A Display of Lights Above the Storm   
       
   In 2015, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen was onboard   
   the International Space Station (ISS), photographing the tops of thunderstorms   
   from Earth orbit.  And he saw something very interesting indeed.   
       
   Blue jets.   
       
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=sQH6Oo4hn94   
       
   Blue jets are a type of Transient Luminous Event (TLE), flashes and glows that   
   appear above storms that are results of activity occurring in and below those   
   storms. Blue Jets pulse from the tops of intense thunderstorms and reach up   
   toward the edge of space.   
       
   In January 2017 researchers at Denmark's National Space Institute published   
   their analysis of his observations in Geophysical Research Letters. Mogensen   
   was able to capture clear video as the station flew over the Bay of Bengal,   
   and they were amazed by what that video showed.   
       
   Olivier Chanrion, lead author of the publication reported that "During   
   160?seconds of video footage, 245 pulsating blue discharges were observed,   
   corresponding to a rate of about 90 per minute." One of the blue jets observed   
   reached 25 miles (40 km) above sea level.   
       
   Visual evidence of TLEs wasn't available until 1989. Early evidence included   
   red sprites photographed by cameras onboard the space shuttle, and photographs   
   taken during a NASA and University of Alaska airborne campaign. Red sprites   
   are glows in the upper atmosphere, tied to the presence of large lightning   
   flashes but not attached to the clouds themselves. In recent years the ISS has   
   afforded astronauts the opportunity to photograph a number of natural light   
   shows produced at the tops of thunderstorms.   
       
   A 2013 study by researchers from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic   
   Energy Commission analyzed pictures from the NASA Crew Earth Observations   
   Facility aboard the station. The pictures revealed 15 sprites and their parent   
   lightning flashes. In August 2015 the Expedition 44 crew onboard the station   
   photographed red sprites over two different storms within 3 minutes of one   
   another, first over the American mid-west and then near the coast of El   
   Salvador. These sprites reached as high as 62 miles (100 km) above the surface   
   of the Earth.   
       
   All of these studies are contributing to researchers' understanding of   
   lightning and thunderstorms, how they form and develop over time, and why   
   storms produce different TLEs in different circumstances. However according to   
   Tim Lang, atmospheric scientist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, "TLE   
   studies have been, to an extent, fortunate observation. We've gotten better at   
   finding them, but it's mostly case-based analysis."   
       
   NASA and partner agencies are advancing in their efforts to make continuous   
   storm observations. NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) was installed on the   
   International Space Station in February 2017 as part of the DoD Space Test   
   Program. LIS on the station is the latest in a line of instruments used to   
   locate and detect lightning over a large region of the Earth's surface. The   
   Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) will be installed outside   
   Europe's Columbus laboratory on the ISS later this year. Torsten Neubert, ASIM   
   Principal Investigator says, "The instruments will monitor thunderstorms and   
   their effects on Earth's atmosphere, gathering information about Blue Jets and   
   other TLEs, as well as flashes of X- and Gamma-rays." LIS and ASIM will be   
   providing data that gives researchers the opportunity to analyze storms from   
   both below and above. All of these studies are adding to our knowledge of how   
   storms evolve and change, helping improve storm models that could lead to   
   better predictions and forecasts.   
       
   For more science from above the clouds visit www.nasa.gov/station   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + PQUSA   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)