Altitude resolved sprite spectra with 3 ms temporal resolution

Altitude resolved sprite spectra have been obtained with an imaging slit spectrograph with 3 ms temporal and ∼3 nm spectral resolution. Spectral coverage is from 640 to 820 nm. The slit was vertical to provide altitude resolution. The observed spectra are exclusively composed of emissions from the N...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2007-04, Vol.34 (7), p.n/a
Main Authors: Kanmae, T., Stenbaek-Nielsen, H. C., McHarg, M. G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
spectrograph
sprite
TLE
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Summary:Altitude resolved sprite spectra have been obtained with an imaging slit spectrograph with 3 ms temporal and ∼3 nm spectral resolution. Spectral coverage is from 640 to 820 nm. The slit was vertical to provide altitude resolution. The observed spectra are exclusively composed of emissions from the N2 first positive (1PG) bands. There are no obvious N2+ Meinel emissions, probably due to a combination of quenching and rapid motion of the streamer heads in which ionization is assumed to take place. The spectral analysis shows that the vibrational population in the upper state of the 1PG bands, N2 B 3Πg state, varies with altitude and is similar to that of laboratory afterglow at high pressure. This result suggests that secondary interactions among excited states created by electron impact may also play a role in exciting the B 3Πg state.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2006GL028608