In-situ Electrodynamics over Sprite Producing Storms

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This award supports the development and flight of four balloon payloads over mesoscale convective complexes located in the central region of South America. The purpose of these flights conducted through the support of the Brazilian balloon launch facilities is to obtain measurements pertaining to the production of Bremstralung X-rays that might be produced in the course of sprite events. Detection of these X-rays would determine the importance of runaway electrons in the development of sprite emissions, a basic assumption in current models that has not been verified through measurements. Additional balloon measurements would acquire a determination of the background distribution of vector electric and magnetic field distribution generated by the thunderstorm activity. Optical documentation of sprite events would be achieved through the application of high speed optical imaging of sprite emissions that would be flown on a Brazilian aircraft that will be located some 50 to 200 kms away from the thunderstorm activity. These results would be compared with model predictions of sprite events as revised to correspond to the electrical characteristics of the storm observed.