The SPRITES'96 Campaign was conducted from the Yucca Ridge Field Station between 1 July and 10 August 1996. The first four days were devoted to equipment set up and testing. Actual data acquisition began on 4 July 1996. Over a 38 night period, operations were conducted on 27 nights, with sprites and elves being detected from 26 storm systems over 20 nights. A total of 1127 transient luminous events were recorded. Of these 92% were sprites, 8% were elves, and no blue jets were noted. An average of 56 events were logged for each active night, ranging from 2 to 180 events. Three nights had more than 100 events. The majority of the sprites were imaged within 600 km of YRFS.
Logistical support was provided to up to 50 scientists and technical staff from 16 participating organizations representing the United States, Japan and New Zealand. Nightly forecasts and sensor orientation guidance were provided. Some nights had as many as 12 low-light television systems in three states trained on specific target areas above mesoscale convective systems. In addition to the on-site participants, FMA Research coordinated with off-site team members including the University of Alaska (Jelm Mountain, WY), the Stanford University STAR Lab mobile VAN, the PL radar site (LaSalle, CO), New Mexico Institute of Mines & Technology (Socorro, NM). Coordination with space craft missions included the Space Shuttle (non flown) and OTD (NASA Marshall), CGRO (Los Alamos) and several military assets.
FMA Research obtained 224 hours of GPS-time stamped, low-light television video with VLF audio and running voice commentary. Real-time NLDN lightning display, real-time radar and GOES satellite imagery and supporting meteorological data were available as well as compiled in an archive. A final CD-ROM compilation of all CG flash data for the United States for the 1996 summer was provided. A large library of supporting meteorological data has also been obtained for use in future analyses. Daily sprite forecasts continued to validate the general criteria established during past sprite campaigns. All 27 storms for which sprites/elves were predicted produced events. A newly dedicated "sprite observatory" included a large, permanent viewing deck with suitable power and raceways to feed cables to computers and equipment in the laboratory space below.
FMA RESEARCH (aka ASTeR)
Logistics, forecasting, LLTV, Photometry (blue), VLF and ELF
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA/GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE
Red and blue spectrometers, LLTV (YRFS/Jelm, WY)
STANFORD UNIVERSITY/STAR LAB
Fly's Eye, LLTV, VLF broad band, HAIL
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY/SPACE DYNAMICS LABS
MISSION RESEARCH CORPORATION
CCD imagers, ISIT cameras, 4872 and 3390 µm Photometers
ASAF PHILIPS LAB
28 mHz radar, LLTV
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ELF Schumann Resonance Q-Bursts
UC-BERKELEY/LOCKHEED MARTIN
Spectrometers, LLTVs (broad band, 3914 µm)
TOHOKU UNIVERSITY
Multi-channel photometer, Fast Imager, LLTV, ELF
UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO
Photometer (red), ELF, VLF OMNIPal
LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY
LLTV (white and blue), Photometry (4278 µm)
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
ELF/VLF sampling
NEW MEXICO TECH
Fast VLF sampling, LLTV
SANDIA
NASA MARSHALL
AFTAC
Coordination with space assets
FMA Research, Inc. (formerly *ASTeR, Inc.)
46050 Weld County Road 13
Ft. Collins, CO 80522
970-568-7664
Please inform us Tom or Walt if there are any errors in this information and/or you wish to provide additional information.
FMA Research, Inc.
