A device developed at UAH has become a valuable tool in researchers' quest to determine how lightning is spawned in clouds, to map strikes from beginning to end and to better predict severe weather. The Huntsville Alabama Marx Meter Array (HAMMA) sensor literally resides under a large inverted metal salad bowl to protect the electronics from rain. A modern electronic reinvention of a sensor first developed in the 1950s, it detects the radiated electric field in the atmosphere when lightning strikes.