Manoj Kumar Paras | Indian Institute Of Technology, Roorkee (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Manoj Kumar Paras

Research paper thumbnail of Survey on Electrical Activity in Earth's Atmosphere

Lightning discharge is a spectacular, luminous and one of the most dangerous short lived phenomen... more Lightning discharge is a spectacular, luminous and one of the most dangerous short lived phenomenon which occurs in the Earth " s atmosphere ranging from troposphere to the lower ionosphere. Lightning in troposphere is mainly classified as cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, intra-cloud (IC) lightning and inter-cloud or cloud-to-cloud (CC) lightning discharges. It is assumed that these discharges are caused by the electrically charged thunderclouds. CG lightning has been studied more and is further categorized as positive CG and negative CG lightning. Positive CG lightning is more powerful and accounts only (5-10) percent of the total global lightning and may carry a peak current of >300 kA. An entire family of other electrical discharges also has been reported by the scientific community. They are called " Transient " s Luminous Events (TLE " s) ". TLEs occur from top of the thunderclouds up to the lower ionospheric altitudes. Their first visual evidence was documented in 1989. TLE " s are included as blue starters, blue jets, gigantic jets, red sprites, halos, and elves. They are named according to their optical properties, terminal altitudes and different shapes. It has been observed that TLE " s are associated with underlying thunderstorm activity and strong tropospheric lightning. The exact physical mechanism of lightning and TLE " s and their association with the underlying thunderstorms is still unknown and the research is going on. In this paper, we will study the possible mechanisms of these electrical discharges, their inter-connection and impacts on the atmosphere. This paper is aimed at the readers generally are unfamiliar with the lightning characteristics. We hope that this article will increase the interest among the researchers.

Research paper thumbnail of TROPOSPHERIC LIGHTNING AS A SOURCE OF HIGH ALTITUDE LIGHTNING (HAL) DISCHARGES

International Journal of Current Research and Review, 2012

High altitude lightning (HAL) discharges are a family of short lived electrical-breakdown phenome... more High altitude lightning (HAL) discharges are a family of short lived electrical-breakdown phenomena that occur at altitudes ranging from cloud tops to the ionosphere. HAL discharges include mainly blue starters, blue jets, red sprites and elves. In this paper, it is described that the tropospheric cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning discharges pave the way of HAL discharges. The electric field, generated due to CG lightning discharge in the upper atmosphere is calculated. This electric field deposits the heat energy in the ambient space which comes in the form of HAL discharges. An altitude profile of heat energy density, deposited in the body of HAL discharges is also calculated. The HAL generating electric field deposits huge amount of energy at lower altitudes as compared to the higher altitudes. The energy loss at an altitude of 20 km where blue starters/jets initiate comes out to be of the order of 10-4 Jm-3. Similarly the energy loss at sprite initiating altitude (70 km) comes out to be of the order of 10-8 Jm-3. This shows that the blue starters/jets are more luminous as compared to the red sprites, which is in conformity with the experimental observations.

Research paper thumbnail of Propagation of ELF Radiation from RS-LC System and Red Sprites in Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide

Abstract In this paper, two different mechanisms return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and ... more Abstract In this paper, two different mechanisms return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and red sprites which excite Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been discussed. The electric and magnetic fields from RS-LC system and red spites in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been calculated. It has been found that red sprites contribute to the Schumann resonances (SR) greatly as compared to the RS-LC system.

Research paper thumbnail of Electrical parameters of red sprites

Abstract Red sprites are the exotic kind of lightning above thunderstorms. Expressions for the ve... more Abstract Red sprites are the exotic kind of lightning above thunderstorms. Expressions for the velocity and current of sprites have been obtained. The velocity expression comes out to be Gaussian. The calculated current flowing in the sprite body behaves just like a typical lightning return stroke current. The variations of current moment and charge moment change with time have been calculated with the help of velocity and current expressions.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Energy Estimation of Lightning Discharge

In this paper, we calculated thermal power, dissipated heat energy and radiated energy due to the... more In this paper, we calculated thermal power, dissipated heat energy and radiated energy due to the current flowing in the body of lightning channel. The peak value of thermal power and total dissipated heat/thermal energy come out to be of the order of 10 10 W and 10 6 J respectively. The calculated radiated energy comes out to be around 3.23 kJ. It is found that the energy lost in the form of radiation is much low as compared to the dissipated heat energy in the lightning channel.

Research paper thumbnail of Electric and Magnetic Fields from Return Stroke-Lateral Corona System and Red Sprites

Journal of Electromagnetic Analysis and Applications, Jan 1, 2011

Electric and magnetic fields in time and frequency domain due to return stroke-lateral corona (RS... more Electric and magnetic fields in time and frequency domain due to return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and recently discovered red sprites have been calculated. It has been found that the electric and magnetic fields due to return stroke and lateral corona system radiate in the very low frequency (VLF) region while due to sprites radiate in the extremely low frequency (ELF) range. A comparison has been made between the radiation emitted due to RS-LC system and sprites in ELF (0 -200 Hz) region. It has been found that the electric field i.e. radiation power generated due to sprites dominates in the ELF range and thus it is concluded that the red sprites as compared to the RS-LC system are the prominent source for the excitation of Schumann resonances in the earth-ionosphere waveguide.

