From the ISS, scientists are capturing rare lightning above storms that could impact radio, climate, and safety.

…A mysterious phenomenon known as “red sprites” randomly occur in the mesosphere, hanging like upside-down jellyfish for a scant ten milliseconds. Blue jets spear from cloud tops toward the stratosphere with eerie, silent urgency.

Both events happen so fast and high that capturing their details was nearly impossible. Yet ASIM can spot them from orbit.

One study used its footage and ground instruments to pinpoint the altitude of a single blue jet. This confirmed that these upward bolts really do punch beyond the weather layer we know.

Those measurements feed directly into storm-charging models, which in turn inform aviation guidelines about where dangerous electrical fields might lurk…