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Observational evidence that soil moisture variations affect precipitation
Author(s) -
Koster Randal D.,
Suarez Max J.,
Higgins R. Wayne,
Van den Dool Huug M.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl016571
Subject(s) - precipitation , atmosphere (unit) , environmental science , climatology , atmospheric sciences , water content , atmospheric circulation , general circulation model , moisture , autocorrelation , climate model , climate change , geology , meteorology , geography , mathematics , statistics , geotechnical engineering , oceanography
Land‐atmosphere feedback, by which precipitation‐induced soil moisture anomalies affect subsequent precipitation, may be an important element of Earth's climate system, but its very existence has never been demonstrated conclusively at regional to continental scales. Evidence for the feedback is sought in a 50‐yearobservational precipitation dataset covering the United States. The precipitation variance and autocorrelation fields are characterized by features that agree (in structure, though not in magnitude) with those produced by an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM). Because the model‐generated features are known to result from land‐atmosphere feedback alone, the observed features are suggestive of the existence of feedback in nature.