THIS ONE-YEAR EFFORT REQUIRES THE ONGOING EXPERTISE OF DR. KENNETH CUMMINS, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, AND SERVING IN THE CAPACITY AS PRIVATE CONSULTANT. DR. CUMMINS WILL PROVIDE UNIQUE INSIGHT OF THE CHANGES IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE US NATIONAL LIGHTNING DETECTION NETWORK (NLDN) DUE TO HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE UPGRADES. IDENTIFICATION OF THESE CHANGES WILL ALLOW HIM TO PROVIDE UNBIASED INTERPRETATIONS OF THE NATURAL (I.E., NON-NETWORK RELATED) VARIATIONS IN CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING CHARACTERISTICS, AND HENCE WILL HELP ASSESS REAL CHANGES IN LIGHTNING NITROGEN OXIDES (LNOX) PRODUCTION, AN IMPORTANT TRACE GAS IN CLIMATE STUDIES. THESE EFFORTS WILL SUPPORT NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT (NCA) STUDIES AT NASA/MSFC THAT INVOLVE EXAMINING THE INTER-RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LIGHTNING AND CLIMATE. DR. CUMMINS WILL ALSO EXAMINE ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION ANOMALIES, AND IN PARTICULAR HOW THESE ANOMALIES CORRESPOND TO ONGOING NCA DRY LIGHTNING STUDIES.