UV Transient Atmospheric Events Observed Far From Thunderstorms by the Vernov Satellite

Usually a thunderstorm region with lightning activity is necessary for the formation of known types of upper atmospheric transient luminous events (TLEs: sprites, emission of light and very low frequency perturbation, blue jets, etc.) with well-recognizable visible emissions. However, some “far-from-thunderstorm” transient events have been detected in some experiments. Measurements of transient atmospheric events (TAEs) were made on board the Vernov satellite by the sensitive UV and IR detector. Remote observation from the satellite’s orbit provided measurements all over the globe and allowed us to study events associated with thunderstorms (lightning, TLEs) and unusual UV flashes (UV TAEs) far from thunderstorm regions. More than 8500 UV TAEs were measured by the Vernov satellite over the globe. Forty seven far-from-thunderstorm TAEs were selected having no lightning discharges during 1 h in a radius of 1000 km around the location of the event according to the Worldwide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) and Vaisala Global Lightning Data Set (GLD360) data. Special attention was given to six events with complicated temporal structure and low luminosity in the IR channel. Their properties and atmospheric conditions were studied in detail. The analysis of cloud cover in addition to the lightning location networks data demonstrated the low probability of any lightning in the region of measurements.

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