Blue Jet

Lightning Research Darwin  2010/11

(c) StormscapesDarwin/Mike O'Neill

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Sponsorship funding has been secured for research into reverse or upward lightning and sprite  phenomena.  Blue jets and sprites are not normally visible with the naked eye, but using the right camera gear you may be lucky to film it.  NOAA and NASA have conducted, and still are, videoing this lightning display from space.  It's best viewed in complete darkness and the storms have to be a certain distance away so that you can actually see the sprites exit.  Other aspects need to be addressed and lots of questions and answers to be had.  Another research aspect will be reverse or upward lightning, whereby the strike or shaft actually comes from the ground to the cloud and not visa versa as is normally seen. 

There are many questions as to why reverse lightning happens and although there are time lapse footage of this extraordinary lightning it's not regularly recorded in Darwin.  So one of the other target outcomes will be to pinpoint specific robust storms and photograph any upward lightning as well as filming them.  There are questions to be answered and I've been in regular communication with Tom Warner who is based in the USA and is one of the world's leading authorities on time lapse and reverse lightning, specifically time lapse footage at over 54,000 frames per second!. Tom is an ex-USAF pilot and is currently completing his PhD in Lightning physics.

As the new season draws nearer I'll post more information on this exciting development and show you what the plan of attack is and the information/data will be forwarded to Tom and to the Darwin Bureau of Meteorology for analysis.  There are no guarantees with weather, so fingers crossed Mother Nature delivers!