Reconciling spatial and temporal soil moisture effects on afternoon rainfall

Nature Communications
Benoit P GuillodSonia I Seneviratne

Abstract

Soil moisture impacts on precipitation have been strongly debated. Recent observational evidence of afternoon rain falling preferentially over land parcels that are drier than the surrounding areas (negative spatial effect), contrasts with previous reports of a predominant positive temporal effect. However, whether spatial effects relating to soil moisture heterogeneity translate into similar temporal effects remains unknown. Here we show that afternoon precipitation events tend to occur during wet and heterogeneous soil moisture conditions, while being located over comparatively drier patches. Using remote-sensing data and a common analysis framework, spatial and temporal correlations with opposite signs are shown to coexist within the same region and data set. Positive temporal coupling might enhance precipitation persistence, while negative spatial coupling tends to regionally homogenize land surface conditions. Although the apparent positive temporal coupling does not necessarily imply a causal relationship, these results reconcile the notions of moisture recycling with local, spatially negative feedbacks.

References

Aug 25, 2004·Science·Randal D KosterUNKNOWN GLACE Team
Sep 14, 2012·Nature·Christopher M TaylorWouter A Dorigo

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Citations

Sep 2, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Usama AnberAdam H Sobel
Jan 12, 2017·Nature Communications·Adriaan J TeulingJordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano
Mar 10, 2016·PloS One·Cecilia ConacoKenneth S Kosik
May 16, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Cathy Hohenegger, Bjorn Stevens
Jun 27, 2018·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Diego G MirallesAdriaan J Teuling
Mar 7, 2018·Scientific Reports·Lingbin YangJianjun Zhao
Jun 26, 2018·Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres : JGR·H MoonS I Seneviratne
Apr 30, 2019·Geophysical Research Letters·Kathrin WehrliSonia I Seneviratne
Jul 26, 2019·Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Climate Change·Michela Biasutti
Feb 7, 2020·Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres : JGR·K HaslingerG Blöschl
Oct 1, 2018·Water Resources Research·Fangni LeiMartha C Anderson
May 29, 2017·Nature Geoscience·Julia K GreenPierre Gentine
Aug 21, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Cornelia Klein, Christopher M Taylor
May 14, 2020·Proceedings. Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Graeme L StephensRemy Rocca
Apr 30, 2019·Geophysical Research Letters·Heewon MoonSonia I Seneviratne
Jan 1, 2017·Hydrology and Earth System Sciences·Randal D KosterXing Yuan
Oct 13, 2018·The Science of the Total Environment·Keke FanZexi Shen
Jul 6, 2021·Water Resources Research·Akash KoppaMekonnen Gebremichael

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Software Mentioned

GLEAM
TRMM
CMORPH
GEWEX
PERSIANN

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