The land-atmosphere interactions are not fully understood, especially in temperate regions. Nathan Shull and Eungul lee provides the first in-depth investigation of L-A interactions and their impacts on near-surface climate along with the competing effects of the albedo (energy) and moisture (evapotranspiration and soil moisture) feedback. To conclude, statistically significant increasing trend in April vegetation exists from 1982 to 2015 in central Appalachia, increasing vegetation trend altered near-surface climatic conditions, as indicated by significantly enhanced latent heat flux, 2 m-specific humidity, and soil moisture and the dominant biogeophysical process responsible for the changes in near-surface climate conditions could be the positive moisture feedback process.

Publications

Shull, N., and E. Lee* (2019), April Vegetation Dynamics and Forest–Climate Interactions in Central Appalachia, Atmosphere, 10 (12), 765-778. (* Corresponding author) [Link]