Elektriske udladninger i atmosfæren giver sig udtryk i de velkendte lyn i troposfæren, blå lyn opad i stratosfærern, røde feer i mesosfæren, og glimt af røntgenstråling.
Det overordnede mål for kurset er at give de studerende et fundament til at forstå disse processer. Det vil gøre dem i stand til at analysere og fortolke den elektriske aktivitet i tordenvejr
It will allow them to analyse and interpret observations of thunderstorm electrical activity made from space and from ground. En studerende, der fuldt ud har opfyldt kursets mål, vil kunne:

• At forstå electron drift and breakdown in weakly ionized air with DC electric fields
• At forstå streamer formation, corona and spark discharges
• At forstå the principle manifestations of lightning (preliminary breakdown, stepped and dart leader, return current, continuing current, positive lightning)
• At forstå the principles of thunderstorm formation
• At forstå the principles of the main charging mechanisms of clouds
• At forstå the principles of the atmospheric electrical circuit
• At forstå the fundamentals of high-altitude lightning (sprites, jets gigantic jets)
• At forstå the fundamentals of high-energy radiation (gamma-ray flashes)

Kurset dækker essentielle aspekter af lyn, som er beskrevet i:
(1) Yu P. Raizer, Gas Discharge Physics: Chapter 2 p8-23; Chapter 4 p52-67; Chapter 7 p128-138; Chapter 12 p324-377
(2) The Earth's electrical environment, P1-16; Chapter 9 p114-130
(3) Sprites, Elves and Intense Lightning; NATO Science Series, Füllekrug et al. Ed., Pasko Colin Price P85-100; Theoretical modelling of sprites and jets´p253-293.
(4) Dwyer, J. R., High-energy atmospheric physics: terrestrial gamma-ray flashes and related phenomena, Space Sci. Rev. (2012) 173, p133-196 15. januar, 2019