Regional lightning detection networks such as the Lightning Detection and Ranging (LDAR) system, the Lightning Mapping Array (LMA) and the Surveillance et Alerte Foudre par Interferometrie Radiometrique (SAFIR) system represent the state-of-the-art in lightning detection. These networks detect over 95% of total (cloud and cloud-to-ground) lightning in two or three dimensions with location accuracies of less than 1 km. As of the summer of 2003, LDAR and LMA networks already exist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Huntsville, Alabama, Norman, Oklahoma, White Sands, New Mexico, Socorro, New Mexico and Tucson, Arizona, and a SAFIR network has been installed at Dallas-Fort Worth. As the number of total lightning research networks grows in the United States, it is increasingly important to show how this data can be used to help the meteorological and aviation industry.

We present a specific thunderstorm case study that demonstrates the advantages of having a regional total lightning detection network. These advantages include (1) a better representation of the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning hazard region, (2) higher temporal resolution than radar for thunderstorm growth and decay, (3) potential increased lead time for severe weather warnings including tornadoes, hail and straight-line winds and (4) safer and more efficient airspace management due to the volumetric representation of lightning activity.