/2021gl094032

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Red sprites are one primary category of transient luminous events (TLEs) appearing at altitudes of 50-90 km in the near space that are believed to be caused by intense tropospheric lightning (Pasko et al, 1997;Huang et al, 1999). In the past 3 decades, the efforts of many researchers all over the world, including numerous amateurs, have confirmed that red sprites are a fairly common phenomenon that could be produced by energetic cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning strokes spawned by various types of thunderstorms (Lyons, 1996;Huang et al, 2018a, Huang et al 2018bWang et al, 2021b, Wang et al 2021c. Coordinated observations combining with the measurement of radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields radiated by sprite-producing lightning strokes have revealed many details regarding the mechanism of sprite formation in the mesosphere (e.g., Li et al, 2012;Cummer et al, 2013;Ren et al, 2019;Kuo et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast between continental and oceanic thunderstorms in producing red sprites and halos

Peng²,

Tang³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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The observations of transient luminous events from space-borne platform extend our exploration on the mysteries of sprite phenomenology from continental thunderstorms to oceanic thunderstorms. By combining with ground-based measurements of causative strokes for hundreds of red sprites observed by the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightnings (ISUAL) during 2004–2016, there is a consensus that negative cloud-to-ground (CG) strokes spawned by oceanic thunderstorms are more readily to produce sprites. The existing ground-based observations in both Caribbean Sea and near the coast of South China, mainly due to the contributions from numerous amateurs, are generally consistent with the implications of ISUAL observations. However, the physical mechanisms that might cause the enhancement of negative CG strength in the ocean remain not completely understood. There have been analyses on several cases of oceanic thunderstorms abundant in producing negative sprites. It seems that the production of negative sprites heavily depends on the size of parent thunderstorms, and they are often generated by thunderstorm conditions that are also favorable for gigantic jets.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contrast between continental and oceanic thunderstorms in producing red sprites and halos

Peng²,

Tang³

et al. 2022

Front. Earth Sci.

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“…Simultaneous optical observations of sprites and electromagnetic measurements of lightning radiation indicated that the morphological features of sprites are closely related to the polarities and discharge process of their causative CG strokes (e.g., Lu et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2021). Numerical studies have shown the polarity asymmetry of sprites produced by + CGs and – CGs, namely, “positive sprites” and “negative sprites” (Qin et al., 2011, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sprite Distribution of Different Polarities From ISUAL Observations With Machine Learning Method

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2022

JGR Atmospheres

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The morphological features of sprites are closely related to the polarity of their causative lightning strokes. Using the machine learning method, we develop a model with an accuracy of 93.8% to identify the polarity of sprite‐producing cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning strokes for events recorded during the Imager of Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) mission. Approximately 17% of the sprites are identified to be produced by negative CG lightning strokes. The global distribution of the polarity of sprite‐producing CG lightning strokes suggests that the ratio of sprites produced by negative CG lightning strokes relative to sprites produced by positive ones varies with latitude and sea‐land distribution. Sprites produced by negative CG lightning strokes appear to be generated in the tropical regions below 20° latitude and the oceanic area. Moreover, the proportion of sprites produced by negative CG lightning strokes over Africa and North America are much smaller than that over the rest of the continents and the sea.

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A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China from 2019 to 2022

et al. 2023

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Ground Observation of Negative Sprites Over a Tropical Thunderstorm as the Embryo of Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Cited by 5 publications

References 55 publications

Contrast between continental and oceanic thunderstorms in producing red sprites and halos

Contrast between continental and oceanic thunderstorms in producing red sprites and halos

Sprite Distribution of Different Polarities From ISUAL Observations With Machine Learning Method

A Review of Atmospheric Electricity Research in China from 2019 to 2022

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