The Down Under Doppler and Electricity Experiment (DUNDEE): Overview and Preliminary Results

DUNDEE (Down Under Doppler and Electricity Experiment) is described. DUNDEE was carried out in the vicinity of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, during the wet seasons of November 1988 through February 1989, and November 1989 through February 1990. The general goal of DUNDEE was to investigate the dynamical and electrical properties of tropical mesoscale convective systems and isolated deep convective storms. Darwin, situated at the southern tip of the "maritime continent," experiences both monsoon and "break" period conditions during the wet season. We discuss the observational network deployed for DUNDEE and present preliminary scientific results. One particularly interesting observation is a large contrast in the frequency of total lightning between break period convection (high lightning rates) and convection in the monsoon trough (low lightning rates). A relationship between CAPE (convective available potentional energy) and total flash rate is presented and discussed to explain this observation.