Differences in size spectra of electrified storms over land and ocean

Numerous studies demonstrate the marked difference in intensity of land and ocean convection, the most pronounced being the higher frequency of intense convection and lightning over land. This study contributes to the ongoing debate of the physical reasons for this difference, through the use of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Feature (PF) database. We demonstrate that tropical oceanic PFs with lightning tend to be over 10 times larger and more mature than those over land. This relationship is most pronounced in archetypal land and ocean regimes (Congo and Central Pacific) and is also manifested throughout the entire (35 degrees S to 35 degrees N) TRMM domain, to varying extents. This relationship holds true when we select for PFs with 40 dBZ echo tops over at least 5.5 km in height, which continues to be an effective proxy for convective intensity and probability of lightning.