Analysis of Parent Thunderstorms of Red Sprites in Northeast China

Red sprites are a type of TLEs (Transient Luminous Events) that occur above energetic thunderstorms. TLEs are produced by cloud-to-ground lightning strokes or interaction with continuous current, and manifest a direct coupling relation between the troposphere and lower ionosphere. In mainland China, red sprites are mainly observed in the north. To further study red sprites in the middle and high latitude areas of China and reveal their relation with parent lightning and thunderstorms, the authors conducted an observation experiment in the suburb of Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province in the summer of 2017. In this paper, the authors introduce red sprite events captured by a low-light video camera system in Northeast China. Combined with lightning locations, weather radar, and other synchronized observation data, the authors analyzed the characteristics of red sprites and their parent thunderstorms. The results show that 17 (about 2/3) of the 26 observed red sprite events occurred over a large-scale MCS (Mesoscale Convective System), and the remainder (about 1/3) were induced by three relatively small-scale MCSs. The sprite-producing lightning strokes were located at the edge of the convective core region, and the authors observed no large-scale stratiform cloud precipitation areas behind the MCS convection regions. Electromagnetic pulse signals recorded simultaneously in Liaoyuan (Jilin Province) and Hefei (Anhui Province) stations indicate that all the observed red sprites were generated by positive cloud-to-ground lightning strokes.