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[1] A three-dimensional dynamic cloud model is used to investigate electrification of the full life cycle of an idealized continental multicell storm. Five laboratory-based parameterizations of noninductive graupel-ice charge separation are compared. Inductive (i.e., electric field-dependent) charge separation is tested for rebounding graupel-droplet collisions. Each noninductive graupel-ice parameterization is combined with variations in the effectiveness of inductive charging (off, moderate, and strong) and in the minimum ice crystal concentration (10 or 50 L À1 ). Small atmospheric ion processes such as hydrometeor attachment and point discharge at the ground are treated explicitly. Three of the noninductive schemes readily produced a normal polarity charge structure, consisting of a main negative charge region with an upper main positive charge region and a lower positive charge region. Negative polarity cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes occurred when the lower positive charge (LPC) region had sufficient charge density to cause high electric fields. Two of the three also produced one or more +CG flashes. The other two noninductive charging schemes, which are dependent on the graupel rime accretion rate, tended to produce an initially inverted polarity charge structure and +CG flashes. The model results suggest that inductive graupel-droplet charge separation could play a role in the development of lower charge regions. Noninductive charging, on the other hand, was also found to be capable of producing strong lower charge regions in the tests with a minimum ice crystal concentration of 50 L À1 .Citation: Mansell, E. R., D. R. MacGorman, C. L. Ziegler, and J. M. Straka (2005), Charge structure and lightning sensitivity in a simulated multicell thunderstorm,

SUMMARYA comparison between solutions from simulations of a non-linear density current test problem was made in order to study the behaviour of a variety of numerical methods. The test problem was diffusion-limited so that a grid-converged reference solution could be generated using high spatial resolution. Solutions of the test problem using several different resolutions were computed by the participants of the 'Workshop on Numerical Methods for Solving Nonlinear Flow Problems', which was held on 11-13 September 1990 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). In general, it was found that when the flow was adequately resolved, all of the numerical schemes produced solutions that contained the basic physics as well as most of the flow detail of the reference solution. However, when the flow was marginally resolved, there were significant differences between the solutions produced by the various models. Finally, when the flow was poorly resolved, none of the models performed very well. While higher-order and spectral-type schemes performed best for adequately and marginally resolved flow, solutions made with these schemes were virtually unusable for poorly resolved flow. In contrast, the monotonic schemes provided the most coherent and smooth solutions for poorly resolved flow, however with noticeable amplitude and phase speed errors, even at finer resolutions.

[1] Lightning discharges are simulated by using a stochastic dielectric breakdown model within a numerical thunderstorm model with extensive parameterizations of electrification mechanisms. The lightning model simulates the macroscopic bidirectional extension of discharges as a step-by-step stochastic process. Discharge channels are propagated on a uniform grid, and the direction of propagation (including diagonals) for a particular step is chosen randomly, with the probability for choosing a particular direction depending on the net electric field. After each propagation step the electric fields are recomputed via Poisson's equation to account for the effect of the conducting channel. The lightning parameterization produces realistic looking, three-dimensional, branched lightning discharges. A variety of lightning types have been produced, including intracloud discharges, negative cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning, and positive CG lightning. The model simulations support the hypothesis that negative CG flashes occur only when a region of positive charge exists below the main negative charge region. Similarly, simulated positive CG flashes were found to occur only in regions of storms where the two significant charge layers closest to ground had roughly a ''normal dipole'' structure (i.e., positive charge above negative).

Despite the long-surmised importance of the hook echo and rear-flank downdraft (RFD) in tornadogenesis, only a paucity of direct observations have been obtained at the surface within hook echoes and RFDs. In this paper, in situ surface observations within hook echoes and RFDs are analyzed. These ''mobile mesonet'' data have unprecedented horizontal spatial resolution and were obtained from the Verifications of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX) and additional field experiments conducted since the conclusion of VORTEX. The surface thermodynamic characteristics of hook echoes and RFDs associated with tornadic and nontornadic supercells are investigated to address whether certain types of hook echoes and RFDs are favorable (or unfavorable) for tornadogenesis.Tornadogenesis is more likely and tornado intensity and longevity increase as the surface buoyancy, potential buoyancy (as measured by the convective available potential energy), and equivalent potential temperature in the RFD increase, and as the convective inhibition associated with RFD parcels at the surface decreases. It is hypothesized that evaporative cooling and entrainment of midlevel potentially cold air may play smaller roles in the development of RFDs associated with tornadic supercells compared to nontornadic supercells. Furthermore, baroclinity at the surface within the hook echo is not a necessary condition for tornadogenesis. It also will be shown that environments characterized by high boundary layer relative humidity (and low cloud base) may be more conducive to RFDs associated with relatively high buoyancy than environments characterized by low boundary layer relative humidity (and high cloud base).