Although the Martian atmosphere does not satisfy general requirements for l
ightning generation, there is a possibility of electrical discharge in the
case of strong surface winds and a resulting extremely large dust mass load
ing in the course of large dust storms occurring on this planet. On Earth,
negative potential gradients of many thousands of volts per meter have been
measured during dust storms when winds are sufficiently strong. However, o
wing to a lower pressure in the Martian atmosphere, the required voltage fo
r electrical breakdown is lower than on Earth. After a brief review of the
observations concerning Earth's atmosphere and the laboratory experiments p
erformed to understand these phenomena, the results of numerical simulation
of the electrification in Martian dust storms are presented. Known charact
eristics of Martian dust grains and the Martian atmosphere are considered,
and the different forces applied to the dust particles are taken into accou
nt. The electrostatic potential and the evolution of the charge density are
calculated using Poisson's equation and the continuity equation. Two diffe
rent wind configurations in the Martian atmosphere are studied: a wind vort
ex and a wind parallel to the ground encountering an obstacle (a small hill
). It is shown that electric discharge occurs under specific conditions.