 |
Detailed Reference Information |
Cooley, H.S., Riley, W.J., Torn, M.S. and He, Y. (2005). Impact of agricultural practice on regional climate in a coupled land surface mesoscale model. Journal of Geophysical Research 110. doi: 10.1029/2004JD005160. issn: 0148-0227. |
|
The land surface has been shown to form strong feedbacks with climate due to linkages between atmospheric conditions and terrestrial ecosystem exchanges of energy, momentum, water, and trace gases. Although often ignored in modeling studies, land management itself may form significant feedbacks. Because crops are harvested earlier under drier conditions, regional air temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture, for example, affect harvest timing, particularly of rain-fed crops. This removal of vegetation alters the land surface characteristics and may, in turn, affect regional climate. We applied a coupled climate model (MM5) and land surface model (LSM1) to examine the effects of early and late winter wheat harvest on regional climate in the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility in the Southern Great Plains, where winter wheat accounts for 20% of the land area. Within the harvested, winter wheat region, simulated 2 m air temperature was 1.3¿C warmer in the early harvest scenario at midday averaged over the 2 weeks following harvest. Soils in the harvested area were drier and warmer in the top 10 cm and wetter in the 10--20 cm layer compared to those in the late harvest. Midday soils were 2.5¿C warmer in the harvested area at midday averaged over the 2 weeks following harvest. Harvest also dramatically altered latent and sensible heat fluxes. Although differences between scenarios diminished once both scenarios were harvested, the short-term impacts of land management on climate were comparable to those from land cover change demonstrated in other studies. |
|
 |
 |
BACKGROUND DATA FILES |
|
 |
Abstract |
|
 |
|
|
|
Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0426, 1610), Global Change, Climate dynamics (0429, 3309), Atmospheric Processes, Land/atmosphere interactions (1218, 1631, 1843), Geographic Location, North America, regional climate, land use change, Southern Great Plains |
|
Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
|
|
 |