Participants: Walt Lyons, Tom Nelson, Liv Lyons
Yucca Ridge Field Station
46050 Weld County Road 13
Ft. Collins, CO 80524
970-568-7664 voice
970-482-8627 fax
tnelson@frii.com
walyons@frii.com
Mission Research Corporation
Participants: Russ Armstrong
One Tara Blvd., Suite 302
Nashua, NH 03062-2801
603-891-0070 x203 voice
603-891-0088 fax
rarmstrong@mrcnh.com
Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska-Fairbanks
Participants: Gene Wescott, Matt Heavnver, Jim Desrochers, Dana Moudry
903 Koyukuk Drive
PO Box 7320
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320
907-474-7576 [EW] voice
907-474-5868 [MH]
907-474-7741 [DH]
907-474-7920 fax
dsentman@gi.alaska.edu
rocket@giuaf.gi.alaska.edu [EW]
STAR Lab, Stanford University
Participants: Umran Inan, Steve Reising, Tim Bell, Bill Trabucco, Sean Hansen,
Mike Johnson
Durand 321, MC-4055
Stanford University
Stanford CA 94305
415-723-4994 [UI] voice(UI)
415-723-1461 [BT]
415-723-9251 fax
inan@nova.stanford.edu
scr@nova.stanford.edu
trabucco@nova.stanford.edu
bell@nova.stanford.edu
Utah State University
Participants: Michael Taylor, Steve Clark
Space Dynamics Laboratory
Logan, Utah 84322-4145
801-797-3919 [MT] voice
801-797-4044 fax
taylor@psi.sci.sdl.usu.edu
Tohoku University
Participants: Yukihiro Takahashi, Manabu Fujito, Yoshiaki Watanabe, Hiroshi
Fukunishi, K. Sakanoi
Dept. of Astrophysics & Geophysics
Aramaki-Aoba, Sendai 980-77, Japan
011+81 22 217 6734 [HF] voice
011+91 22 217 6739 fax
fuku@stpp2.geophys.tohoku.ac.jp
yukihiro@stpp2.geophys.tohoku.ac.jp
University of Otago
Participant: Richard L. Dowden, James Brundell
Department of Physics
PO Box 56
Dunedin, New Zealand
011+64 03 479 7752 voice
011+64 03 479 0964 fax
dowden@newton.otago.ac.nz
james@physics.otago.ac.nz
Lockheed Space and Missile
Participant: Rick Rairden
Dept. 91-20, Building 252
3251 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304
415-424-3282 voice
415-424-3333 fax
rairden@lockhd.space.lockheed.com
University of California - Berkeley
Participants: Stephen Mende, Matt Wilcox, Lun Tsuei
Space Science Lab
Centenial Drive at Grizzly Peak
Berkely, CA 94720
510-845-2814 [LT] voice
510-642-0876 [SM]
510-643-8302 fax
mende@ssl.berkeley.edu
ltsuei@euler.berkely.edu
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Participant: Dave Suszcynsky, Susan Voss, Robert Roussell-Dupre, Hal Dehaven,Eugene
Symbalisty
Space & Atmospheric Sciences Group
LANL, NIS-1
MS D466
Los Alamos, NM 87545
505-665-3119 [SD] voice
505-665-5520 [SV]
505-667-9670 [ES]
505-667-7613 [HD]
505-667-9228 [RRD]
505-665-7395 [DS,SV,ES,RRD] fax
rroussell-dupre@lanl.gov
svoss@lanl.gov
dsuszcynsky@lanl.gov
hdehaven@lanl.gov
Sandia National Lab
Emily Glass, Duane Landa (MS 0872)
Sandia National Lab
PO Box 5800
Org. 5725 MS 0980
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0980
505-844-1433 [EG] voice
505-844-2057 [EG] fax
eaglass@sandia.gov
dalanda@sandia.gov
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Bill Farrell, Jeff Houser
NASA/GSFC, Lab for Extraterrestrial Physics
MC 695
Greenbelt, MD 20771
301-286-4446 [WF] voice
301-286-1527 [JH]
301-286-1683 [WF] fax
301-286-3271 [JH] fax
farrell@lepnmf.gsrfc.nasa.gov
jeff.houser@gsfc.nasa.gov
USAF/Phillips Lab
Dr. Laila Jeong, W.A.M. Blumberg
PL/GPOS, 29 Randolph Street
Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
617-377-3671 [LJ] voice
617-377-3688 [WB]
617-377-8900 [LJ] fax
jeong@plh.af.mil
Phillips Laboratory
Participants: Keith Groves, Jake Quinn, Matt Cox
29 Randolph Street
Hanscom AFB, MA 01731
617-377-xxxx [KG] voice
617-377-8900 fax
groves@plh.af.mil
blumberg@plh.af.mil
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Participants: Earle Williams
Lincoln Lab
SI-661
244 Wood Street
Lexington, MA 02173-9108
617-253-2459 [MIT] voice
617-253-6208 [MIT] fax
617-981-3744 [LL] voice
617-981-0632 [LL] fax
401-397-8982 [RI site] voice
earlew@juliet.ll.mit.edu
NM Inst. of Mining & Technology
Paul R. Krehbiel, Marx Brook, Mark Stanley, William Rison
Physics Department
Socorro, NM 87801
505-835-5215 [PK] voice
505-835-5707 fax
505-835-5486 [WR]
