Development of a Field-Deployable Observational System for Characterizing Lightning in Sprite-Producing Storms

Abstract

This grant supported the initial development of a deployable system for determining the structure of lightning discharges in three spatial dimensions and time. The purpose of this was to utilize the system to characterize lightning discharges that initiate sprites in the upper atmosphere. The grant also supported observations of sprites themselves using low-light-level video cameras and studies which identified charge transfer occurring within the sprite itself. This work resulted in the first high-speed video observations of sprites and the first recognition that significant charge transfer was occurring in sprites. Finally, it provided partial support for improving dual-polarization radar techniques for observing storms.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 05, 1998
Accession Number
ADA359325

Entities

People

  • Paul R. Krehbiel

Organizations

  • New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Atmospheres
  • Cameras
  • Charge Transfer
  • Lightning
  • Low Light Levels
  • Meteorological Phenomena
  • Meteorology
  • New Mexico
  • Observation
  • Polarization
  • Storms
  • Three Dimensional
  • Thunderstorms
  • Video
  • Video Cameras

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Image Processing and Computer Vision.