Elementary model of sprite igniting electric fields

Sprites are a recently discovered exotic kind of lightning above thunderstorms. An analytic model of sprite igniting electric fields is developed to describe the essence of sprite physics. The proposed model uses typical parameters of particularly intense positive lightning discharges inside thunderclouds which cause the sprites. The sensitivity of the results with respect to the natural variability of the model parameters is discussed. (C) 2006 American Association of Physics Teachers.