TEMPORAL SENSITIVITY OF REGIONAL CLIMATE TO LAND-SURFACE HETEROGENEITY

Abstract

Increased interest in climate change at local and regional scales has prompted climate simulations for regional areas, but tests of climate models have not specifically examined the impacts of regional heterogeneity, and they have largely overlooked possible temporal sensitivity. In this study I used a coupled surface-atmosphere mesoscale model to evaluate the effects of regional heterogeneity in five land-surface parameters that have the strongest impacts on the surface energy balance: albedo, roughness, canopy resistance, rooting profile, and soil water content. I included temporal variability in climate sensitivity by completing a series of mid-month simulations representative of the June-September growing season. I modeled land surfaces of maize contrasted with bare soil, grass, or coniferous trees. Roughness discontinuities were important factors in determining regional energy balance and surface temperature for all three surface contrasts. The effects varied over the growing season as a function of maize height. Canopy resistance was equally important, especially during the middle of the season when the maize canopy was at its fullest extent. Albedo effects appeared to be secondary, but often were more important in September. Changes in soil water content had little impact because vegetation in these simulations was not stressed by low soil moisture. The importance of roots in these simulations was primarily a function of their presence or absence, rather than of the specific profile assigned to each vegetation type. Roughness and canopy resistance discontinuities appeared to play the largest role in determining the regional average energy balance and surface temperature for growing season dates. [Key words: land-surface heterogeneity, energy balance, climatology.]