elfes, esprits, farfadets, jets-bleus...

[grecale2b]

je viens d'apprendre qu'un workshop se tenait du 23 au 27 juin à l'université de Corte (haute-corse) sur le thème des elfes, farfadets, et autres esprits ou jets-bleus (ces décharges électriques au-dessus des orages violents et visibles depuis l'espace).

http://www.oma.be/TLE2008Workshop/

Discovered in the early 1990s, sprites, jets and elves, also referred to as “Transient Luminous Events (TLEs)” are flashes of optical emissions in the stratosphere and mesosphere above severe thunderstorms. These “fireworks” include Earth’s largest electrical discharges reaching from the top of thunderclouds to the bottom ionosphere at 80 km altitude. Also during the 1990s, bursts of X- and gamma-rays were observed by spacecraft, from the atmosphere above thunderstorms. These so-called “Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes” (TGFs) are thought to be bremsstrahlung radiation from relativistic electrons accelerated in the electric fields above thunderstorms. TLEs and TGFs are newly discovered processes that couple the troposphere to the upper atmosphere and near-Earth space.

The proposed workshop aims to better understand and identify the various physical processes that couple thunderstorms to the Earth’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere, and the effects of thunderstorm processes on the atmospheric composition and dynamics. The workshop will consist of invited tutorials and contributed talks, and an interactive poster session. There will also be organized splinter meetings targeted at the different communities (ASIM, TARANIS, E-CANES, etc.) and ample time for discussing current projects and future collaborations. The workshop will cover observations, simulations, theory and instrument technical aspects related to the following topics:

venez nombreux: la corse fin juin c'est beau! /emoticons/biggrin@2x.png 2x" width="20" height="20">

edit: un workshop sur le même thème avait eut lieu au même endroit en 2004: http://people.bath.ac.uk/eesmf/SUMMER/