Research paper thumbnail of Survey on Electrical Activity in Earth's Atmosphere

Lightning discharge is a spectacular, luminous and one of the most dangerous short lived phenomen... more Lightning discharge is a spectacular, luminous and one of the most dangerous short lived phenomenon which occurs in the Earth " s atmosphere ranging from troposphere to the lower ionosphere. Lightning in troposphere is mainly classified as cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, intra-cloud (IC) lightning and inter-cloud or cloud-to-cloud (CC) lightning discharges. It is assumed that these discharges are caused by the electrically charged thunderclouds. CG lightning has been studied more and is further categorized as positive CG and negative CG lightning. Positive CG lightning is more powerful and accounts only (5-10) percent of the total global lightning and may carry a peak current of >300 kA. An entire family of other electrical discharges also has been reported by the scientific community. They are called " Transient " s Luminous Events (TLE " s) ". TLEs occur from top of the thunderclouds up to the lower ionospheric altitudes. Their first visual evidence was documented in 1989. TLE " s are included as blue starters, blue jets, gigantic jets, red sprites, halos, and elves. They are named according to their optical properties, terminal altitudes and different shapes. It has been observed that TLE " s are associated with underlying thunderstorm activity and strong tropospheric lightning. The exact physical mechanism of lightning and TLE " s and their association with the underlying thunderstorms is still unknown and the research is going on. In this paper, we will study the possible mechanisms of these electrical discharges, their inter-connection and impacts on the atmosphere. This paper is aimed at the readers generally are unfamiliar with the lightning characteristics. We hope that this article will increase the interest among the researchers.

Research paper thumbnail of TROPOSPHERIC LIGHTNING AS A SOURCE OF HIGH ALTITUDE LIGHTNING (HAL) DISCHARGES

International Journal of Current Research and Review, 2012

High altitude lightning (HAL) discharges are a family of short lived electrical-breakdown phenome... more High altitude lightning (HAL) discharges are a family of short lived electrical-breakdown phenomena that occur at altitudes ranging from cloud tops to the ionosphere. HAL discharges include mainly blue starters, blue jets, red sprites and elves. In this paper, it is described that the tropospheric cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning discharges pave the way of HAL discharges. The electric field, generated due to CG lightning discharge in the upper atmosphere is calculated. This electric field deposits the heat energy in the ambient space which comes in the form of HAL discharges. An altitude profile of heat energy density, deposited in the body of HAL discharges is also calculated. The HAL generating electric field deposits huge amount of energy at lower altitudes as compared to the higher altitudes. The energy loss at an altitude of 20 km where blue starters/jets initiate comes out to be of the order of 10-4 Jm-3. Similarly the energy loss at sprite initiating altitude (70 km) comes out to be of the order of 10-8 Jm-3. This shows that the blue starters/jets are more luminous as compared to the red sprites, which is in conformity with the experimental observations.

Research paper thumbnail of Propagation of ELF Radiation from RS-LC System and Red Sprites in Earth-Ionosphere Waveguide

Abstract In this paper, two different mechanisms return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and ... more Abstract In this paper, two different mechanisms return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and red sprites which excite Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been discussed. The electric and magnetic fields from RS-LC system and red spites in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide have been calculated. It has been found that red sprites contribute to the Schumann resonances (SR) greatly as compared to the RS-LC system.

Research paper thumbnail of Electrical parameters of red sprites

Abstract Red sprites are the exotic kind of lightning above thunderstorms. Expressions for the ve... more Abstract Red sprites are the exotic kind of lightning above thunderstorms. Expressions for the velocity and current of sprites have been obtained. The velocity expression comes out to be Gaussian. The calculated current flowing in the sprite body behaves just like a typical lightning return stroke current. The variations of current moment and charge moment change with time have been calculated with the help of velocity and current expressions.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Energy Estimation of Lightning Discharge

In this paper, we calculated thermal power, dissipated heat energy and radiated energy due to the... more In this paper, we calculated thermal power, dissipated heat energy and radiated energy due to the current flowing in the body of lightning channel. The peak value of thermal power and total dissipated heat/thermal energy come out to be of the order of 10 10 W and 10 6 J respectively. The calculated radiated energy comes out to be around 3.23 kJ. It is found that the energy lost in the form of radiation is much low as compared to the dissipated heat energy in the lightning channel.

Research paper thumbnail of Electric and Magnetic Fields from Return Stroke-Lateral Corona System and Red Sprites

Journal of Electromagnetic Analysis and Applications, Jan 1, 2011

Electric and magnetic fields in time and frequency domain due to return stroke-lateral corona (RS... more Electric and magnetic fields in time and frequency domain due to return stroke-lateral corona (RS-LC) system and recently discovered red sprites have been calculated. It has been found that the electric and magnetic fields due to return stroke and lateral corona system radiate in the very low frequency (VLF) region while due to sprites radiate in the extremely low frequency (ELF) range. A comparison has been made between the radiation emitted due to RS-LC system and sprites in ELF (0 -200 Hz) region. It has been found that the electric field i.e. radiation power generated due to sprites dominates in the ELF range and thus it is concluded that the red sprites as compared to the RS-LC system are the prominent source for the excitation of Schumann resonances in the earth-ionosphere waveguide.