Sprite discharges on Venus and Jupiter-like planets: A laboratory investigation

被引:37
作者
Dubrovin, D. [1 ]
Nijdam, S. [2 ]
van Veldhuizen, E. M. [2 ]
Ebert, U. [4 ,5 ]
Yair, Y. [3 ]
Price, C. [1 ]
机构
[1] Tel Aviv Univ, Dept Geophys & Planetary Sci, IL-69978 Tel Aviv, Israel
[2] Eindhoven Univ Technol, Dept Phys, NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, Netherlands
[3] Open Univ Israel, Dept Life & Nat Sci, IL-43107 Raanana, Israel
[4] CWI, NL-1009 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands
[5] Eindhoven Univ Technol, Dept Phys, NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, Netherlands
关键词
LIGHTNING GENERATION; LOWER IONOSPHERE; STREAMERS; ATMOSPHERES; IONIZATION; THUNDERCLOUD; EMISSION; WAVES; AIR;
D O I
10.1029/2009JA014851
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
Large sprite discharges at high atmospheric altitudes have been found to be physically similar to small streamer discharges in air at sea level density. Based on this understanding, we investigate possible sprite discharges on Venus or Jupiter-like planets through laboratory experiments on streamers in appropriate CO2-N-2 and H-2-He mixtures. First, the scaling laws are experimentally confirmed by varying the density of the planetary gasses. Then, streamer diameters, velocities, and overall morphology are investigated for sprites on Venus and Jupiter; they are quite similar to those on Earth, but light emissions in the visible range are fainter by 2 orders of magnitude. The discharge spectra are measured; they are dominated by the minority species N-2 on Venus and by the majority species H-2 on Jupiter-like planets. The spectrum of a fully developed spark on Venus is measured. We show that this spectrum is significantly different from the expected sprite spectrum.
引用
收藏
页数:13
相关论文
共 59 条
  • [1] [Anonymous], 1925, P ROY SOC
  • [2] Polar lightning and decadal-scale cloud variability on Jupiter
    Baines, Kevin H.
    Simon-Miller, Amy A.
    Orton, Glenn S.
    Weaver, Harold A.
    Lunsford, Allen
    Momary, Thomas W.
    Spencer, John
    Cheng, Andrew F.
    Reuter, Dennis C.
    Jennings, Donald E.
    Gladstone, G. R.
    Moore, Jeffrey
    Stern, S. Alan
    Young, Leslie A.
    Throop, Henry
    Yanamandra-Fisher, Padma
    Fisher, Brendan M.
    Hora, Joseph
    Ressler, Michael E.
    [J]. SCIENCE, 2007, 318 (5848) : 226 - 229
  • [3] Spectral irradiance measurements of simulated lightning in planetary atmospheres
    Borucki, WJ
    McKay, CP
    Jebens, D
    Lakkaraju, HS
    Vanajakshi, CT
    [J]. ICARUS, 1996, 123 (02) : 336 - 344
  • [4] ANALYSIS OF VOYAGER 2 IMAGES OF JOVIAN LIGHTNING
    BORUCKI, WJ
    MAGALHAES, JA
    [J]. ICARUS, 1992, 96 (01) : 1 - 14
  • [5] Circuit dependence of the diameter of pulsed positive streamers in air
    Briels, T. M. P.
    Kos, J.
    van Veldhuizen, E. M.
    Ebert, U.
    [J]. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS, 2006, 39 (24) : 5201 - 5210
  • [6] Positive streamers in air and nitrogen of varying density: experiments on similarity laws
    Briels, T. M. P.
    van Veldhuizen, E. M.
    Ebert, U.
    [J]. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS, 2008, 41 (23)
  • [7] Positive and negative streamers in ambient air: measuring diameter, velocity and dissipated energy
    Briels, T. M. P.
    Kos, J.
    Winands, G. J. J.
    van Veldhuizen, E. M.
    Ebert, U.
    [J]. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS, 2008, 41 (23)
  • [8] Submillisecond imaging of sprite development and structure
    Cummer, SA
    Jaugey, N
    Li, JB
    Lyons, WA
    Nelson, TE
    Gerken, EA
    [J]. GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 2006, 33 (04)
  • [9] Progress in planetary lightning
    Desch, SJ
    Borucki, WJ
    Russell, CT
    Bar-Nun, A
    [J]. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS, 2002, 65 (06) : 955 - 997
  • [10] The multiscale nature of streamers
    Ebert, U.
    Montijn, C.
    Briels, T. M. P.
    Hundsdorfer, W.
    Meulenbroek, B.
    Rocco, A.
    van Veldhuizen, E. M.
    [J]. PLASMA SOURCES SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 2006, 15 (02) : S118 - S129