ESA Reveals Impressive Atmospheric Phenomena From Space: “Blue Stream” And “Elves” – Video

The European Space Agency (ESA) recorded a vertical “blue jet” and “elves” in the upper atmosphere from the ISS. This is reported on the ESA website.

It is reported that the phenomena were recorded by the ASIM hardware complex. It was installed on the ISS in 2018 and is also called the “storm hunter”. It is designed to search for electrical discharges that occur in stormy weather conditions and propagate over thunderstorms into the upper atmosphere.

ASIM managed to record five bright blue flares that lasted 10 microseconds in the tops of the clouds near the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean, writes ESA. One of them created a “blue stream” in the stratosphere.

A “blue jet” is a form of lightning that shoots upward from storm clouds, the ESA explains. It can reach 50 km in height and lasts less than a second. For example, the recorded jet lasted 400 milliseconds.

It is noted that the outbreaks also spawned “elves”, which lasted 30 microseconds. “Elves” are rapidly expanding rings of optical and ultraviolet radiation in the lower parts of the ionosphere, the ESA writes. They are formed as a result of the interaction in the ionosphere of electrons, radio waves and the atmosphere.

See also: A black shadow runs across the Earth. What a solar eclipse looked like from space: satellite footage

Also in the mesosphere “ghosts” can appear – red flashes directed downward. You can look at a schematic representation of the phenomena by increasing the infographic by clicking:

Scientists described the research results in more detail in an article on Nature. The ESA writes that recording these phenomena is important for studying weather systems on Earth. These observations hold clues to how lightning occurs in the clouds, the agency said. The researchers also speculate that similar phenomena could affect the concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.