scholarly journals Rebound in Atmospheric Predictability and the Role of the Land Surface

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (13) ◽  
pp. 4744-4749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichang Guo ◽  
Paul A. Dirmeyer ◽  
Timothy DelSole ◽  
Randal D. Koster
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
North America ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Late Spring ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Atmospheric Predictability ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Abstract Total predictability within a chaotic system like the earth’s climate cannot increase over time. However, it can be transferred between subsystems. Predictability of air temperature and precipitation in numerical model forecasts over North America rebounds during late spring to summer because of information stored in the land surface. Specifically, soil moisture anomalies can persist over several months, but this memory cannot affect the atmosphere during early spring because of a lack of coupling between land and atmosphere. Coupling becomes established in late spring, enabling the effects of soil moisture anomalies to increase atmospheric predictability in 2-month forecasts begun as early as 1 May. This predictability is maintained through summer and then drops as coupling fades again in fall. This finding suggests summer forecasts of rainfall and air temperature over parts of North America could be significantly improved with soil moisture observations during spring.

scholarly journals Evaluation and Comparison of Noah and Pleim–Xiu Land Surface Models in MM5 Using GÖTE2001 Data: Spatial and Temporal Variations in Near-Surface Air Temperature

2007 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 1587-1605 ◽  
Author(s):  
J-F. Miao ◽  
D. Chen ◽  
K. Borne
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Surface Models ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Soil Moisture Initialization ◽  
Evident Difference

Abstract In this study, the performance of two advanced land surface models (LSMs; Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM) coupled with the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5), version 3.7.2, in simulating the near-surface air temperature in the greater Göteborg area in Sweden is evaluated and compared using the GÖTE2001 field campaign data. Further, the effects of different planetary boundary layer schemes [Eta and Medium-Range Forecast (MRF) PBLs] for Noah LSM and soil moisture initialization approaches for Pleim–Xiu LSM are investigated. The investigation focuses on the evaluation and comparison of diurnal cycle intensity and maximum and minimum temperatures, as well as the urban heat island during the daytime and nighttime under the clear-sky and cloudy/rainy weather conditions for different experimental schemes. The results indicate that 1) there is an evident difference between Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM in simulating the near-surface air temperature, especially in the modeled urban heat island; 2) there is no evident difference in the model performance between the Eta PBL and MRF PBL coupled with the Noah LSM; and 3) soil moisture initialization is of crucial importance for model performance in the Pleim–Xiu LSM. In addition, owing to the recent release of MM5, version 3.7.3, some experiments done with version 3.7.2 were repeated to reveal the effects of the modifications in the Noah LSM and Pleim–Xiu LSM. The modification to longwave radiation parameterizations in Noah LSM significantly improves model performance while the adjustment of emissivity, one of the vegetation properties, affects Pleim–Xiu LSM performance to a larger extent. The study suggests that improvements both in Noah LSM physics and in Pleim–Xiu LSM initialization of soil moisture and parameterization of vegetation properties are important.

Ecological responses of Stipa steppe in Inner Mongolia to experimentally increased temperature and precipitation. 4. Carbon exchange

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luomeng Chao ◽  
Zhiqiang Wan ◽  
Yulong Yan ◽  
Rui Gu ◽  
Yali Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Ecosystem Respiration ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
Carbon Exchange ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Gross Ecosystem Productivity

Aspects of carbon exchange were investigated in typical steppe east of Xilinhot city in Inner Mongolia. Four treatments with four replicates were imposed in a randomised block design: Control (C), warming (T), increased precipitation (P) and combined warming and increased precipitation (TP). Increased precipitation significantly increased both ecosystem respiration (ER) and soil respiration (SR) rates. Warming significantly reduced the ER rate but not the SR rate. The combination of increased precipitation and warming produced an intermediate response. The sensitivity of ER and SR to soil temperature and air temperature was assessed by calculating Q10 values: the increase in respiration for a 10°C increase in temperature. Q10 was lowest under T and TP, and highest under P. Both ER and SR all had significantly positive correlation with soil moisture. Increased precipitation increased net ecosystem exchange and gross ecosystem productivity, whereas warming reduced them. The combination of warming and increased precipitation had an intermediate effect. Both net ecosystem exchange and gross ecosystem productivity were positively related to soil moisture and negatively related to soil and air temperature. These findings suggest that predicted climate change in this region, involving both increased precipitation and warmer temperatures, will increase the net ecosystem exchange in the Stipa steppe meaning that the ecosystem will fix more carbon.

scholarly journals Pan-Arctic linkages between snow accumulation and growing-season air temperature, soil moisture and vegetation

