Modeling of transient luminous events in Earth's middle atmosphere with apokamp discharge

E.A. Sosnin^a, N.Yu. Babaeva^b, V.Yu. Kozhevnikov^a, A.V. Kozyrev^a, G.V. Naidis^c, V.A. Panarin^a, V.S. Skakun^a, V.F. Tarasenko^a
^aInstitute of High-Current Electronics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademicheskii prosp. 4, Tomsk, 634055, Russian Federation
^bJoint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Izhorskaya 13/19, Moscow, 127412, Russian Federation
^cInstitute for High Temperatures, Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Izhorskaya 13/19, Moscow, 127412, Russian Federation

We describe the recently discovered phenomenon of the formation of an extended luminous structure at the bend of the channel of a high-voltage pulse discharge. It is called the apokamp (from the Greek words απó — 'from' and κάμπ&eta — 'bend'), and the discharge as a whole is referred to as apokampic. In the course of experimental and theoretical studies, it is shown that the apokamp is a narrow streamer channel that propagates at a characteristic speed of tens to hundreds of km/s, depending on the applied voltage, pressure, and gas type. The necessary conditions for apokamp formation are established. The apokamp discharge is used for laboratory studies of conditions for the formation of blue jets and red sprites — large-scale transient luminous events (transients) observed in Earth's atmosphere above areas with thunderstorm activity. The revealed signs of similarity between apokamps and blue jets are described. The proposed experimental setup can also be used for meaningful testing of hypotheses about the conditions of formation of transients in Earth's atmosphere and in the atmospheres of other planets.

Keywords: apokamp, apokamp discharge, blue jets, red sprites, middle atmosphere of Earth, transient luminous events
PACS: 07.05.Tp, 52.80.Mg, 52.90.+z, 92.60.Pw (all)
DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2020.03.038735
URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2021/2/e/
Web of Science

000644699500005
Scopus

2-s2.0-85105633203
ADS NASA

2021PhyU...64..191S
Citation: Sosnin E A, Babaeva N Yu, Kozhevnikov V Yu, Kozyrev A V, Naidis G V, Panarin V A, Skakun V S, Tarasenko V F "Modeling of transient luminous events in Earth's middle atmosphere with apokamp discharge" Phys. Usp. 64 191–210 (2021)

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Received: 3rd, February 2020, revised: 2nd, March 2020, accepted: 12th, March 2020

Оригинал: Соснин Э А, Бабаева Н Ю, Кожевников В Ю, Козырев А В, Найдис Г В, Панарин В А, Скакун В С, Тарасенко В Ф «Моделирование транзиентных световых явлений средней атмосферы Земли c помощью апокампического разряда» УФН 191 199–219 (2021); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2020.03.038735