Abstract
Acceleration, expansion, and branching of sprite streamers can lead to concentration of high electrical currents in regions of space, that are observed in the form of bright sprite cores. Driven by this electrical current, a series of chemical processes take place in the sprite plasma. Excitation, followed by quenching of excited electronic states leads to energy transfer from charged to neutral species. The consequence is heating and expansion of air leading to emission of infrasonic acoustic waves. Results indicate that ≳0.01 Pa pressure perturbations on the ground, observed in association with sprites, can only be produced by exceptionally strong currents in sprite cores, exceeding 2 kA. Key Points Coupling of plasma and neutral gas dynamics in sprites Mechanism of infrasound radiation from sprites Dependence of infrasound amplitudes on sprite currents
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1789-1795 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 16 2014 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Geophysics
- Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
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Infrasonic acoustic waves generated by fast air heating in sprite cores. / Da Silva, Caitano L.; Pasko, Victor P.
In: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, No. 5, 16.03.2014, p. 1789-1795.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Infrasonic acoustic waves generated by fast air heating in sprite cores
AU - Da Silva, Caitano L.
AU - Pasko, Victor P.
PY - 2014/3/16
Y1 - 2014/3/16
N2 - Acceleration, expansion, and branching of sprite streamers can lead to concentration of high electrical currents in regions of space, that are observed in the form of bright sprite cores. Driven by this electrical current, a series of chemical processes take place in the sprite plasma. Excitation, followed by quenching of excited electronic states leads to energy transfer from charged to neutral species. The consequence is heating and expansion of air leading to emission of infrasonic acoustic waves. Results indicate that ≳0.01 Pa pressure perturbations on the ground, observed in association with sprites, can only be produced by exceptionally strong currents in sprite cores, exceeding 2 kA. Key Points Coupling of plasma and neutral gas dynamics in sprites Mechanism of infrasound radiation from sprites Dependence of infrasound amplitudes on sprite currents
AB - Acceleration, expansion, and branching of sprite streamers can lead to concentration of high electrical currents in regions of space, that are observed in the form of bright sprite cores. Driven by this electrical current, a series of chemical processes take place in the sprite plasma. Excitation, followed by quenching of excited electronic states leads to energy transfer from charged to neutral species. The consequence is heating and expansion of air leading to emission of infrasonic acoustic waves. Results indicate that ≳0.01 Pa pressure perturbations on the ground, observed in association with sprites, can only be produced by exceptionally strong currents in sprite cores, exceeding 2 kA. Key Points Coupling of plasma and neutral gas dynamics in sprites Mechanism of infrasound radiation from sprites Dependence of infrasound amplitudes on sprite currents
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U2 - 10.1002/2013GL059164
DO - 10.1002/2013GL059164
M3 - Article
VL - 41
SP - 1789
EP - 1795
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
SN - 0094-8276
IS - 5
ER -