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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
Impact of a satellite-derived leaf area index monthly climatology in a global numerical weather prediction model
International Journal of Remote Sensing, Volume 34, No. 9-10, Year 2013
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Description
The leaf area index (LAI), defined as the one-sided green leaf area per unit ground area, is used in many numerical weather prediction (NWP) models as an indicator of the vegetation development state, which is of paramount importance to characterize land evaporation, photosynthesis, and carbon-uptake processes. LAI is often simply represented by lookup tables, dependent on the vegetation type and seasons. However, global LAI datasets derived from remote sensing observations have more recently become available. These products are based on sensors such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) or the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), onboard polar orbiting satellites that can cover the entire globe within typically 3 days and with a spatial resolution of the order of 1 km.We examine the meteorological impact of satellite-derived LAI products on near-surface air temperature and humidity, which comes both from the stomatal transpiration of leaves and from the intercepted water on the surface of leaves, re-evaporating into the atmosphere.Two distinct monthly LAI climatology datasets derived respectively from AVHRR and MODIS sensors are tested. A set of forecasts and data assimilation experiments with the integrated forecasting system of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts is performed with the monthly LAI climatology datasets as opposed to a vegetation-dependent constant LAI. The monthly LAI is shown to improve the forecasts of near-surface (screen-level) air temperature and relative humidity through its effect on evapotranspiration, with the largest impact obtained over needleleaf forests, crops, and grassland. At longer time-scales, the introduction of the monthly LAI is shown to have a positive impact on the model climate particularly during the boreal spring, where the LAI climatology has a large seasonal cycle. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Authors & Co-Authors
Boussetta, Souhail
United Kingdom, Reading
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts
Balsamo, Gianpaolo P.
United Kingdom, Reading
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts
Beljaars, Anton
United Kingdom, Reading
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts
Kral, Tomas
United Kingdom, Reading
European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts
Jarlan, Lionel
France, Paris
Météo France
Morocco, Casablanca
Direction de la Météorologie Nationale
Statistics
Citations: 143
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 3
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1080/01431161.2012.716543
ISSN:
01431161
e-ISSN:
13665901
Research Areas
Environmental