Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales

Land-atmosphere coupling plays an important role in regional precipitation and climate change, but the coupling characteristics at different time scales remain controversial. This study uses ERA5 reanalysis data from 1970 to 2023 to examine how soil moisture impacts precipitation at different timesc...

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Main Authors: Hongwei Yang, Zesu Yang, Hang He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-10-01
Series:Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825005142
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author Hongwei Yang
Zesu Yang
Hang He
author_facet Hongwei Yang
Zesu Yang
Hang He
author_sort Hongwei Yang
collection DOAJ
description Land-atmosphere coupling plays an important role in regional precipitation and climate change, but the coupling characteristics at different time scales remain controversial. This study uses ERA5 reanalysis data from 1970 to 2023 to examine how soil moisture impacts precipitation at different timescales. The focus is on the influence of soil moisture on sensible and latent heat fluxes, which regulate the lifting condensation level (LCL) and boundary layer height (BLH).The results show a generally positive coupling between soil moisture and rainfall intensity in Northern China. Soil moisture and precipitation were generally positively correlated, with little variation in the area of positive coupling on the monthly and annual scales, which were both larger than on the daily scale, but were strongest on the annual scale in terms of coupling strength. Soil moisture tends to be drier than normal during precipitation events. The strongest coupling along the soil moisture-latent heat flux-LCL/BLH pathway occurs on the annual timescale. Latent heat flux has a stronger influence on LCL than BLH at all timescales. Along the soil moisture-sensible heat flux-LCL/BLH pathway, the strongest coupling occurs on the monthly timescale. On a daily scale, sensible heat flux has a greater impact on BLH in the western region and on LCL in the eastern region. On monthly and annual timescales, sensible heat flux has a greater propensity to affect LCL. These findings improve our understanding of how soil moisture influences precipitation at various timescales, and provide valuable insights for improving numerical simulations of land-atmosphere interactions over northern China.
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issn 2214-5818
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publishDate 2025-10-01
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series Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
spelling doaj-art-2e7543aedbba4bb99749822b7c9483e82025-08-20T03:59:22ZengElsevierJournal of Hydrology: Regional Studies2214-58182025-10-016110268510.1016/j.ejrh.2025.102685Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescalesHongwei Yang0Zesu Yang1Hang He2School of Atmospheric Sciences, Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Meteorological Disaster Prediction and Early Warning Engineering Laboratory, Chengdu Plain Urban Meteorology and Environment Observation and Research Station of Sichuan Province, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan 610225, ChinaCorresponding author.; School of Atmospheric Sciences, Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Meteorological Disaster Prediction and Early Warning Engineering Laboratory, Chengdu Plain Urban Meteorology and Environment Observation and Research Station of Sichuan Province, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan 610225, ChinaSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Plateau Atmosphere and Environment Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Meteorological Disaster Prediction and Early Warning Engineering Laboratory, Chengdu Plain Urban Meteorology and Environment Observation and Research Station of Sichuan Province, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan 610225, ChinaLand-atmosphere coupling plays an important role in regional precipitation and climate change, but the coupling characteristics at different time scales remain controversial. This study uses ERA5 reanalysis data from 1970 to 2023 to examine how soil moisture impacts precipitation at different timescales. The focus is on the influence of soil moisture on sensible and latent heat fluxes, which regulate the lifting condensation level (LCL) and boundary layer height (BLH).The results show a generally positive coupling between soil moisture and rainfall intensity in Northern China. Soil moisture and precipitation were generally positively correlated, with little variation in the area of positive coupling on the monthly and annual scales, which were both larger than on the daily scale, but were strongest on the annual scale in terms of coupling strength. Soil moisture tends to be drier than normal during precipitation events. The strongest coupling along the soil moisture-latent heat flux-LCL/BLH pathway occurs on the annual timescale. Latent heat flux has a stronger influence on LCL than BLH at all timescales. Along the soil moisture-sensible heat flux-LCL/BLH pathway, the strongest coupling occurs on the monthly timescale. On a daily scale, sensible heat flux has a greater impact on BLH in the western region and on LCL in the eastern region. On monthly and annual timescales, sensible heat flux has a greater propensity to affect LCL. These findings improve our understanding of how soil moisture influences precipitation at various timescales, and provide valuable insights for improving numerical simulations of land-atmosphere interactions over northern China.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825005142Soil moisture-precipitation couplingConvective precipitationDifferent timescalesNorthern China
spellingShingle Hongwei Yang
Zesu Yang
Hang He
Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Soil moisture-precipitation coupling
Convective precipitation
Different timescales
Northern China
title Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
title_full Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
title_fullStr Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
title_full_unstemmed Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
title_short Summer soil moisture-convective precipitation coupling in Northern China at different timescales
title_sort summer soil moisture convective precipitation coupling in northern china at different timescales
topic Soil moisture-precipitation coupling
Convective precipitation
Different timescales
Northern China
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214581825005142
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AT hanghe summersoilmoistureconvectiveprecipitationcouplinginnorthernchinaatdifferenttimescales