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Dark clouds, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, the flashes of intense light followed by a loud crackling and then a low, rolling thunder – who doesn’t love a good summer thunderstorm? We’ve all seen one, heard one, or been completely soaked by one. But how much do we really know about this weather phenomenon? As a new Nature paper reports, however, the European Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) observatory on the International Space Station is helping scientists find answers.
Science News article by Maria Temming: A ‘blue bang’ sparks an unusual type of lightning in the upper atmosphere. Scientists have finally gotten a clear view of the spark that sets off an exotic type of lightning called a blue jet.
Press release from Terma: Thunderstorms monitored by the Danish-led ASIM mission delivers historical data for groundbreaking science discovery now revealed in the prestigious Nature magazine.
The Danish engineering monthly 'Ingeniøren' published its round-up of the year 2020, and nominated in the top five most important achievements of 2020 was ASIM and the ASIM team's explanation of how Terrestrial Gamma Flashes are formed above the world's most powerful thunderstorms. Understanding of the physics and chemistry of thunderstorms is an important part of our understanding of the Earth's atmosphere and climate.
ESA's Space and Exploration series highlights ASIM's two years in space
NASA's Space To Ground series highlights ASIM onboard the ISS
ESA's Science and Exploration series highlights Terrestrial Gamma Flashes as seen and imaged by ASIM
You have likely seen lightning flash from a storm cloud to strike the ground. Such bolts represent only a small part of the overall phenomenon of lightning, though. The most powerful activity occurs high above the surface, in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Article about the latest ASIM results that appearred ih the Science section of The Statesman newspaper, an English-language daily printed in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneshwar. This article appearred in the newspaper on Wednesday 29th January 2020.