Sensitivity of Mesoscale Surface Dynamics to Surface Soil and Vegetation Contrasts over the Carolina Sandhills

A region of contrasting soils exists over the Carolinas region of the southeastern United States. Previous research has shown an increase in mesoscale summertime precipitation over this region. Numerical simulations are analyzed to investigate the relationships between mesoscale surface dynamics and the transition from clay to sandy soils over this region. Numerical modeling experiments using four different soil and vegetation patterns suggest that the presence of the clay-to-sand transition zone produces a surface heat flux gradient and enhanced convergence. The soil contrasts appear to dominate over vegetation contrasts in affecting local surface heating and convergence in the model atmosphere.