Global observational diagnosis of soil moisture control on the land surface energy balance

Gallego-Elvira, Belen; Taylor, Christopher M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0120-3198; Harris, Phil P.; Ghent, Darren; Veal, Karen L.; Folwell, Sonja S.. 2016 Global observational diagnosis of soil moisture control on the land surface energy balance. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 (6). 2623-2631. 10.1002/2016GL068178

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016GL068178

Abstract/Summary

An understanding of where and how strongly the surface energy budget is constrained by soil moisture is hindered by a lack of large-scale observations, and this contributes to uncertainty in climate models. Here we present a new approach combining satellite observations of land surface temperature and rainfall.We derive a Relative Warming Rate (RWR) diagnostic, which is a measure of how rapidly the land warms relative to the overlying atmosphere during 10 day dry spells. In our dry spell composites, 73% of the land surface between 60°S and 60°N warms faster than the atmosphere, indicating water-stressed conditions, and increases in sensible heat. Higher RWRs are found for shorter vegetation and bare soil than for tall, deep-rooted vegetation, due to differences in aerodynamic and hydrological properties. We show how the variation of RWR with antecedent rainfall helps to identify different evaporative regimes in the major nonpolar climate zones.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1002/2016GL068178
UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:	Reynard
ISSN:	0094-8276
Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:	Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.
Additional Keywords:	sensible heat flux, evapotranspiration, land surface temperature
NORA Subject Terms:	Earth Sciences Hydrology Meteorology and Climatology
Date made live:	31 Mar 2016 11:55 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/513332

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1002/2016GL068178

UKCEH and CEH Sections/Science Areas:

Reynard

ISSN:

0094-8276

Additional Information. Not used in RCUK Gateway to Research.:

Open Access paper - full text available via Official URL link.

Additional Keywords:

sensible heat flux, evapotranspiration, land surface temperature