Miscellany

Research Centres

Lightning Research Center: Studying parameters of the lightning discharge that are considered important for lightning protection, modelling of the lightning return stroke and also lightning-induced voltages on power distribution lines. (US)
NASA, Global Hydrology and Climate Center Lightning and Atmospheric Electricity Research (US)
- Lightning Primer: Discusses various answers gained from research at the Center, for example types of lightning discharges, lightning detection networks and the global electric circuit.
- Space Based Research: Provides comprehensive details of research taking place, such as the optical transient detector, lightning imaging sensor and lightning mapper sensor.
- Field Campaigns and Ground Validation: Holds details of lightning campaigns, lightning detection instruments and research proposal information.
Osaka University Lightning Research Group: Holds detailed descriptions of projects undertaken, such as triggered lightning, Safir operation and the Australian sprites gallery. (Japan)
University of Illinois Lightning Injury Research:Comprehensive resource looking from a "Consequences of Lightning" perspective. Provides lightning injury facts, psychological effects and safety guidelines. (US)

Data/Information Libraries

Tornado and Storm Research Organisation, Severe Weather Photographic Collections Lightning: Three photographs of an active lightning core in Marden, Kent in 1987. (UK)
NASA, Lightning and Atmospheric Electricity Research Dataset Information: Data such as infra- red, radar and sensed data are freely available when ordered. Most datasets are available in several media forms, including digital tape and ftp download, and are available in compressed or uncompressed formats.(US)
NOAA National Weather Service Thunder/Lightning: Facts and figures relating to thunderstorms, thunder and lightning. Characteristics of thunderstorms and lightning are also detailed comprehensively. (US)
Stephen M. Brincat Lightning Photography: Provides a number of lightning images from the two fairly recent years of1996 and 1997. The resource also shows different types of lightning. (Malta)
Storm 98 The Lightning Stalker: Provides an informative resource all about lightning. Also provides a interesting and useful photo gallery and also video action. (US)
USA Today Lightning information index:Providing information on a range of lightning topics such as lightning forms and how lightning reaches the ground. An extremely useful resource is the anatomy of a lightning stroke. (US)

Educational/On-line courses

EES Group Lightning resource: maps lightning frequency across UK. Lightning...what is it?: Discusses what actually happens during a lightning strike and also common misconceptions. (UK)
NASA, Global Hydrology and Climate Center Lightning and Atmospheric Electricity Research: Comprehensive resource suitable for in-depth studies of thunderstorms and lightning characteristics.
- Lightning Primer: The lightning primer discusses:
  - Storm characteristics:Introduces a background to theories of lightning, and provides a context from which to study lightning more in-depth.
  - Types of lightning discharge: Uses illustrations and text to provide a comprehensive resource discussing cloud-ground, inter-cloud and intra-cloud lightning. Also holds a section on lightning discharge processes.
  - Lightning investigations: Details lightning investigations using rockets, high altitude aeroplanes and spacecraft; uses a mixture of photos, illustrations and text.
  - Lightning detection networks: Short section detailing the ground based detection network being used in the US.
  - Global Studies & The global electric circuit: Two brief sections detailing global trends of lightning effects on different layers of the earth.
NASA Windows to the Universe - Earth phenomena - Lightning and Thunder: Provides an extremely simple introductory resource detailing thunderstorms, lightning and hail. Main sections include:
WW2010, Severe Thunderstorms Dangers of Thunderstorms: Provides an introduction to the dangers brought by thunderstorms, lightning, flash floods and hail, outflow, downbursts and tornadoes. (US)