Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India
Abstract India receives more than 70% of its annual rainfall in the summer monsoon from June to September. The rainfall is scanty and scattered for the rest of the year. Combining satellite data and model simulations, we show that the soil-vegetation continuum works as a natural capacitor of water,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27277-6 |
| _version_ | 1797945852603400192 |
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| author | Dawn E. Sebastian Raghu Murtugudde Subimal Ghosh |
| author_facet | Dawn E. Sebastian Raghu Murtugudde Subimal Ghosh |
| author_sort | Dawn E. Sebastian |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract India receives more than 70% of its annual rainfall in the summer monsoon from June to September. The rainfall is scanty and scattered for the rest of the year. Combining satellite data and model simulations, we show that the soil-vegetation continuum works as a natural capacitor of water, storing the monsoon pulse and releasing the moisture to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration over approximately 135 days when the moisture supply from precipitation is less than the evapotranspiration losses. The total Gross Primary Productivity of vegetation in India during the capacitor period accounts for almost 35% of the total annual GPP value. It primarily depends on the soil moisture at the beginning of the period, a measure of moisture capacitance of soil, with a correlation of 0.6. Given that India is the second largest contributor to recent global greening, its soil-vegetation water capacitance plays a significant role in the global carbon balance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:02:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05fc0efad0b3423d98d83f4ea621637c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:02:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-05fc0efad0b3423d98d83f4ea621637c2023-01-22T12:13:26ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222023-01-0113111010.1038/s41598-022-27277-6Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over IndiaDawn E. Sebastian0Raghu Murtugudde1Subimal Ghosh2Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology BombayEarth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC)/DOAS, University of MarylandDepartment of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology BombayAbstract India receives more than 70% of its annual rainfall in the summer monsoon from June to September. The rainfall is scanty and scattered for the rest of the year. Combining satellite data and model simulations, we show that the soil-vegetation continuum works as a natural capacitor of water, storing the monsoon pulse and releasing the moisture to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration over approximately 135 days when the moisture supply from precipitation is less than the evapotranspiration losses. The total Gross Primary Productivity of vegetation in India during the capacitor period accounts for almost 35% of the total annual GPP value. It primarily depends on the soil moisture at the beginning of the period, a measure of moisture capacitance of soil, with a correlation of 0.6. Given that India is the second largest contributor to recent global greening, its soil-vegetation water capacitance plays a significant role in the global carbon balance.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27277-6 |
| spellingShingle | Dawn E. Sebastian Raghu Murtugudde Subimal Ghosh Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India Scientific Reports |
| title | Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India |
| title_full | Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India |
| title_fullStr | Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India |
| title_short | Soil–vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over India |
| title_sort | soil vegetation moisture capacitor maintains dry season vegetation productivity over india |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-27277-6 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dawnesebastian soilvegetationmoisturecapacitormaintainsdryseasonvegetationproductivityoverindia AT raghumurtugudde soilvegetationmoisturecapacitormaintainsdryseasonvegetationproductivityoverindia AT subimalghosh soilvegetationmoisturecapacitormaintainsdryseasonvegetationproductivityoverindia |