Transient luminous events
In the upper atmosphere between the clouds and the ionosphere (at the height of 10-70 km) there are observed short-time (duration from one up to hundreds of milliseconds) bursts of electromagnetic radiation within wide spectral range (from visual light up to UV and even X-ray and gamm-radiation). Dimensions of the area where the luminescence appears is about dozens and even hundreds kilometers.
Why is it important?
Current experimental data about the discharges in the upper atmosphere have shown that the phenomena of the discharges in the upper atmosphere is of global character, a number of the discharges and the energy separated in this discharges are so high that we can expect certain relations between the discharge phenomena and other geophysical phenomena. The mechanisms explaining discharges’ appearance leads to the certain interrelations between the discharges in the upper atmosphere, the Earth’s electric field and its ionosphere. All the factors which influence on the electric field of the Earth and ionosphere (magnetospheric conditions, number of thunderstorms, tidal forces of the Earth and the Moon) can also influence on the frequency of the discharges and probably on discharges’ brightness spectrum, spectral composition of electromagnetic radiation in discharges.
