CEDAR Frontiers: The role of electric discharges in the middle atmosphere Harald U. Frey

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CEDAR Frontiers The role of electric discharges
in the middle atmosphereHarald U. Frey
University of California Berkeley -
hfrey_at_ssl.berkeley.edu
Transient Luminous Events (TLE) are the optical
signature of electric discharges in the
lower/middle atmosphere

• Open questions
• Why does not every lightning flash create an
  accompanying discharge in the mesosphere?
• How often and where in the world do they occur?
• How do these discharges influence the lower
  ionosphere?
• Do these discharges create substantial amounts of
  NO?