krehbiel@opus.nmt.edu
NASA Marshall
Participant: Otha H. Vaughan, Jr.,Dennis Boccippio
Global Hydrology & Climate Center
977 Explorer Blvd.
Hunstville, AL 35812
205-922-5893 [OV] voice
205-922-5909 [DB]
205-922-5723 [OV] fax
205-423-3333 [DB] fax
skeet@sferic.msfc.nasa.gov
djboccip@cirrus.mit.edu
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Participant: Jerry Fishman, Burl Peterson
Astrophysics Division/Space Science Lab
Code ES81
Hunstville, AL 3581
205-544-7691 voice
205-544-5800 [BP] fax
205-544-7754 fax
Jerry.Fishman@msfc.nasa.gov
peterson@ssl.msfc.nasa.gov
| Number | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 224 | Hours | Sprite/Elve Video Tape Monitoring |
| 10 | Hours | Project Documentation Video |
| 1127+ | Events | Sprites and Elves Captured |
| 558 | Files | Digital Photometer and RF Samples |
| 1940 | Images | GOES and Radar Images Captured |
| 346 | Maps | NLDN Real-time Data Plots |
| 1.87 | GBy | CD-ROM of NLDN Data |
| 38 | Nights | Length of Program |
| 27 | Nights | Full Operations |
| 20 | Nights | With Sprites/Elves |
| Julian | UTC Date | Total TLE's | Sprites | % Sprites | Elves | % Elves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 186 | 04JUL96 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 187 | 05JUL96 | 11 | 11 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 188 | 06JUL96 | 40 | 34 | 85 | 0 | 0 |
| 189 | 07JUL96 | 69 | 65 | 94 | 4 | 6 |
| 190 | 08JUL96 | 25 | 24 | 96 | 1 | 4 |
| 193 | 11JUL96 | 33 | 33 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 195 | 13JUL96 | 5 | 5 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 196 | 14JUL96 | 25* | 25 | 100 | ? | ? |
| 199 | 17JUL96 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 1 | 50 |
| 201 | 19JUL96 | 76* | 72 | 95 | 4 | 5 |
| 202 | 20JUL96 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 203 | 21JUL96 | 147 | 133 | 90 | 14 | 10 |
| 204 | 22JUL96 | 75 | 69 | 92 | 6 | 8 |
| 206 | 24JUL96 | 180 | 164 | 91 | 16 | 9 |
| 208 | 26JUL96 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 214 | 01AUG96 | 105 | 95 | 90 | 10 | 10 |
| 217 | 04AUG96 | 84 | 72 | 86 | 12 | 14 |
| 218 | 05AUG97 | 79 | 71 | 90 | 8 | 10 |
| 220 | 07AUG96 | 70 | 62 | 89 | 8 | 11 |
| 223 | 10AUG96 | 94 | 91 | 97 | 3 | 3 |
| Totals | 1127 | 1034 | 92 | 93 | 8 |
*NB:4 & 5 August - Average Peak Current: Sprites: 57 kA Elves: 80 kA
| JD | D/D | UTC Date | Operations | Fcst | Observed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 183 | S/M | 01JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Set Up Day 1 |
| 184 | M/T | 02JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Set Up Day 2 |
| 185 | T/W | 03JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Set Up Day 3 |
| 186 | W/T | 04JUL96 | Test/Dry Runs | Psbl | 2 | Set Up Day 4; worked SD and NE/KS |
| 187 | T/F | 05JUL96 | Test Runs | Yes | 11 | Test Runs; small MSC 200-300 km ESE of YRFS in full moonlight |
| 188 | F/S | 06JUL96 | Yes | Y/Y | 40 | Worked 2 Storms; Sprites in NE and Sprites/Elves in SD |
| 189 | S/S | 07JUL96 | Yes | Y | 69 | MCS forms over YRFS, moves into KS; Excellent viewing |
| 190 | S/M | 08JUL96 | Yes | Y | 25 | Two huge MCS merged into MCC; best viewing blocked by low clouds |
| 191 | M/T | 09JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Low clouds, lack of convection in the sprite region |
