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Lightning Related Transient Luminous Events at High Altitude in the Earth’s Atmosphere: Phenomenology, Mechanisms and Effects

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Abstract

This paper presents a literature survey on the recent developments related to experimental and modeling studies of transient luminous events (TLEs) in the middle atmosphere termed elves, sprites and jets that are produced in association with thunderstorm activity at tropospheric altitudes. The primary emphasis is placed on publications that appeared in refereed literature starting from year 2008 and up to the present date. The survey covers general phenomenology of TLEs and their relationships to characteristics of individual thunderstorms and lightning, physical mechanisms and modeling of TLEs, past, present and future orbital observations of TLEs, and their chemical, energetic and electric effects on local and global scales.

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  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Communications and Space Sciences Laboratory (CSSL), The Pennsylvania State University, 211B Electrical Engineering East, University Park, PA, 16802-2706, USA

    Victor P. Pasko

  2. Department of Life and Natural Sciences, The Open University of Israel, 1 University Road, Ra’anana, 43107, Israel

    Yoav Yair

  3. Department of Physics, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, University Road, Tainan, 70101, Taiwan

    Cheng-Ling Kuo

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Pasko, V.P., Yair, Y. & Kuo, CL. Lightning Related Transient Luminous Events at High Altitude in the Earth’s Atmosphere: Phenomenology, Mechanisms and Effects. Space Sci Rev 168, 475–516 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-011-9813-9

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