Some spectroscopic studies of lightning from 1901 to the present are reviewed, with special emphasis on slitless techniques-time-integrated and time-resolved. Some of the best examples of the authors' time-integrated spectra are reproduced to display and identify emission and absorption features from 3000 A to almost 9000 A on a nearly uniform scale approximating 20 A/mm. Time-resolved spectra in the visible region are reproduced in the range of milliseconds for a continuing-current luminosity, and microseconds for a return stroke and a stepped leader.
