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Integrated Sensor Training (IST) Professional Development Series

Unit 2: Using Lightning Observations

Instructional Component 2.2


Lightning Meteorology I

Electrification and Lightning Activity in Typical Thunderstorms

Bard Zajac, John Weaver and Dan Lindsey

with contributions from
Tony Mostek, Dan Bikos, Brian Motta, Walt Petersen, Fred Mosher, Sam Beckman and the staff from NSSL


1) Introduction
    Lightning Meteorology I examines electrification and cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning activity in typical warm season thunderstorms, both isolated storms and mesoscale convective systems. The broad objective of this teletraining course is to utilize CG lightning data in nowcasting / forecasting these storms.

    Specific course objectives are:

  • to gain a basic understanding of the ice-ice collisional charging mechanism


  • to know the gross distributions of electrical charge in thunderstorms


  • to understand how charge distributions control the production of negative and positive CG strikes (-CGs and +CGs)


  • to identify minimum thresholds in radar reflectivity and satellite cloud top temperature associated with CG lightning


  • to use -CGs and +CGs to monitor storm lifecycle and convective and stratiform precipitation


  • to integrate lightning data with sounding, satellite and radar data


2) Prerequisites, Length, and Difficulty
    Prerequisities: none
    Length: 90 minutes
    Difficulty: basic


3) Teletraining Installation Instructions



4) Training Session Options:
    A) The interactive VISITview training session. (To be used with a VISIT instructor leading the session ). Click here to signup for teletraining. The session will last 90 minutes. This teletraining session uses the VISITview software, where Windows PC (with 128 MB RAM or greater) with an Internet connection is needed.

    B) Web-based training session - a "stand alone" version viewed via a Web browser, with embedded talking points included. This lesson version may be viewed at any time. These slides are ideal for printing from the web-browser, just print preview first to choose portrait or landscape mode. Best viewed with Internet Explorer or Netscape (prior to version 6).

    C) Web-based Visitview session - This version uses the VISITview software within a Web browser, may be viewed at any time. It retains all the functionality of the VISITview software which you see in a "live" teletraining session. The talking points are not included in this lesson version, but can be viewed in a separate Web browser (or printed out beforehand).

    D) local Visitview session - This is the same version of the lesson used in a "live" VISITview teletraining session, but no connection is made to an external VISITview server. You may download the file off this page and go through the lesson on your own in "local mode" by starting the "visitlocal.bat" file. Talking points are not included in this lesson version, but can be viewed in a separate Web browser ( or printed out beforehand).

    E) Audio playback - This VISITview file contains recorded audio and annotations and can be taken at anytime. Certificates of completion for NOAA employees can be obtained through your Science Operation Officer or training point of contact. For detailed information on how to view the recorded session click here.

    You may either request a DVD (with all VISIT audio playback files) OR download the file (see instructions below):

    Download the audio playback file (it is about 30 MB in size) from the following site(s):

    For Windows computers: ftp://rammftp.cira.colostate.edu/bikos/audio/ltg_met1_audio.exe

    For non-Windows and Windows computers: ftp://rammftp.cira.colostate.edu/bikos/audio/ltg_met1_audio.zip

    If you have problems downloading from the site above, use the mirror site below:
    For Windows computers: ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/visit/audio/ltg_met1_audio.exe

    For non-Windows and Windows computers: ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/visit/audio/ltg_met1_audio.zip


5) Train the trainer
    Talking points are instructors' notes on the session organized slide-by-slide. They are intended to supplement local training at the NWS office. Talking points should be viewed in conjunction with the local VISITview session (which can be started using the 'visitlocal.bat' file).

    Talking points may also be downloaded as a Word document.

    Talking points can be printed for easy reference.


6) Information contact
7) VISIT On-Line Lightning Resources
    This web site contains a wealth of information on lightning meteorology and lightning applications.

    This web site also contains a link to Zajac and Weaver (2002), the conference paper from the AWIPS Symposium that summarizes this teletraining course. Zajac and Weaver (2002) can be downloaded as a PDF file.


8) References
    Byers, H. R., and R. R. Braham, Jr., 1949: The thunderstorm. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 287 pp.

    Dye, J. E., J. J. Jones, W. P. Winn, T. A. Cerni, B. Gardiner, D. Lamb, R. L. Ritter, J. Hallett, and C. P. F. Saunders, 1986: Early electrification and precipitation development in a small isolated Montata cumumlonimbus. J. Geophysical Research, 91, 1231-1247.

    Houze, R. A., Jr., S. A. Rutledge, M. I. Biggerstaff, and B. F. Smull, 1989: Interpretation of Doppler-weather radar displays of midlatitude mesoscale convective systems. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 70, 608-619.

    Lopez, R. E., W. D. Otto, R. Ortiz, and R. L. Holle, 1990: The lightning activity of convective cloud systems in northeastern Colorado. Preprints, 18th Conference on Interactive Information and Processing Systems for Meteorology, Oceanography and Hydrology, Orlando, FL, AMS, 727-731.

    McDonald, J. E., 1958: The physics of cloud modification. Advanced in Geophysics, Academic Press, 5, 233-303.

    Petersen, W. A., L. D. Carey, S. A. Rutledge, J. C. Knievel, N. J. Doesken, R. H. Johnson, T. B. McKee, T. Vonder Haar, and J. F. Weaver, 1999: Mesoscale and radar observations of the Fort Collins Flash Flood of 28 July 1997, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 80, 191-216.

    Rodgers, R. R., and M. K. Yau, 1989: A short course in cloud physics. Pergamon, 293 pp.

    Rutledge, S. A., and D. R. MacGorman, 1998: Cloud-to-ground lightning activity in the 10-11 June 1985 mesoscale convective system observed during the Oklahoma-Kansas PRE-STORM Project. Mon. Wea. Rev., 116, 1396-1408.

    Saunders, C. P. R., 1993: A review of thunderstorm electrification processes. J. Appl. Meteor., 32, 642-655.

    Wallace, J. M., and P. V. Hobbs, 1977: Atmospheric science: An introductory survey. Academic Press, 467 pp.

    Zajac, B. A., and J. F. Weaver, 2002 : An introductory course on forecasting with lightning data. Preprints, Symposium on the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), Orlando, FL, AMS.



9) Content developed/updated
    Developed: 2001
    Updated: 2004