DocumentCode :
2265517
Title :
Impact of land use on Costa Rican regional climate
Author :
Nair, U.S. ; Welch, R.M. ; Lawton, R.O. ; Pielke, R.A., Sr.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Atmos. Sci., Alabama Univ., Huntsville, AL, USA
Volume :
5
fYear :
2000
fDate :
2000
Firstpage :
1993
Abstract :
In the Costa Rican lowlands, the satellite observations show significant differences in cloud formation and development over forested regions compared to deforested regions. This difference in cloudiness appears to be a signal of land use change influencing the regional climate. Model simulations suggest deforestation results in increased cloud base over deforested areas. The effect of increasing SST on cloud base height is erratic and at times results in decreased cloud base. Simulations suggest the magnitude of change in cloud base caused by land use changes is larger than changes caused by small changes in SST. The air masses in lowland regions are ultimately responsible for formation of orographic clouds in the Monteverde region. Thus similar to the lowland cloud fields, the modification of the lowland air masses from deforestation cause orographic clouds to form at higher altitudes
Keywords :
atmospheric boundary layer; climatology; clouds; forestry; vegetation mapping; Costa Rica; Middle America; Monteverde; altitude; cloud; cloud base height; cloud formation; cloudiness; deforested region; development; forest; land atmosphere interaction; land cover change; land use; orographic cloud; regional climate; simulation; vegetation; Atmospheric modeling; Clouds; Frequency; Land surface; Moisture; Ocean temperature; Sea surface; Telephony; Temperature distribution; Vegetation;
fLanguage :
English
Publisher :
ieee
Conference_Titel :
Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2000. Proceedings. IGARSS 2000. IEEE 2000 International
Conference_Location :
Honolulu, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-6359-0
Type :
conf
DOI :
10.1109/IGARSS.2000.858213
Filename :
858213
Link To Document :
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