This course has five specific objectives.

The ice-ice collisional charging mechanism is discussed since it is widely considered the primary charging mechanism in thunderstorms. Knowing the charge on specific frozen hydrometeors is Familiarity with this charging mechanism includes

Radar and satellite can be used to identify clouds which have the potential to produce CG lightning. Soundings can also be used to identify environments which have the potential to support CG lightning activity.

The gross charge distributions in thunderstorms will be presented and these distributions will be shown to control the occurrence of -CGs and +CGs.

With a solid understanding of electrification, charge distributions and CG lightning production, -CGs and +CGs can be used to infer storm lifecycle and precipitation type, location and intensity.

Throughout this session, CG lightning data is integrated with other data sets.