Stanford University Sprites 1998 Campaign
During July-August 1998, the
VLF group of the
Space, Telecommunications and Radioscience (STAR)
Laboratory of Stanford University,
in collaboration with
Professor Paul Krehbiel and
Mark Stanley of the Physics Department of
New Mexico Tech
is undertaking high-resolution
optical and radio measurements of
sprites, elves and related
upper atmospheric phenomena, using specially designed instruments
deployed atop South Baldy Peak's (11,000 ft high)
Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research
near Socorro, NM.
Two unique optical instruments are deployed for targeted measurements of
features of sprites and elves that are deemed most important in terms of
physical understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these phenomena,
as well as their effects on the mesosphere and the lower ionosphere
overlying active thunderstorms. In addition, very low frequency strip
holographic imaging of associated ionospheric disturbances are being
conducted using the
Holographic Array for Ionospheric Lightning (HAIL),
involving a north-south array of ten stations deployed between Cheyenne,
Wyoming and Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The two optical instruments currently deployed at Langmuir Labs are:
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Dobsonian Sprite Experiment (DSE)
is a 16-inch wide, 6-ft tall telescope
with a field-of-view of 0.7 degrees, which is boresighted with a wide
field-of-view video camera. The DSE provides a resolution of about
10 meters at a range of 500-km, and is targeted at measurement of
streamer structure predicted to exist in sprites. The telescopic imaging
conducted with the DSE represents the highest spatial resolution measurement
to date of sprites, elves and related atmospheric phenomena, and
complements other
ground- and aircraft-based measurements
being carried out durign Summer 1998.
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The Fly's Eye is an
array of photomultipier tubes designed to time-resolve the horizontal
development of intense sub-millisecond ionospheric optical flashes
that have come to be known as "elves". The Fly's Eye was designed
and built at Stanford University and deployed during the
1996 and 1997 Sprites Campaigns. For this year, a new trigger
mechanism has been designed to specifically capture elves produced
by negative cloud-to-ground and intracloud discharges, as well as
conduct simultaneous measurements of the same points in the sky with
blue and red filters. In addition, the Fly's Eye photometer constellation
will be used in conjunction with the Dobsonian Sprite Experiment,
to resolve temporal features of streamers and other sprite features
observed in telescopic field-of-view.
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Last updated July 14, 1998
cpbl@stanford.edu