In April, the ISS flew over the Indonesian coast of Sumatra, having managed to capture how lightning from thunderstorms reached the upper layers of the atmosphere. Space Storm Hunter ASIM conducts its first tests a month after installation outside the Columbus laboratory.
The first images and data caught a powerful lightning signature with unprecedented accuracy at an altitude of 400 km above the Earth. Scientists collected 100,000 measurements per second.
Elves and light power
The observatory points directly to the Earth, so the atmosphere filters out as little light as possible. Photometer for storm hunters is hundreds of times more sensitive than the average camera on Earth. In an event over Indonesia, instruments recorded a surge at three wavelengths. Elves are the highest of all transient luminous events. In the blink of an eye, concentric rings appear in the form of a dim expanding glow with a hundred kilometers wide. Created by electron colliding and excited nitrogen molecules.
The images resemble a sequence caught by astronaut Andreas Mogensen from the ISS in 2015. While ASIM - just an experiment, developing through trial and error. Each element is tested and improved, including measures for protection from sunlight burning sensors.
The first shots are visual camera objects. The second set of tools detects high and low energy and has not yet completed calibration. The first frames can be considered only a test of the capabilities of the tool.
