P1.39 THE DISCOVERY OF RED SPRITES AS AN OPPORTUNITY FORINFORMAL SCIENCE EDUCATION

Walter A. Lyons*FMA Research, Inc./Sky Fire Productions, Inc., Fort Collins, CO

Mickey D. SchmidtDirector, USAF Planetarium, Center for Educational Multimedia, Colorado Springs, CO

1. INTRODUCTION For over 100 years, anecdotal reports haveappeared in the scientific literature describingbrief luminous glows high above thunderstorms.They were given little more credence than UFOsightings until 1989, when university researchersaccidentally captured a “red sprite” on a low-light video camera. Sprites are now known toflicker like transient, phantasmagoric auroras inthe mesosphere, at the very edge of space,whenever unusually powerful lightning flasheswithin storms far below. The National ScienceFoundation funded the development of aDVD/video production on this discovery (with acompanion educational web site) for presentationin planetariums, science centers and theclassroom. The goal is to promote informalscientific education by illustrating the excitementof discovery, the scientific method at work, andthe interconnectedness of energy flows in theSun-Earth system. For the earthbound, in order to view thewonders of the universe, we first must lookthrough the atmosphere. Normally, forastronomers, the atmosphere is a source offrustration, with clouds, haze, reflected citylights and refractive index gradients alldegrading seeing on far too many nights. Butwhere does the atmosphere end and space begin?There is a region at the edge of space, between30 and 100 km above the ground, whichaeronomers have only half jokingly called the“ignorosphere,” due to our profound lack ofknowledge of the phenomena occurring there. Atthis interface between air and space, recentdiscoveries have revealed a virtual “zoo” ofbizarrely-shaped, albeit tenuous, electricalphenomena appearing like will’o’the wispsabove some thunderstorms. These aurora-likeflashes, collectively termed transient luminousevents (TLEs), exist mostly at the lower level of* Corresponding Author Address: Walter A.Lyons, FMA Research/Sky Fire Productions,46050 Weld County Rd 13, Fort Collins, CO80524; 970-568-7664;walyons@frii.com;www.Sky-Fire.TV

human visual acuity, even against the darkestnight sky. But startled eyewitnesses, who havecaught them out of the corner of their eye, havebeen reporting them in the scientific literature forover a century (since 1886). Even papers by aNobel Laureate in Physics, C.T.R. Wilson, whofirst predicted them theoretically in 1925 andactually reported his own sighting in 1956, wentlargely ignored. The few such reports that madeit into science textbooks were often in the samechapters as “strange but true” tales of livingturtles encased in hailstones or half meter widesnowflakes falling in Montana. Barely escapingbeing lumped in with UFO sightings and otherparanormal gibberish, the mainstream scientificestablishment steadfastly paid the reports littleattention, until the night of 6 July 1989. Thenserendipity struck, as the late Prof. John R.Winckler, an auroral physicist at the Universityof Minnesota, was testing a low light television(LLTV) camera for an upcoming rocket launch.On the tape appeared a mere two frames of videoshowing bright columns of light towering highabove distant thunderheads over northernMinnesota. This was the first documented proofof what was at first called “cloud-to-spacelightning,” but has since become known as thered sprite. The sprite sightings were soonfollowed by blue jets, elves, trolls, gnomes andpixies...fanciful names all chosen to avoidimplying that we knew more about the physics ofthe phenomena than was warranted. The tale of the hundred year hunt for the redsprite is a story of how science works. It is storyillustrating that science, rather than knowing allthere is to know, stands barely on the thresholdof many more discoveries about our complex andfascinating universe. It is a story that theNational Science Foundation, through itsinformal science education program, believescan foster science education for citizens of allages.

2. SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND. Since 1989, thousands of sprites have beenimaged, many at the Yucca Ridge Field Stationnear Ft. Collins, CO, where the first intentionalhunt for sprites using LLTVs yielded a haul of248 events in the very first night of monitoringin 1993 (Lyons et al. 2000). Mesospheric sprites,at 40 to 90 km altitude, are induced by lightningdischarges with highly unusual characteristics(Lyons et al. 2003a). During the summer of2000, a meteorological field campaign calledSTEPS (Severe Thunderstorm Electrification andPrecipitation Study) focused on discovering justwhat is different about the small percentage oflightning flashes which trigger the ghostly spritesnear the base of the ionosphere. Using videocameras, 3-D lightning mappers and extremelylow frequency (ELF) radio receivers deployedaround the globe, scientists are graduallyunraveling the nature of the giant lightningdischarges which spawn sprites. In the processthey have found other unusual electricaldischarges atop thunderstorms. Evidence ismounting that sprites affect the electrodynamicsand chemistry of the middle and upperatmosphere in a variety of ways. Figure 1illustrates some of the TLEs which dance abovethunderstorms at the edge of space.

3. PROJECT SUMMARY Under NSF auspices, Sky Fire Productions,Inc. (also housed at the Yucca Ridge FieldStation) produced and continues to distribute aDVD-based planetarium program show kitdirected at the general public (5th grade and up).The main program lasts 42 minutes and isentitled, “The Hundred Year Hunt for the RedSprite.” It documents the application of thescientific method to unraveling the century oldmystery surrounding strange lights in the nightsky. The observations were so unexpected thatone scientist noted it was as if “biologists hadsuddenly discovered a new human body part.”The program also contrasts the story of thesprites discovery to the pseudo-science prevalenttoday surrounding topics such as UFOs. Acompanion educational website (www.Sky-Fire.TV) allows students, teachers and adultswishing to supplement their planetariumexperience to further investigate sprites andrelated atmospheric science topics (Fig. 2). Theinteractive web site encourages visitors to testtheir knowledge. Twenty Question Red SpriteQuiz Games are available for both beginners andthe more advanced players. Immediate feedbackand scoring, plus a certificate of completion is

presented to the visitor finishing the quiz. (Thisprovides an ideal way for a teacher to be assureda homework assignment has been completed).On the web site, the public is also encouraged toactively search the sky for these fleetingphenomena. We also solicit photographs of rareupward lightning events recently brought to theattention of science by amateurs (Lyons et al.2003b).

