Environmental Science
7 years ago

Improved soil moisture could transform global energy use and climate patterns

The role of improved soil moisture for the characteristics of surface energy fluxes in the ECMWF reanalyses
Wilhelm May

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Researchers investigated how realistic soil moisture affects surface energy fluxes in ECMWF reanalyses. They compared two sets of data, one with adjusted precipitation. Differences in soil moisture between the sets impact latent and sensible heat fluxes differently by region and season. Higher soil moisture leads to increased latent heat flux and decreased sensible heat flux, and vice versa. These findings show that soil moisture plays a significant role in determining the balance between latent and sensible heat flux on the Earth's surface.