Model of red sprites due to intracloud fractal lightning discharges

Abstract

A new and improved model of red sprites is presented. Emphasis is placed on accounting for the puzzling observation of the spatial structure in the emissions. The model relies on the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) fields created by a horizontal lightning discharge and includes the observed fractal structure of such discharges in the computation of the EMP power density. It is shown that the model can account for the observed spatial structure of the red sprites while reducing the typical charge required to approximately 100 C.