On the fine structure of thunderstorms leading to the generation of sprites and elves: Fractal analysis

The fine structure of convective clouds leading to the generation of sprites and elves has been studied using radar images. Sprites and elves were observed on two days, 19 December 1998 and 27 January 1999, in lightning during winter thunderstorms on the Sea of Japan. Fractal analyses of the radar images (as an ensemble and as separate clusters) for those two days have been performed with respect to the occurrence of sprites and elves. We have found that a sprite and/or an elve is triggered when and just after the image cluster maximum size increases to a certain value (∼150 km) and the ensemble fractal dimension approaches a threshold (i.e., percolation threshold).