| 192 | T/W | 10JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Low clouds, lack of convection in the sprite region |
| 193 | W/T | 11JUL96 | Yes | Yes | 33 | Watched frontal storms in SD and ND; haze limited viewing early on |
| 194 | T/F | 12JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | No targets anywhere in domain; watched Bertha from satellites |
| 195 | F/S | 13JUL96 | Yes | Y | 5 | Small CO nearfield cells blocked view of most sprites in KS cells |
| 196 | S/S | 14JUL96 | Yes | Y | 25/clds | Major sprite storms to east; Svr wx at YRFS, Jelm sees sprites late |
| 197 | S/M | 15JUL96 | None | n/a | n/a | Clear skies but no targets anywhere within range |
| 198 | M/T | 16JUL96 | Yes | Y | clouds | Major sprites in KS-clouds block view -excellent RF coverage |
| 199 | T/W | 17JUL96 | Yes | Y | 2+(clds) | Overhead t-storms block viewing until late; see events near Omaha |
| 200 | W/T | 18JUL96 | Yes | Y | clds | Storms too far away or blocked by clouds |
| 201 | T/F | 19JUL96 | Yes | Y/Y | 55/21+ | Small storm NE Colorado many sprites; TX storm sprites for NM and WY |
| 202 | S/F | 20JUL96 | Yes | Y | 3+(clds) | Active MCS in Kansas & Nebraska; most activity obscured by clouds |
| 203 | S/S | 21JUL96 | Yes | Y/N | 147/0 | MCS with S/E under ideal viewing in SD; good null cases in Colorado |
| 204 | S/M | 22JUL96 | Yes | Y | 75 | Large MCS in KS produces steady stream of sprites/elves;excellent viewing |
| 205 | M/T | 23JUL96 | Short | Y | clds/WY | Active cells in SW CO produce sprites; clouds at YRFS, WY sees some |
| 206 | T/W | 24JUL96 | Yes | Y | 180 | Banner Night: Huge MCS in TX/OK; lg sprites;blue seen in tendrils |
| 207 | W/T | 25JUL96 | None | Y | Clouds | Only storms in NM; Alaska saw their sprites from WY |
| 208 | T/F | 26JUL96 | Yes | Y | 2?/clds | Storms in KS, NM and WY likely sprites; clouded in, maybe saw two early |
| 209 | F/S | 27JUL96 | Yes | N | N/clds | Numerous small storms, WY, CO, NM; most blocked by clds; many CFs |
| 210 | S/S | 28JUL96 | Yes | N | N/clds | Several smaller systems, not likely to sprite; null case in WY-NE |
| 211 | S/M | 29JUL96 | None | n/a | clouds | Sprite-sized system in NW KS; but dense low clouds prevent viewing |
| 212 | M/T | 30JUL96 | None | n/a | clouds | Clouds continue to block view of systems in plains |
| 213 | T/W | 31JUL96 | Yes | N | 0? | Severe right-moving supercell 100-200 km out; no clear evidence of TLEs |
| 214 | W/T | 01AUG96 | Yes | Y | 105 | Severe storms form into MCS in KS; excellent viewing from YRFS and NM |
| 215 | T/F | 02AUG96 | None | n/a | clouds | Targets obscured by near storms and low clouds |
| 216 | F/S | 03AUG96 | None | n/a | clouds | Targets obscured by severe storm (70 mph) and low clouds |
| 217 | S/S | 04AUG96 | Yes | Y | 84 | Squall lines NW to NE with numerous sprites; some visible to eye |
| 218 | S/M | 05AUG96 | Yes | Y | 79 | Squall lines ESE thru NE; huge radar echo; many close sprites;visible to eye |
| 219 | M/T | 06AUG96 | None | n/a | n/a | Clouds block view of targets |
| 220 | T/W | 07AUG96 | Yes | Y | 70 | Clouds break, view sprites at western end of large squall line |
| 221 | W/T | 08AUG96 | Yes | N | 0 | No storms close enough; forest fire smoke limits visibility |
| 222 | T/F | 09AUG96 | None | n/a | n/a | No targets in region |
| 223 | F/S | 10AUG96 | Yes | Y | 94 | Squall line in western Nebraska |