Detailed observations of a supercell-type storm have been performed on 21 July 1998 in Southern Germany during the field phase of the European Lightning Nitrogen Oxides Project (ELLINOX). An observed cell splitting event and the subsequent intensification of the right-moving storm into a supercell structure was also modelled very well by numerical simulations including microphysics and lightning. Polarimetric radar measurements suggested a close relation between the occurrence of graupel and lightning. Strong electric fields were indicated by enhanced depolarisation structures. Airborne observations revealed that in severe storms most of the anvil NOx content can be produced by lightning and that the intra-cloud lightning contribution is more important than previously assumed.

Doppler velocity measurements from Doppler weather radars can be used to estimate the horizontal wind field. In the past several techniques were developed for this purpose to be used during field campaigns. But only a few weather services retrieve operational the horizontal wind vector from their Doppler radars. In this paper we show that it is possible to apply successfully the known methods to the Doppler velocity measurements performed by operational Doppler radars of the Deutscher Wetterdienst. Both, single and dual Doppler techniques were applied to ensure a large area where the horizontal wind field can be estimated.