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Influence of the spatial distribution of vegetation and soils on the prediction of cumulus Convective rainfall
Author(s) -
Pielke Roger A.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/1999rg000072
Subject(s) - environmental science , convection , context (archaeology) , atmospheric sciences , climatology , convective available potential energy , convective inhibition , planetary boundary layer , climate model , climate change , boundary layer , geology , meteorology , geography , paleontology , oceanography , physics , thermodynamics , natural convection , combined forced and natural convection
This paper uses published work to demonstrate the link between surface moisture and heat fluxes and cumulus convective rainfall. The Earth's surface role with respect to the surface energy and moisture budgets is examined. Changes in land‐surface properties are shown to influence the heat and moisture fluxes within the planetary boundary layer, convective available potential energy, and other measures of the deep cumulus cloud activity. The spatial structure of the surface heating, as influenced by landscape patterning, produces focused regions for deep cumulonimbus convection. In the tropics, and during midlatitude summers, deep cumulus convection has apparently been significantly altered as a result of landscape changes. These alterations in cumulus convection teleconnect to higher latitudes, which significantly alters the weather in those regions. The effect of tropical deforestation is most clearly defined in the winter hemisphere. In the context of climate, landscape processes are shown to be as much a part of the climate system as are atmospheric processes.