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 7575-7597 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Luus ◽  
Y. Gel ◽  
J. C. Lin ◽  
R. E. J. Kelly ◽  
C. R. Duguay
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Surface Characteristics ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Snow Season ◽  
Air Temperatures ◽  
Land Surface Characteristics

Abstract. Arctic field studies have indicated that the air temperature, soil moisture and vegetation at a site influence the quantity of snow accumulated, and that snow accumulation can alter growing-season soil moisture and vegetation. Climate change is predicted to bring about warmer air temperatures, greater snow accumulation and northward movements of the shrub and tree lines. Understanding the responses of northern environments to changes in snow and growing-season land surface characteristics requires: (1) insights into the present-day linkages between snow and growing-season land surface characteristics; and (2) the ability to continue to monitor these associations over time across the vast pan-Arctic. The objective of this study was therefore to examine the pan-Arctic (north of 60° N) linkages between two temporally distinct data products created from AMSR-E satellite passive microwave observations: GlobSnow snow water equivalent (SWE), and NTSG growing-season AMSR-E Land Parameters (air temperature, soil moisture and vegetation transmissivity). Due to the complex and interconnected nature of processes determining snow and growing-season land surface characteristics, these associations were analyzed using the modern nonparametric technique of alternating conditional expectations (ACE), as this approach does not impose a predefined analytic form. Findings indicate that regions with lower vegetation transmissivity (more biomass) at the start and end of the growing season tend to accumulate less snow at the start and end of the snow season, possibly due to interception and sublimation. Warmer air temperatures at the start and end of the growing season were associated with diminished snow accumulation at the start and end of the snow season. High latitude sites with warmer mean annual growing-season temperatures tended to accumulate more snow, probably due to the greater availability of water vapor for snow season precipitation at warmer locations. Regions with drier soils preceding snow onset tended to accumulate greater quantities of snow, likely because drier soils freeze faster and more thoroughly than wetter soils. Understanding and continuing to monitor these linkages at the regional scale using the ACE approach can allow insights to be gained into the complex response of Arctic ecosystems to climate-driven shifts in air temperature, vegetation, soil moisture and snow accumulation.

scholarly journals Drought Relief and Reversal over North America from 1500 to 2016

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-107
Author(s):  
M. C. A. Torbenson ◽  
D. W. Stahle ◽  
I. M. Howard ◽  
D. J. Burnette ◽  
D. Griffin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
North America ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Cool Season ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
The North ◽  
Drought Relief

Abstract Season-to-season persistence of soil moisture drought varies across North America. Such interseasonal autocorrelation can have modest skill in forecasting future conditions several months in advance. Because robust instrumental observations of precipitation span less than 100 years, the temporal stability of the relationship between seasonal moisture anomalies is uncertain. The North American Seasonal Precipitation Atlas (NASPA) is a gridded network of separately reconstructed cool-season (December–April) and warm-season (May–July) precipitation series and offers new insights on the intra-annual changes in drought for up to 2000 years. Here, the NASPA precipitation reconstructions are rescaled to represent the long-term soil moisture balance during the cool season and 3-month-long atmospheric moisture during the warm season. These rescaled seasonal reconstructions are then used to quantify the frequency, magnitude, and spatial extent of cool-season drought that was relieved or reversed during the following summer months. The adjusted seasonal reconstructions reproduce the general patterns of large-scale drought amelioration and termination in the instrumental record during the twentieth century and are used to estimate relief and reversals for the most skillfully reconstructed past 500 years. Subcontinental-to-continental-scale reversals of cool-season drought in the following warm season have been rare, but the reconstructions display periods prior to the instrumental data of increased reversal probabilities for the mid-Atlantic region and the U.S. Southwest. Drought relief at the continental scale may arise in part from macroscale ocean–atmosphere processes, whereas the smaller-scale regional reversals may reflect land surface feedbacks and stochastic variability.

scholarly journals Influência de Mudanças Climáticas no Balanço Hídrico da Amazônia Ocidental (Influence of Climate Change on Water Budget of Western Amazonia)

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ailton Marcolino Liberato ◽  
José Ivaldo B. De Brito
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Water Budget ◽  
Fire Risk ◽  
Climate Index ◽  
Climate Trends ◽  
Climatological Data ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation

