Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability
Abstract There is limited understanding of how vegetation responds to intraseasonal modes of rainfall variability despite their importance in many tropical regions. We use observations of precipitation and X‐band Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) from 2000 to 2018 to assess the relationships between ra...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099635 |
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| author | Bethan L. Harris Christopher M. Taylor Graham P. Weedon Joshua Talib Wouter Dorigo Robin van derSchalie |
| author_facet | Bethan L. Harris Christopher M. Taylor Graham P. Weedon Joshua Talib Wouter Dorigo Robin van derSchalie |
| author_sort | Bethan L. Harris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract There is limited understanding of how vegetation responds to intraseasonal modes of rainfall variability despite their importance in many tropical regions. We use observations of precipitation and X‐band Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) from 2000 to 2018 to assess the relationships between rainfall and vegetation water content on 25–60‐day timescales. Cross‐spectral analysis identifies coherent intraseasonal relationships between precipitation and VOD, mostly in arid or semi‐arid regions where vegetation is water‐limited. Changes in VOD tend to lag anomalous rainfall, usually within 7 days. The fastest vegetation response is observed in sparsely vegetated areas (median 3 days). Following strong intraseasonal wet events, anomalously high VOD can persist for 2 months after the rainfall peak. This vegetation response can feed back onto the atmosphere, so improved representation of vegetation responses in models has the potential to improve subseasonal‐to‐seasonal forecasts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6cbf033be5384fd0979cbb4c2a32a866 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-6cbf033be5384fd0979cbb4c2a32a8662025-08-20T03:10:21ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072022-08-014915n/an/a10.1029/2022GL099635Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation VariabilityBethan L. Harris0Christopher M. Taylor1Graham P. Weedon2Joshua Talib3Wouter Dorigo4Robin van derSchalie5UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Wallingford UKUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Wallingford UKMet Office Wallingford UKUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Wallingford UKDepartment of Geodesy and Geoinformation TU Wien Vienna AustriaPlanet Haarlem The NetherlandsAbstract There is limited understanding of how vegetation responds to intraseasonal modes of rainfall variability despite their importance in many tropical regions. We use observations of precipitation and X‐band Vegetation Optical Depth (VOD) from 2000 to 2018 to assess the relationships between rainfall and vegetation water content on 25–60‐day timescales. Cross‐spectral analysis identifies coherent intraseasonal relationships between precipitation and VOD, mostly in arid or semi‐arid regions where vegetation is water‐limited. Changes in VOD tend to lag anomalous rainfall, usually within 7 days. The fastest vegetation response is observed in sparsely vegetated areas (median 3 days). Following strong intraseasonal wet events, anomalously high VOD can persist for 2 months after the rainfall peak. This vegetation response can feed back onto the atmosphere, so improved representation of vegetation responses in models has the potential to improve subseasonal‐to‐seasonal forecasts.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099635 |
| spellingShingle | Bethan L. Harris Christopher M. Taylor Graham P. Weedon Joshua Talib Wouter Dorigo Robin van derSchalie Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability Geophysical Research Letters |
| title | Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability |
| title_full | Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability |
| title_fullStr | Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability |
| title_short | Satellite‐Observed Vegetation Responses to Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability |
| title_sort | satellite observed vegetation responses to intraseasonal precipitation variability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL099635 |
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