Spring soil moisture-precipitation feedback in the Southern Great Plains: How is it related to large-scale atmospheric conditions?
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ArticleDate
2014-02-22Online Publication Date
2014-02-22Print Publication Date
2014-02-28Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/599702
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The Southern Great Plains (SGP) has been shown as a region of significant soil moisture-precipitation (S-P) coupling. However, how strong evapotranspiration (ET) can affect regional precipitation remains largely unclear, impeding a full grasp of the S-P feedback in that area. The current study seeks to unravel, in a spring month (April), the potential role played by large-scale atmospheric conditions in shaping S (ET)-P feedback. Our regional climate modeling experiments demonstrate that the presence of anomalous low (high) pressure and cyclonic (anticyclonic) flows at the upper/middle troposphere over the relevant areas is associated with strongest (minimum) positive S-P feedback in the SGP. Their impacts are interpreted in terms of large-scale atmospheric dynamical disturbance, including the intensity and location of synoptic eddies. Further analyses of the vertical velocity fields corroborate these interpretations. In addition, the relationship between lower tropospheric moisture conditions (including winds) and feedback composites is evaluated. Key Points The S-P feedback strength in SGP in April varies inter-annually The atmospheric dynamic features affect significantly the feedback strength composite moisture conditions are related to atmospheric circulation structure ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Citation
Su H, Yang Z-L, Dickinson RE, Wei J (2014) Spring soil moisture-precipitation feedback in the Southern Great Plains: How is it related to large-scale atmospheric conditions? Geophysical Research Letters 41: 1283–1289. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058931.Sponsors
This research was supported by NASA Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (IDS) (NNX11AE42G) and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal
Geophysical Research Lettersae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/2013GL058931