Introduction

In early October 1997, a high-speed light-intensified camera system was operated at Langmuir Laboratory, NM to observe sprite phenomena. Frame rates of either 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 $s^{-1}$ were used to capture the development sequence of 42 separate sprite clusters at estimated ranges of 200-900 km. Electric field, magnetic field, and photometric data were obtained of the parent discharges and the sprites.

The characteristics of the initial 2-3 ms of sprite development observed on high-speed video were summarized by Stanley et al. (1999). The total charge moment change calculated from magnetic field measurements was compared with high-speed observations of sprite development by Cummer and Stanley (1999). Finally, the spatial development of diffuse luminous events observed on high-speed video was compared with theoretical predictions of quasi-electrostatic heating by Barrington-Leigh et al. (2000). The primary purpose of this chapter is to document high-speed video results in more detail (and for more examples) than was possible in the above publications.