Sprites

Mark Lininger 

Mentor: Professor Victor Pasko

            A sprite is a recently discovered natural phenomenon that occurs in the upper levels of the atmosphere during thunderstorms. They are luminous flashes that can reach an altitude of 90km and have a life span milliseconds long. They result from positive cloud-to-ground lightning discharge. One sprite is composed of millions of narrow channeled gaseous discharges called streamers. Streamers will be the focus of my research. I will be exploring the optical emissions of streamers, attempting to find its true color. I will also be studying the dynamics of positive and negative streamers at various altitudes.