A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo investigar possíveis alterações em componentes do balanço hídrico climático, associadas a diferentes cenários (A2 e B2) das mudanças climáticas do IPCC, para a Amazônia Ocidental (Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia e Roraima). Os dados climatológicos de temperatura do ar e totais de precipitação pluvial usados como referência neste estudo, são oriundos do INMET (1961-2005), da CEPLAC (1983-1999) e da reanálise do NCEP/NCAR (1983-1995). O método utilizado na elaboração do balanço hídrico é o de Thornthwaite e Mather (1957) modificado por Krishan (1980). Os resultados das projeções mostram tendência de clima mais seco, diminuição na umidade do solo, redução na vazão dos rios, aumento no risco de incêndio e diminuição no escoamento superficial e sub-superficial para a Amazônia Ocidental até 2100.Palavras-chave: cenários, índices climáticos, Amazônia. Influence of Climate Change on Water Budget of Western Amazonia ABSTRACTThe main objective of this study was investigate possible alterations in the climatic water budget components associated with different scenarios (A2 and B2) of the IPCC to Amazonian Western (Acre, Amazonas, Rondônia and Roraima). The climatological data of air temperature and precipitation from the INMET (1961-2005), CEPLAC (1983-1999) and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis (1983-1995) were used in the present study. The Thornthwaite and Mather (1955) method was used in the elaboration of the climatic water budget modified by Krishan (1980). The results of the projections show drier climate trends and decrease of the soil moisture, reduction in the rivers discharge, increase in the fire risk and decrease in the runoff for the Amazonian Western up to 2100. Keywords: scenarios, climate index, Amazonian.

scholarly journals Effects of Air Temperature and Precipitation on Soil Moisture on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the 2015 Growing Season

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Qingyan Xie ◽  
Jianping Li ◽  
Yufei Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Tibet Plateau ◽  
Ecosystem Stability ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Qinghai Tibet Plateau

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) holds massive freshwater resources and is one of the most active regions in the world with respect to the hydrological cycle. Soil moisture (SM) plays a critical role in hydrological processes and is important for plant growth and ecosystem stability. To investigate the relationship between climatic factors (air temperature and precipitation) and SM during the growing season in various climate zones on the QTP, data from three observational stations were analyzed. The results showed that the daily average (Tave) and minimum air temperatures (Tmin) significantly influenced SM levels at all depths analyzed (i.e., 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 cm deep) at the three stations, and Tmin had a stronger effect on SM than did Tave. However, the daily maximum air temperature (Tmax) generally had little effect on SM, although it had showed some effects on SM in the middle and deeper layers at the Jiali station. Precipitation was an important factor that significantly influenced the SM at all depths at the three stations, but the influence on SM in the middle and deep layers lagged the direct effect on near-surface SM by 5–7 days. These results suggest that environment characterized by lower temperatures and higher precipitation may promote SM conservation during the growing season and in turn support ecosystem stability on the QTP.

scholarly journals Mechanisms of Seasonal Soil Moisture Drought Onset and Termination in the Southern Great Plains

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 751-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Seager ◽  
Jennifer Nakamura ◽  
Mingfang Ting
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
North America ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Tropical Pacific ◽  
Moisture Change ◽  
Southern Plains ◽  
Southern Great Plains ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
Over Time

AbstractMechanisms of drought onset and termination are examined across North America with a focus on the southern Plains using data from land surface models and regional and global reanalyses for 1979–2017. Continental-scale analysis of covarying patterns reveals a tight coupling between soil moisture change over time and intervening precipitation anomalies. The southern Great Plains are a geographic center of patterns of hydrologic change. Drying is induced by atmospheric wave trains that span the Pacific and North America and place northerly flow anomalies above the southern Plains. In the southern Plains winter is least likely, and fall most likely, for drought onset and spring is least likely, and fall or summer most likely, for drought termination. Southern Plains soil moisture itself, which integrates precipitation over time, has a clear relationship to tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies with cold conditions favoring dry soils. Soil moisture change, however, though clearly driven by precipitation, has a weaker relation to SSTs and a strong relation to internal atmospheric variability. Little evidence is found of connection of drought onset and termination to driving by temperature anomalies. An analysis of particular drought onsets and terminations on the seasonal time scale reveals commonalities in terms of circulation and moisture transport anomalies over the southern Plains but a variety of ways in which these are connected into the large-scale atmosphere and ocean state. Some onsets are likely to be quite predictable due to forcing by cold tropical Pacific SSTs (e.g., fall 2010). Other onsets and all terminations are likely not predictable in terms of ocean conditions.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulations of Effects of Soil Moisture and Modification by Mountains over New Zealand in Summer

2011 ◽  
Vol 139 (2) ◽  
pp. 494-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Michael Uddstrom ◽  
Mike Revell ◽  
Phil Andrews ◽  
Hilary Oliver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Shortwave Radiation ◽  
Lower Sensitivity ◽  
The South

