Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 225, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105760
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Estimating the electron energy and the strength of the electric field within sprites using ground-based optical data observed over South African storms
AU - Nnadih, S.
AU - Kosch, M.
AU - Mlynarczyk, J.
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 225, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105760
PY - 2021/11/15
Y1 - 2021/11/15
N2 - We present a new simplified method to estimate the characteristic electron energy and electric field within a mesospheric transient luminous event using ground-based calibrated and filtered optical data. We assume non-relativistic motion, a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, a model of the electron-neutral collision frequency, elastic electron collisions, that the collisional excitation cross-section can be assigned to a single value, and that each electron-neutral collision produces one photon on average. Example observations of carrot sprites over South Africa give estimated electron energy of 4.6–4.9 ± 0.03 eV, which compares favourably with previous similar results using more sophisticated methods. Ideally, two wavelengths should be observed simultaneously but we show a good estimate is possible with only the bright N2(1 PG) red emission.
AB - We present a new simplified method to estimate the characteristic electron energy and electric field within a mesospheric transient luminous event using ground-based calibrated and filtered optical data. We assume non-relativistic motion, a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, a model of the electron-neutral collision frequency, elastic electron collisions, that the collisional excitation cross-section can be assigned to a single value, and that each electron-neutral collision produces one photon on average. Example observations of carrot sprites over South Africa give estimated electron energy of 4.6–4.9 ± 0.03 eV, which compares favourably with previous similar results using more sophisticated methods. Ideally, two wavelengths should be observed simultaneously but we show a good estimate is possible with only the bright N2(1 PG) red emission.
KW - Lightning discharges
KW - Sprites electron energy
KW - Mesosphere
KW - Thunderstorms
U2 - 10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105760
DO - 10.1016/j.jastp.2021.105760
M3 - Journal article
VL - 225
JO - Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
JF - Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics
SN - 1364-6826
M1 - 105760
ER -