喜马拉雅山脉上空的巨大喷流

Gigantic Jets over Himalayan Mountains
Image Credit & Copyright: Li Xuanhua

Explanation: Yes, but can your thunderstorm do this? Pictured here are gigantic jets shooting up from a thunderstorm last week toward the Himalayan Mountains in China and Bhutan. The composite image captured four long jets that occurred only minutes apart. Gigantic jets, documented only in this century, are a type of lightning discharge that occurs between some thunderstorms and the Earth’s ionosphere high above them. They are an unusual type of lightning that is much different from regular cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning. The bottoms of gigantic jets appear similar to a cloud-to-above strike called blue jets, while the tops appear similar to upper-atmosphere red sprites. Although the mechanism and trigger that cause gigantic jets remains a topic of research, it is clear that the jets reduce charge imbalance between different parts of Earth’s atmosphere. A good way to look for gigantic jets is to watch a powerful but distant thunderstorm from a clear location.

Tomorrow’s picture: dragon fight

喜马拉雅山脉上空的巨大喷流
影像提供与版权: Li Xuanhua

说明: 你看过的雷暴系统有这么精采吗？这幅摄于上星期，远眺中国和布丹边界上的喜马拉雅山脉之组合影像，所呈现的是源自同一雷暴系统、间隔只有短短数分钟的4例巨大喷流。刚发现于本世纪的巨大喷流，是发生在地球某些雷暴系统及其上方电离层之间的放电现象。巨大喷流是种不寻常的闪电，与常见的云间及云对地闪电大为不同。巨大喷流的底部形似另一种也是从云层向上发展的蓝色喷流，而其顶部的形状则和高层大气的红色精灵很相似。虽然巨大喷流的发展及触发机制今仍然是研究的题材，但很显然的，这类喷流会降低不同地球大气层之间的电量失衡。寻找巨大喷流的最佳方式，是从有清晰视野的地点，观测远方活动剧烈的雷暴系统。