Abstract Historically most soil moisture–land surface impact studies have focused on continents because of the important forecasting and climate implications involved. For a relatively small isolated mountainous landmass in the ocean such as New Zealand, these impacts have received less attention. This paper addresses some of these issues for New Zealand through numerical experiments with a regional configuration of the Met Office Unified Model atmospheric model. Two pairs of idealized simulations with only contrasting dry or wet initial soil moisture over a 6-day period in January 2004 were conducted, with one pair using realistic terrain and the other pair flat terrain. For the mean of the 6 days, the differences in the simulated surface air temperature between the dry and moist cases were 3–5 K on the leeside slopes and 1–2 K on the windward slopes and the central leeside coastal region of the South Island in the afternoon. This quite nonuniform response in surface air temperature to a uniformly distributed soil moisture content and soil type is mainly attributed to modification of the effects of soil moisture by mountains through two different processes: 1) spatial variation in cloud coverage across the mountains ranges leading to more shortwave radiation at ground surface on the leeside slope than the windward slope, and 2) the presence of a dynamically and thermally induced onshore flow on the leeside coast bringing in air with a lower sensitivity to soil moisture. The response of local winds to soil moisture content is through direct or indirect effects. The direct effect is due to the thermal contrast between land and sea/land shown for the leeside solenoidal circulations, and the indirect effect is through the weakening of the upstream blocking of the South Island for dryer soils shown by the weakening and onshore shift of the upstream deceleration and forced ascent of incoming airflow.

A Time-Varying Causality Formalism Based on the Liang–Kleeman Information Flow for Analyzing Directed Interactions in Nonstationary Climate Systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (21) ◽  
pp. 7521-7537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Fiifi Tawia Hagan ◽  
Guojie Wang ◽  
X. San Liang ◽  
Han A. J. Dolman
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Long Time Series ◽  
Long Time

Abstract The interaction between the land surface and the atmosphere is of significant importance in the climate system because it is a key driver of the exchanges of energy and water. Several important relations to heat waves, floods, and droughts exist that are based on the interaction of soil moisture and, for instance, air temperature and humidity. Our ability to separate the elements of this coupling, identify the exact locations where they are strongest, and quantify their strengths is, therefore, of paramount importance to their predictability. A recent rigorous causality formalism based on the Liang–Kleeman (LK) information flow theory has been shown, both theoretically and in real-world applications, to have the necessary asymmetry to infer the directionality and magnitude within geophysical interactions. However, the formalism assumes stationarity in time, whereas the interactions within the land surface and atmosphere are generally nonstationary; furthermore, it requires a sufficiently long time series to ensure statistical sufficiency. In this study, we remedy this difficulty by using the square root Kalman filter to estimate the causality based on the LK formalism to derive a time-varying form. Results show that the new formalism has similar properties compared to its time-invariant form. It is shown that it is also able to capture the time-varying causality structure within soil moisture–air temperature coupling. An advantage is that it does not require very long time series to make an accurate estimation. Applying a wavelet transform to the results also reveals the full range of temporal scales of the interactions.

scholarly journals Soil Moisture Variability in India: Relationship of Land Surface–Atmosphere Fields Using Maximum Covariance Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kishore Pangaluru ◽  
Isabella Velicogna ◽  
Geruo A ◽  
Yara Mohajerani ◽  
Enrico Ciracì ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Storage ◽  
Surface Air Temperature ◽  
Covariance Analysis ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Total Water ◽  
Maximum Covariance Analysis ◽  
Surface Atmosphere

This study investigates the spatial and temporal variability of the soil moisture in India using Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) gridded datasets from June 2002 to April 2017. Significant relationships between soil moisture and different land surface–atmosphere fields (Precipitation, surface air temperature, total cloud cover, and total water storage) were studied, using maximum covariance analysis (MCA) to extract dominant interactions that maximize the covariance between two fields. The first leading mode of MCA explained 56%, 87%, 81%, and 79% of the squared covariance function (SCF) between soil moisture with precipitation (PR), surface air temperature (TEM), total cloud count (TCC), and total water storage (TWS), respectively, with correlation coefficients of 0.65, −0.72, 0.71, and 0.62. Furthermore, the covariance analysis of total water storage showed contrasting patterns with soil moisture, especially over northwest, northeast, and west coast regions. In addition, the spatial distribution of seasonal and annual trends of soil moisture in India was estimated using a robust regression technique for the very first time. For most regions in India, significant positive trends were noticed in all seasons. Meanwhile, a small negative trend was observed over southern India. The monthly mean value of AMSR soil moisture trend revealed a significant positive trend, at about 0.0158 cm3/cm3 per decade during the period ranging from 2002 to 2017.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document