3D triangulation of Transient Luminous Events over Africa

We present the first 3D triangulation of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) over Africa. The 6 TLEs were simultaneously observed in the middle atmosphere from Sutherland and Carnarvon in South Africa, separated by 192 km, during the 2019 sprites campaign. These two distinctive locations have low radio interference and are free from light pollution. The lightning times, locations, peak current, and polarities, which initiated the observed TLEs, were obtained from the South African Lightning Detection Network and Earth Networks Total Lightning Networks. We investigate the TLEs' altitude and horizontal displacement from their parent lightning strokes. TLEs appear approximately 12.5 to 49.3 km away from their parent lightning strokes. We found that TLE altitudes range from 29 to 92.6 km. The lightning electric field and peak current may be related to the displacement of TLEs and the TLEs' horizontal spread. & COPY; 2022 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study presents the first 3D triangulation of Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) over Africa. Six TLEs were observed simultaneously in the middle atmosphere from Sutherland and Carnarvon in South Africa. The TLEs appeared at a distance of approximately 12.5 to 49.3 km from their parent lightning strokes, with altitudes ranging from 29 to 92.6 km. The lightning electric field and peak current may be associated with the displacement and horizontal spread of TLEs.