Characterization of Lighting which Produces Mesospheric Transient Luminous Events (Sprites and Elves)

瞬态发光事件（TLEs），如红色精灵，蓝色喷流和精灵是新发现的现象，对流层的电活动与平流层和中间层。 这些现象几乎总是与正的云对地闪电有关，它发生的频率低于负电荷闪电。 已知有两种主要的风暴类型会产生正闪电，即超级单体风暴和夜间中尺度对流系统。 2000年初夏在堪萨斯西部进行的STEPS项目（严重雷暴电气化和降水研究）将提供关于这些风暴类型的广泛信息，包括双多普勒和偏振雷达观测、飞机微物理测量、高分辨率闪电图和气球载电场测量。 该研究项目有助于STEPS通过记录和表征TLEs以上的风暴使用光学，声学和无线电方法。 目标是确定产生TLE的风暴和不产生TLE的风暴之间的物理差异。 这些数据也将被用来确定舒曼共振测量在多大程度上可以在遥远的地方发现精灵和精灵。

Transient luminous events (TLEs) such as red sprites, blue jets, and elves are newly discovered phenomena that link tropospheric electrical activity with the stratosphere and mesosphere. These phenomena are almost always associated with positive cloud-to-ground lightning, which occurs less frequently than negatively charged lightning. Two major storm types are known to produce positive lightning, namely supercell storms and nocturnal mesoscale convective systems. The STEPS project (SevereThunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study), conducted in western Kansas in the early summer of 2000, will provide extensive information on these storm types, including dual-Doppler and polarimetric radar observations, aircraft microphysical measurements, high-resolution lightning maps, and balloon-borne measurements of the electrical field. This research project contributes to STEPS by documenting and characterizing TLEs above the storms using optical, acoustical, and radio methods. The goal is to determine the physical differences between storms that produce TLEs and those that do not. The data will also be used to determine to what extent Schumann resonance measurements at sites far away can detect sprites and elves.