Open AccessImpacts of the Nile Delta land‐use on the local climate
Author(s) -
Giannakopoulou EvangeliaMaria,
Toumi Ralf
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.381
Subject(s) - desertification , delta , albedo (alchemy) , greening , environmental science , climatology , evapotranspiration , land cover , nile delta , vegetation (pathology) , mediterranean climate , land use , climate model , climate change , geography , physical geography , water resource management , oceanography , geology , ecology , medicine , art , archaeology , pathology , performance art , engineering , biology , art history , aerospace engineering
This is a numerical study of the effects of the Nile Delta (ND) man‐made greening on local climate. We compared a control simulation, which employs the present‐day ND vegetation, with a desertification experiment. It was found that the low surface albedo of the agricultural ND increases net radiation, which in turn raises potential evapotranspiration (PET). This suggests that agricultural use increases the water demand by enhancing PET. Non‐local effects are also observed on a frontal system over the eastern Mediterranean Sea that shifted farther away from the coast. This shift is attributed to a stronger land breeze in the present‐day land‐cover. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society