Progress and challenges in thunderstorm electrification modeling

Numerical models have been useful tools for testing and developing hypotheses about storm dynamics, microphysics, and electrification. Of these, electrification modeling has been limited to a niche market, whether because of its difficulty and demand for computational resources or perhaps general lack of interest. Wider interest appears to be growing, however, as new observational platforms reveal greater details of lightning behavior and lightning climatology, and as applications (i.e., societal benefits) are sought for lightning observations.

This talk will cover recent progress made in the field of electrification modeling and discuss some of the (many) substantial challenges to be overcome, even as basic as model evaluation.