Kenneth L. Cummins

Kenneth Cummins' research is focused in two broad areas: applied research on the physics and phenomenology of lightning, and the use of ground-based electromagnetic sensing to infer changes in near-surface soil electrical conductivity. Recent work on lightning physics and phenomenology includes the use of multiple high-speed cameras, lightning locations systems, and remote electric field measurements to study the incidence and behavior of cloud-to-ground lightning in the central and southwestern U.S. His research on the measurement of changes in soil electrical conductivity is being applied to the problems of continental-scale variation of root-zone soil moisture and near-surface temperature variations in the Yukon Basin of Alaska.

Degrees

• PhD, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 1978