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Halos generated by negative cloud-to-ground lightning
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Japan
Geophysics Department, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Geophysics Department, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Physics Department, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Physics Department, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
Physics Department, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
National Space Program, Hsinchu, Taiwan
The Imager for Sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) on the FORMOSAT-2 spacecraft observes Transient Luminous Events (TLE) like sprites, elves, and halos from space. We analyzed halos that were observed in Central America close enough to ELF/VLF receivers that allowed for the determination of the polarity of the parent lightning. All halos were created by negative cloud to ground lightning (−CG) strokes that occurred almost exclusively over the open water. Only three out of the 31 events happened over land. We conclude that the Central American region seems to be special with respect to the large proportion of −CG created halos. Such a behavior is very different from the occurrence of sprites that are mostly created by positive cloud to ground lightning.
Received 5 June 2007; accepted 20 August 2007; published 18 September 2007.
Citation: (2007), Halos generated by negative cloud-to-ground lightning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L18801, doi:10.1029/2007GL030908.
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