They are triggered by the discharges of positive lightning between the thundercloud and the ground. The phenomena were named after the mischievous sprite, e.g., Shakespeare's Ariel or Puck, and is also a bacronym for Stratospheric/mesospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.
What is ionospheric lightning?
Description. Sometimes called upper atmospheric lightning or ionospheric lightning, transient luminous events (TLEs) are short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena/electrically induced forms of luminous plasma that occur well above the altitudes of normal lightning and Cumulonimbus (Cb) clouds.
What are types of high altitude lightning?
Sprites are more than just mythical creatures — they are a mysterious form of lightning that dances near the edge of space. They are reddish bursts of electricity at altitudes of about 50 miles (80 kilometers) that last less than a second but are bright enough to see in daylight.
Does lightning occur in the ionosphere?
Scientists have long known that lightning from thunderstorms can cause perturbations in the lower ionosphere, partially ionizing the layer and creating disturbances in radio frequency communications. These disturbances usually occur over timescales of less than 15 seconds.
What are elves lightning?
Elves are huge red halos that occur high in the atmosphere at around 100 km above active thunderstorms. They can be up to 400 km in diameter and last only about a millisecond. Surprisingly, the existence of elves was predicted before one was actually observed.
What is dark lightning?
Dark lightning is a burst of gamma rays produced during thunderstorms by extremely fast moving electrons colliding with air molecules. Researchers refer to such a burst as a terrestrial gamma ray flash.
What does Ball Lightning look like?
Ball lightning, according to observers, manifests as a bright hissing orb of lightning ranging from 1 to 100 centimeters in diameter that appears during thunderstorms, often levitating above the ground and moving regardless of wind intensity or direction.
What is the rarest type of lightning?
ball lightning ball lightning, also called globe lightning, a rare aerial phenomenon in the form of a luminous sphere that is generally several centimetres in diameter. It usually occurs near the ground during thunderstorms, in close association with cloud-to-ground lightning.
What is Intracloud lightning?
Intra-Cloud: The most common type of lightning. It happens completely inside the cloud, jumping between different charge regions in the cloud. Intra-cloud lightning is sometimes called sheet lightning because it lights up the sky with a 'sheet' of light.
What is pixie lightning?
A series of unusual, white luminous events atop the thunderstorm were observed over a 20-minute period, lasting for an average of 16 milliseconds each. They were later dubbed 'pixies'. They are less than 100 meters across. They are not related to lightning.