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LIGHTNING FLASH RATE MAPS
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The Balloon goes up over lightning!
The Electric Universe, Holoscience
(General to Advanced Audience)
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Convective Weather Hazards (slide show)
MIT Lincoln Laboratory, courtesy of
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
(Advanced Audience)
(Adobe PDF file)
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Electric Skies
Interview with Earle Williams by FirstScience.com
(General to Advanced Audience)
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First Estimates Developed Of Lightning-Associated “Sprites”
NSF Press Release, Office of Legislative and Public Affairs (OLPA),
National Science Foundation (NSF)
(General Audience)
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Huge Mystery Flashes Seen In Outer Atmosphere
John Pickrell, Science & Space,
National Geographic News,
National Geographic Society
[ 25 June 2003 ] (General Audience)
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Lightning
Jetstream - Online School for Weather,
Southern Region Headquarters (SRH),
National Weather Service (NWS),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
(General Audience)
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Lightning
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation
(General Audience)
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Lightning Detection From Space: A Lightning Primer
Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
(General Audience)
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Lightning Gallery
OKLAHOMA LIGHTNING, Storm Photography by Charles Allison
(General Audience)
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World Lightning Map
National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI)
(General Audience)
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LIGHTNING RESEARCH &
RESEARCH PAPERS
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5-year Plan: 2005—2010
Thunderstorm and Lightning Program for NASA’s
New Mexico Space Grant Consortium
William P. Winn, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
(General Audience)
(Adobe PDF file)
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ASPECTS OF ELECTRIC FIELD PROFILES AND TOTAL LIGHTNING IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN STEPS
W. D. Rust, D. R. MacGorman, P. R. Krehbiel, T. Hamlin,
J. Harlin, W. Rison, R. Thomas, E. C. Bruning,
NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory,
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology &
Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies,
University of Oklahoma
(Advanced Audience)
(Adobe PDF file)
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A CASE STUDY OF A POSITIVE STRIKE DOMINATED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM
THAT PRODUCED AN F2 TORNADO AFTER UNDERGOING A
SIGNIFICANT CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING POLARITY SHIFT
David G. Biggar, Jackson, MS, Weather Forecast Office,
National Weather Service (NWS),
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA),
U.S. Department of Commerce
(Advanced Audience)
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Lightning & Atmospheric Electricity Research at the GHCC
Global Hydrology and Climate Center (GHCC),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
(General Audience plus Data Sets)
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REMOTE SENSING OF THE ELECTRODYNAMIC COUPLING BETWEEN
THUNDERSTORM SYSTEMS AND THE MESOSPHERE /
LOWER IONOSPHERE
Steven Craig Reising, Ph.D. dissertation,
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Stanford University
(Technical Audience)
(Adobe PDF file)
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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIGHTNING RESEARCH GROUP
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Florida (UF)
(General Audience plus Advanced
to Technical Research Papers)
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The majesty of a looming thunderhead (colloquial for a thunderstorm
cloud, technically identified as cumulonimbus), highlighted in
bright white and tinged with shades of red and orange by a setting sun,
belies the truly violent and potentially deadly nature of the beast.
Viewed more closely, from beneath its base, the same storm takes on a truly
frightening aspect, cutting off sunlight to appear dirty grey or black,
with roiling, petulent fragments of cloud at its edges being ripped apart
by strong wind shear. Seen at night, this monster puts on a dazzling light
show, with high energy bolts of lightning crackling through the air to
shake the very earth with reverberation caused by the nearly instantaneous
heating of air molecules to temperatures hotter than the surface of the
sun.
Lightning strike, overlooked as a threat by many, is responsible,
on average, for more deaths each year than are tornadoes and hurricanes
combined (National Weather Service statistics, 1940-1991).
Additionally, lightning injures far more often than it kills. Injuries
induced by lightning strike can be painful, debilitating and oftentimes
permanent; frequently, significant damage is done to the central
nervous system or the brain.
Lightning can strike as far as ten miles beyond the edge of a
thunderstorm; people have actually been struck by lightning that
seemingly appeared out of nowhere, with no thunderstorm cloud
visible. Most people simply do not know the potential danger they are
placing themselves in when they venture outdoors during a thunderstorm, or
when they pick up the phone indoors or decide to do the dishes while a
thunderstorm is in progress. It is imperative that every one of us,
for our own safety, give lightning the respect and caution it truly
deserves.
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published 2 March 2004, updated 19 August
2004.
Follow links to the right to learn more about lightning and lightning research.
At the left margin, Related Links address topics of interest
pertaining to lightning and thunderstorms, including lightning protection and safety, lightning detection and
monitoring, and other severe weather topics. View the
Weather & Meteorology SiteMap
for a complete list of meteorology and weather-related topics.
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