Supercelles and sprites

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Volumn 89, Issue 8, 2008, Pages 1165-1174

  Lyons, Walter A ^a   Cummer, Steven A ^b   Stanley, Mark A ^a   Huffines, Gary R ^c   Wiens, Kyle C ^d   Nelson, Thomas E ^a  

^a FMA Research Incorporated   (United States)

^b DUKE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO   (United States)

^d TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ELECTRIC BREAKDOWN; ELECTRIC UTILITIES; STORMS; TURBULENT FLOW;

CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING; MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS; PEAK CURRENTS; POSITIVE POLARITY; RARE EVENTS; RETURN STROKES; SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ELECTRIFICATION AND PRECIPITATION STUDY; SQUALL LINES; SUPERCELLS; TRANSIENT LUMINOUS EVENTS;

LIGHTNING PROTECTION;

EID: 53749102469     PISSN: 00030007     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1175/2008BAMS2439.1     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. Barrington-Leigh, C. P., U. S. Inan, M. Stanley, and S. A. Cummer, 1999: Sprites directly triggered by negative lightning discharges. Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3605-3608.
2. Boccippio, D. J., E. R. Williams, W. A. Lyons, I. Baker, and R. Boldi, 1995: Sprites, ELF transients and positive ground strokes. Science, 269, 1088-1091.
3. Cummer, S. A., and W. A. Lyons, 2004: Lightning charge moment changes in U.S. High Plains thunderstorms. Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L05114, doi:10.1029/2003GL019043.
4. Cummer, S. A., and W. A. Lyons, 2005: Implications of impulse charge moment changes in sprite-producing and non-sprite-producing lightning. J. Geophys. Res., 110, A04304, doi:10.1029.2004JA010812.
5. Franz, R. C., R. J. Nemzek, and J.R. Winckler, 1990: Television image of a large upward electrical discharge above a thunderstorm system. Science, 249, 48-51.
6. Frey, H. U., and Coauthors, 2005: Beta-type stepped leaders of elve-producing lightning. Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L13824, doi:10.1029/2005GL023080.
7. Hu, W., S. Cummer, W. A. Lyons, and T. E. Nelson, 2002: Lightning charge moment changes for the initiation of sprites. Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 1279, doi:10.1029/2001GLO14593.
8. Huang, E., E. Williams, R. Boldi, S. Heckman, W. Lyons, M. Taylor, T. Nelson, and C. Wong, 1999: Criteria for sprites and elves based on Schumann resonance observations. J. Geophys. Res., 104, 16 943-16 964.
9. Jacobson, E. A., and E. P. Krider, 1976: Electrostatic field changes produced by Florida lightning. J. Atmos. Sci., 33, 103-110.
10. Lang, T., and Coauthors, 2004: The Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study (STEPS). Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85, 1107-1125.
11. Lyons, W. A., 1994: Low-light video observations of frequent luminous structures in the stratosphere above thunderstorms. Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 1940-1946.
12. Lyons, W. A., 1996: Sprite observations above the U.S. High Plains in relation to their parent thunderstorm Systems. J. Geophys. Res., 101, 29 641-29 652.
13. Lyons, W. A., M. Uliasz, and T. E. Nelson, 1998: Climatology of large peak current cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in the contiguous United States. Mon. Wea. Rev., 126, 2217-2233.
14. Lyons, W. A., T. E. Nelson, E. R. Williams, S. A. Cummer, and M. A. Stanley, 2003a: Characteristics of sprite-producing positive cloud-to-ground lightning during the 19 July STEPS mesoscale convective systems. Mon. Wea. Rev., 131, 2417-2427.
15. Lyons, W. A., T. E. Nelson, R. A. Armstrong, V. P. Pasko, and M. Stanley, 2003b: Upward electrical discharges from the tops of thunderstorms. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 84, 445-454.
16. Lyons, W. A., L. M. Andersen, T. E. Nelson, and G. R. Huffines, 2006: Characteristics of sprite-producing electrical storms in the STEPS 2000 domain. Preprints, Second Conf. on Meteorological Applications of Lightning Data, Atlanta, GA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 5.4. (Available online at http://confex.com/ams/pdfpapers/99787.pdf.]
17. Marshall, T. C., M. Stolzenburg, and W. D. Rust, 1996: Electric field measurements above mesoscale convective systems. J. Geophys. Res., 101, 6979-6996.
18. Mazur, V., X.-M. Shao, and P. R. Krehbiel, 1998: "Spider" lightning in intracloud and positive cloud-to-ground flashes. J. Geophys. Res., 103, 19 811-19 822.
19. Orville, R. E., and G. R. Huffines, 2001: Cloud-to-ground lightning in the United States: NLDN results in the first decade, 1989-98. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, 1179-1193.
20. Pasko, V. P., U. S. Inan, and T. F. Bell, 1996: Sprites as luminous columns of ionization produced by quasi-electrostatic thundercloud fields. Geophys. Res. Lett., 23, 649-652.
21. Rakov, V. A., and M. A. Uman, 2003: Lightning: Physics and Effects. Cambridge University Press, 687 pp.
22. Rust, D. W.., and D. R. MacGorman, 2002: Possibly inverted-polarity electrical structures in thunderstorms during STEPS. Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 1571, doi:10.1029/2001GL014303.
23. Schuur, T. J., and S. A. Rutledge, 4000: Electrification of stratiform regions in mesoscale convective systems. Part I: An observational comparison of symmetric and asymmetric MCSs. J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 1961-1982.
24. Sentman, D. D., E. M. Wescott, D. L. Osborne, D. L. Hampton, and M. J. Heavner, 1995: Preliminary results from the Sprites94 aircraft campaign: 1. Red sprites. Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 1205-1208.
25. Stanley, M., P. Krehbiel, M. Brook, C. Moore, and W. Rison, 1999: High speed video of initial sprite development. Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 3201-3204.
26. Stolzenburg, M., 1994: Observation of high ground flash densities of positive lightning in summertime thunderstorms. Mon. Wea. Rev., 122, 1740-1750.
27. Thomas, R. J., P. R. Krehbiel, W. Rison, S. J. Hunyady, W. P. Winn, T. Hamlin, and J. Harlin, 2004: Accuracy of the lightning mapping array. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D14207, doi:10.1029/2004JD004549.
28. van der Velde, O. A., W. A. Lyons, T. E. Nelson, S. A. Cummer, J. Li, and J. Bunnell, 2007: Analysis of the first gigantic jet recorded over continental North America. J. Geophys. Res., 112, D20104, doi:10.1029/2007JD008575.
29. Wiens, K. C., S. A. Rutledge, and S. A. Tessendorf, 2005: The 29 June supercell observed during STEPS. Part II: Lightning and charge structure. J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 4151-4177.
30. Williams, E. R., 1998: The positive charge reservoir for sprite-producing lightning. J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys., 60, 689-692.
31. Williams, E. R., 2001: Sprites, elves, and glow discharge tubes. Phys. Today, 54, 41-47.
32. Williams, E. R., E. Downes, R. Boldi, W. Lyons, and S. Heckman, 2007: Polarity asymmetry of sprite-producing lightning: A paradox? Radio Sci., 42, RS2S17, doi:10.1029/2006RS003488.
33. Wilson, C. T. R., 1925: The electric field of a thunderstorm and some of its effects. Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 37, 32D-37D.