Effect of Blue Jets on Atmospheric Composition: Feasibility of Measurement from a Stratospheric Balloon

Abstract

The feasibility study of the HALESIS (High-Altitude Luminous Events Studied by Infrared Spectro-imagery) project is presented. The purpose of this experiment is to measure the atmospheric perturbation in the minutes following the occurrence of transient luminous events (TLEs) from a stratospheric balloon in the altitude range of 20-40 km. The instrumentation will include a spectro-imager embedded in a pointing gondola. Infrared signatures of a single blue jet were simulated under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), and were then compared with a panel of commercially available instrument specifications. The sensitivity of the signatures with a local perturbation of the main vibrational energy level populations of CO2, CO, NO, O3, and H2O was measured and the infrared signatures of a single blue jet taking into account non-LTE hypotheses were compared with the same panel of commercially available instrument specifications. Lastly, the feasibility of the study is discussed.