Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11894087
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| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| lifeskim:mentions | |
| pubmed:issue |
6877
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| pubmed:dateCreated |
2002-3-14
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| pubmed:abstractText |
For over a century, numerous undocumented reports have appeared about unusual large-scale luminous phenomena above thunderclouds and, more than 80 years ago, it was suggested that an electrical discharge could bridge the gap between a thundercloud and the upper atmosphere. Since then, two classes of vertically extensive optical flashes above thunderclouds have been identified-sprites and blue jets. Sprites initiate near the base of the ionosphere, develop very rapidly downwards at speeds which can exceed 107 m s-1 (ref. 15), and assume many different geometrical forms. In contrast, blue jets develop upwards from cloud tops at speeds of the order of 105 m s-1 and are characterized by a blue conical shape. But no experimental data related to sprites or blue jets have been reported which conclusively indicate that they establish a direct path of electrical contact between a thundercloud and the lower ionosphere. Here we report a video recording of a blue jet propagating upwards from a thundercloud to an altitude of about 70 km, taken at the Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico. Above an altitude of 42 km-normally the upper limit for blue jets and the lower terminal altitude for sprites-the flash exhibited some features normally observed in sprites. As we observed this phenomenon above a relatively small thunderstorm cell, we speculate that it may be common and therefore represent an unaccounted for component of the global electric circuit.
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| pubmed:language |
eng
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| pubmed:journal | |
| pubmed:status |
PubMed-not-MEDLINE
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| pubmed:month |
Mar
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| pubmed:issn |
0028-0836
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| pubmed:author | |
| pubmed:issnType |
Print
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| pubmed:day |
14
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| pubmed:volume |
416
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| pubmed:owner |
NLM
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| pubmed:authorsComplete |
Y
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| pubmed:pagination |
152-4
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| pubmed:dateRevised |
2003-11-3
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| pubmed:year |
2002
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| pubmed:articleTitle |
Electrical discharge from a thundercloud top to the lower ionosphere.
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| pubmed:affiliation |
CSSL Laboratory, Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA. vpasko@psu.edu
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| pubmed:publicationType |
Journal Article
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