Land–Atmosphere Coupling at the Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Field Site and Its Role in Anomalous Afternoon Peak Precipitation

View/ Open
Issue Date
2016-01-26Author
Song, Hyo-Jong
Ferguson, Craig R.
Roundy, Joshua K.
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Rights
© Copyright 01/26/2016 American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The multimodel Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE) identified the semiarid Southern Great Plains (SGP) as a hotspot for land–atmosphere (LA) coupling and, consequently, land-derived temperature and precipitation predictability. The area including and surrounding the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) SGP Climate Research Facility has in particular been well studied in the context of LA coupling. Observation-based studies suggest a coupling signal that is much weaker than modeled, if not elusive. Using North American Regional Reanalysis and North American Land Data Assimilation System data, this study provides a 36-yr (1979–2014) climatology of coupling for ARM-SGP that 1) unifies prior interdisciplinary efforts and 2) isolates the origin of the (weak) coupling signal. Specifically, the climatology of a prominent convective triggering potential–low-level humidity index (CTP–HIlow) coupling classification is linked to corresponding synoptic–mesoscale weather and atmospheric moisture budget analyses. The CTP–HIlow classification defines a dry-advantage regime for which convective triggering is preferentially favored over drier-than-average soils as well as a wet-advantage regime for which convective triggering is preferentially favored over wetter-than-average soils. This study shows that wet-advantage days are a result of horizontal moisture flux convergence over the region, and conversely, dry-advantage days are a result of zonal and vertical moisture flux divergence. In this context, the role of the land is nominal relative to that of atmospheric forcing. Surface flux partitioning, however, can play an important role in modulating diurnal precipitation cycle phase and amplitude and it is shown that soil moisture and sensible heat flux are significantly correlated with both occurrence and intensity of afternoon peak precipitation.
Description
Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. All AMS journals and monograph publications are registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (http://www.copyright.com). Questions about permission to use materials for which AMS holds the copyright can also be directed to the AMS Permissions Officer at permissions@ametsoc.org. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement, available on the AMS website (http://www.ametsoc.org/CopyrightInformation).
Collections
Citation
Song, H. J., Ferguson, C. R., & Roundy, J. K. (2016). Land–atmosphere coupling at the Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) field site and its role in anomalous afternoon peak precipitation. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 17(2), 541-556.
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.