The objectives of this research are to overlay lightning ground flash locations on two radar reflectivity patterns in Doppler derived motions. This will provide a way to study the lightning characteristics and locations with respect to high reflectivity patterns and vorticity centers in mesocyclones. One hypothesis of charged separation in thunderstorms will be examined by determining if the lightning locations cluster near high gradient dBz values, a region known to have high velocity updrafts and downdrafts. In addition, an objective of this research is to examine the 1989 lightning/data for the contiguous United States. This study will examine the variation of the peak current, polarity, and lightning flash densities as a function of geographical position and season.
