Model studies on chemical effects of sprites in the mesosphere in relation with satellite measurements

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The aim of this project is to investigate chemical perturbations due to sprites by means of numerical modelling, and comparisons with satellite observations. Until recently, there were no measurements of the chemical impact of single sprites. The detection of mesospheric HO2 enhancements by the SMILES instrument are the first direct observations of chemical sprite effects, and provide a unique opportunity to test our understanding of the chemical processes in sprites. Almost all previous model studies on this topic used box models (chemistry only, neglecting any atmospheric transport). As the SMILES measurements are taken between 1.5 and 4.5 hours after the sprite events, and at distances of 20 to 180 km from the sprite locations, it will be necessary to perform chemistry-transport simulations in order to quantitatively compare with the observations. A sprite chemistry and transport model will be developed, and used to simulate sprites corresponding to the SMILES measurements. A model-measurement comparison will be carried out in collaboration with the working group of Professor Yasuko Kasai (Tokyo Institute of Technology).