4. EDUCATIONAL GOALS This Informal Science Education project (asupplement to an active NSF Research Award) isdesigned to increase scientific literacy amongAmericans. The program chronicles a scientificdetective story that leads to the discovery of anentirely new class of atmospheric optical eventsabove storms. It is hoped the show will motivatethe planetarium visitors to engage in self-directed learning through the companioninteractive website [www.Sky-Fire.TV]. Thescience concepts addressed cover many of thetopics covered in general and Earth sciencecourses, giving them life and meaning in apleasing learning environment. The basic “take home” messages of theplanetarium show and companion websiteinclude:

The excitement of scientific discovery. Spriteswere something unexpected. Science has notcome even remotely close to discovering all thefacets of the natural world about us. Science canactually be fun!

How the scientific method works. Showing howscientists patiently documented, verified andbegan explaining these “strange lights in thenight sky” - in contrast to pseudo-science andUFO “research.” We aim to instill healthyskepticism.

Demonstrate the interconnectedness of energyflows within the Sun-Earth system. The sun isshown as the energy source which drives theEarth’s weather. The similarities and differencesbetween sprites and aurora are demonstrated. Abasic tutorial on weather on all the planets,including Earth, is used to set the scene andprovide the necessary factual knowledge tounderstand the relationship of sprites tolightning.

Motivate to learn more on your own.Planetarium and science center visitors aredirected to the interactive website for a variety of

science vignettes, tutorials and quizzes. Selfdirected learning is encouraged with many linksto other science-related web sites.

Participate in the scientific enterprise.Interested amateurs are shown how to “hunt” forsprites and contribute their own observations. Byfilling out the online report forms, visitors areexposed to the need for care and precision inmaking and reporting scientific observations. Anumber of very interesting sightings havealready been submitted.

5. PRODUCTION The show kit was produced in-house by SkyFire Productions with input from the U.S. AirForce Planetarium. The show kit, which is madeavailable to planetariums and science centers at asubsidized price, contains the DVD (or VHS)program, a collection of graphics images,suggested program introductions, a timed script,and hand out masters for students (a fact sheet)and teachers (the red sprite quiz and answersheets). A classroom version (DVD or VHS) ofthe main program is also available for purchaseon the www.Sky-Fire.TV web site. The program was developed at Sky FireProductions, which has launched a facility calledCECIL (Collaborations for EducationalComputing and Interactive Learning). This state-of-the-art digital image acquisition, production,editing, and authoring facility will be employedfor a number of similar future projects now in theplanning stages. The underlying motivationbehind CECIL is to facilitate working scientistswishing to become personally involved withinformal public science education. The spriteprogram’s producer (Lyons) is also a contributorto the research documented in the program.Educational consultants were also involvedthroughout the program development to assurethat the educational goals were being advanced. The chief collaborator for this project wasMickey Schmidt, Director of the U.S. Air ForceAcademy Planetarium, in Colorado Springs, COThe USAF Academy Planetarium in May, 2003hosted the “world premiere” of the program.Since then over a dozen planetaria havecommitted to presenting the program over thenext several years.

We note the published vision statement ofthe National Science Foundation comments onthe need to “integrate research with education,infuse education with the joy of discovery, andan awareness of its connections to explorationsthrough directed inquiry, careful observationsand analytical thinking for students of all ages.”We hope we have been able to advance thesegoals. We would also note that attention toproduction values, scripting and the use ofinspiring music resulted in “The Hundred YearHunt for the Red Sprite” winning three majorvideo awards (a 2003 Telly Award, aVideographer Award, and an Aurora Award).

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This program was developed with the supportof the National Science Foundation under anInformal Science Education supplement to GrantNo. ATM-0000569 (Physical Meteorology andAeronomy). Special thanks to educationalconsultants Marcella Wells and Prof. Cecil S.Keen. Thomas Nelson ably served as thetechnical director for the production. RobertGobeille and Liv Nordem Lyons played keyroles in the development of the educational website.

7. REFERENCES

Lyons, W. A., T. E. Nelson, E. R. Williams, S.A. Cummer and M. A. Stanley, 2003a:Characteristics of Sprite-Producing PositiveCloud-to-Ground Lightning during the 19 July2000 STEPS Mesoscale Convective Systems.Mon. Wea. Rev., 131, 2417-2427.

Lyons, W. A., T. E. Nelson, R. A. Armstrong, V.P. Pasko and M. A. Stanley, 2003b: UpwardElectrical Discharges from Thunderstorm Tops.Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 84, 445-454.

Lyons, W. A., R. A. Armstrong, E. R. Williamsand E.A. Bering, 2000: The Hundred Year Huntfor the Red Sprite. Eos, Trans. Amer. Geophys.Union, 81, 373-377.

Figure 1. A depiction of various transient luminous events in the middle atmosphere above thunderstorms(from Lyons et al., 2000).

Figure 2. The top page of the sprite section of www.Sky-Fire.TV.