Sprite streamer initiation from species deposited in the trail of overdense meteors under the application of lightning-induced electric field and emissions

Sprites are spectacular optical emissions in the mesosphere that are induced by the transient lightning electric field. They appear in the altitude range 40 to 90 km, last from a few milliseconds (ms) to more than 100 ms, often exhibit a brief descending diffuse glow, referred to as a sprite halo [e.g., Barrington-Leigh et al., JGR, 106, 1741, 2001], and develop into fine-structured filaments at lower altitudes commonly referred to as sprite streamers [McHarg et al., GRL, 34, L06804, 2007]. Modeling and experimental findings indicate that the presence of relatively dense plasma inhomogeneities in the mesosphere is necessary for initiation of sprite streamers [Lang et al., JGR, 116, A10306, 2011; Qin et al., JGR, 116, A06305, 2011; GRL, 40, 4777, 2013; Nat. Comm., 5, 3740, 2014]. Nevertheless, the exact origin of these inhomogeneities remains unknown. Janalizadeh and Pasko [Abstracts AE21A-08; AE21B-3132; presented at 2018 Fall Meeting, AGU, Washington DC, 10-14 Dec., 2018] investigated sprite streamer initiation from neutral metallic species produced in the trail of overdense meteors [Carrillo-Sanchez et al., GRL, 43, 11979, 2016; Plane et al., Space Sci. Rev., 214, 23, 2018] under the application of the lightning-induced electric field and sprite halo emissions. Subsequently, Janalizadeh and Pasko [Abstracts AE31B-3105; AE31B-3106; presented at 2019 Fall Meeting, AGU, San Francisco CA, 9-13 Dec., 2019] considered electron photodetachment from the negative ions [Pavlov, Surv. Geophys., 35, 259, 2014] produced in the meteor trails [e.g., Hocking et al., Ann. Geophys., 34, 1119, 2016] as a mechanism for sprite streamer initiation. Here we elaborate on (i) the photodetachment and photoionization mechanisms [Janalizadeh and Pasko, JGR, 125(7), e2020JA027979, 2020] as the main processes which contribute to streamer initiation, (ii) the modeling of sources of radiation considered in this research, i.e., visible and UV emissions of the sprite halo and visible radiation of tropospheric lightning [e.g., Quick and Krider, JGR, 118, 1868, 2013], and (iii) the implementation of a plasma fluid model, which accounts for the effect of the processes mentioned above.