Characteristics of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning in the Contiguous U. S.

这项研究的目标是将闪电地面闪电位置覆盖在两种多普勒运动雷达反射率模式上。这将为研究中气旋的高反射率模式和涡度中心的闪电特征和位置提供一种途径。雷暴中电荷分离的一种假设将通过确定闪电位置是否聚集在高梯度dBz值附近来检验，高梯度dBz值是已知的具有高速上升和下降气流的区域。此外，这项研究的一个目的是检查毗邻的美国1989年的闪电/数据。这项研究将考察峰值电流、极性和闪电密度随地理位置和季节的变化。

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.