Red sprites, upward lightning, and VLF perturbations

In the last decade there has been a great deal of interest in the detection and understanding of phenomena occurring above active thunderstorms. The d iscovery of the optical phenomena now termed "red sprites" is discussed, al ong with the properties that have been experimentally determined. Areas of disagreement between experimentalists are pointed out. Other optical and el ectromagnetic phenomena associated With red sprites are presented. These in clude blue jets, transiono-spheric pulse pairs, and gamma ray flashes. Part icular attention is given to the work on perturbations on very low frequenc y radio wave transmissions ("VLF sprites"), which has provided estimates of the electrical properties of sprites. Research into activity above thunder storms will continue to lead to a greater understanding of the coupling bet ween thunderstorms in the troposphere to the stratosphere, mesosphere, iono sphere, and beyond.