Analytic calculations predict that total lightning frequency is roughly proportional to the product of downward precipitating and upward non-precipitating ice fluxes. This study investigates the proposed relationship for different types of thunderstorms.

Polarimetric radar data were related to bulk hydrometeor types using the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) particle identification algorithm to determine regions of precipitating and non-precipitating ice. When two Doppler radars were available, NCAR's REORDER and CEDRIC software were used to perform a dual Doppler wind analysis and determine vertical wind speeds.

The data used in this study were collected during the Stratospheric-Tropospheric Experiment: Radiation, Aerosols and Ozone (STERAO), which took place in Northern Colorado in the summer of 1996, and the Severe Thunderstorm Electrification and Precipitation Study which took place in at the Colorado/ Kansas border in the summer of 2000.

Results for different storm types will be presented.