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If you're on the ground during a thunderstorm, you might witness a spectacular show of lightning.

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But if you're observing that same thunderstorm from the vantage point of the International Space Station,

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you might see a bolt of energy shooting up from the clouds.

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And it might be red. Or blue. Or even green.

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These particle outbursts are like nothing seen from the ground,

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and may prove useful to predict weather outcomes more precisely, better understand

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changes to our climate and increase the safety of planes and ships approaching dangerous storms.

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They have names that sound like they were taken from a fantasy novel: 

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Blue Jet. Gigantic Jet. Red Sprite. Halos and Elves.

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But all belong to a more scientific sounding family, transient luminous events or TLEs;

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flashes and glows that appear above storms that are results of activity occurring in and below those storms.

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Dr. Timothy Lang is a lead research aerospace technologist at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

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He explains how two key observational instruments aboard the orbiting laboratory

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are helping scientists better understand these colorful bursts of energy: 

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"We use the Lightning Imaging Sensor, or LIS, to map lightning in two dimensions with global-scale coverage.

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It shows us where the thunderstorms are taking place,

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and how powerful each one is based on the size of its lightning flashes. So it's akin to a macro camera.

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Another instrument, the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor, or ASIM,

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is operated by the European Space Agency. ASIM gives us very fine detail of a TLE's flash.

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In essence, it's akin to a micro camera."

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Torsten Neubert, ASIM Principal Investigator at Denmark's National Space Institute

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adds that "ASIM and LIS make observations in different ranges of the color spectrum,

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allowing for different views of these particle events."

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So, LIS is macro; ASIM is micro, and together they provide a powerful combination for exploring lightning and TLEs.

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The space station offers an excellent vantage point to scientists studying TLEs.

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At about 250 miles up, it is much closer to these phenomenon than a geosynchronous satellite.

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Further, the stations' orbit allows for coverage of storms world-wide.

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All this allows LIS and ASIM to produce a unique space-based dataset of thunderstorms and their effects,

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which in turn helps support other observational instruments.

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LIS for example, has been used to calibrate instruments and verify data

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for the Geostationary Lightning Mapper on NASA and NOAA's GOES satellites,

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and will also support the lightning imager on the European satellite, Meteosat Third Generation.

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This support helps make data produced by these sensors the highest quality for serving the public.

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From the space station, LIS can provide lightning data in near-realtime for the benefit of those on Earth.

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It can report lightning nearing dry areas of forests prone to wildfires.

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It's integrated into the NOAA Aviation Weather Center's operations,

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which provides weather forecasts and warnings to the US and international aviation and maritime communities.

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And, over time, it can map data points to help scientists

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observe changes to our climate over broad tracts of land and sea.

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In short, studying lightning and its effects both below and above the clouds

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can have a big impact on how we view our planet.

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Doing so from the International Space Station is improving that view

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in ways that couldn't be accomplished anywhere else.

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For more electrifying information about the International Space Station, go to www.nasa.gov/iss-science.

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To discover more about the space on, around, and beyond our planet visit science.nasa.gov