Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

A Mechanism for Land–Atmosphere Feedback Involving Planetary Wave Structures

Randal D. Koster Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

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Yehui Chang Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, and Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland

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Siegfried D. Schubert Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland

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Print Publication:
15 Dec 2014
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00315.1
Page(s):
9290–9301
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Abstract

While the ability of land surface conditions to influence the atmosphere has been demonstrated in various modeling and observational studies, the precise mechanisms by which land–atmosphere feedback occurs are still largely unknown: particularly the mechanisms that allow land moisture state in one region to affect atmospheric conditions in another. Such remote impacts are examined here in the context of atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations, leading to the identification of one potential mechanism: the phase locking and amplification of a planetary wave through the imposition of a spatial pattern of soil moisture at the land surface. This mechanism, shown here to be relevant in the AGCM, apparently also operates in nature, as suggested by supporting evidence found in reanalysis data.

Corresponding author address: Randal Koster, Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, Code 610.1, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771. E-mail: randal.d.koster@nasa.gov

Abstract

While the ability of land surface conditions to influence the atmosphere has been demonstrated in various modeling and observational studies, the precise mechanisms by which land–atmosphere feedback occurs are still largely unknown: particularly the mechanisms that allow land moisture state in one region to affect atmospheric conditions in another. Such remote impacts are examined here in the context of atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations, leading to the identification of one potential mechanism: the phase locking and amplification of a planetary wave through the imposition of a spatial pattern of soil moisture at the land surface. This mechanism, shown here to be relevant in the AGCM, apparently also operates in nature, as suggested by supporting evidence found in reanalysis data.

Corresponding author address: Randal Koster, Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, Code 610.1, NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771. E-mail: randal.d.koster@nasa.gov
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