Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change
The degree to which cloud immersion provides water in addition to rainfall, suppresses transpiration, and sustains tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) during rainless periods is not well understood. Climate and land use changes represent a threat to these forests if cloud base altitude rises...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-06-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/7245/2017/acp-17-7245-2017.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811280696274059264 |
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| author | A. E. Van Beusekom G. González M. A. Scholl |
| author_facet | A. E. Van Beusekom G. González M. A. Scholl |
| author_sort | A. E. Van Beusekom |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The degree to which cloud immersion provides water in addition to
rainfall, suppresses transpiration, and sustains tropical montane cloud
forests (TMCFs) during rainless periods is not well understood. Climate and
land use changes represent a threat to these forests if cloud base altitude
rises as a result of regional warming or deforestation. To establish a
baseline for quantifying future changes in cloud base, we installed a
ceilometer at 100 m altitude in the forest upwind of the TMCF that occupies
an altitude range from ∼ 600 m to the peaks at 1100 m in the Luquillo
Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico. Airport Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)
ceilometer data, radiosonde
data, and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite
Observation (CALIPSO) satellite data were obtained to investigate seasonal cloud
base dynamics, altitude of the trade-wind inversion (TWI), and typical cloud
thickness for the surrounding Caribbean region. Cloud base is rarely
quantified near mountains, so these results represent a first look at
seasonal and diurnal cloud base dynamics for the TMCF. From
May 2013 to August 2016, cloud base was lowest during the midsummer dry
season, and cloud bases were lower than the mountaintops as often in the
winter dry season as in the wet seasons. The lowest cloud bases most
frequently occurred at higher elevation than 600 m, from 740 to 964 m. The
Luquillo forest low cloud base altitudes were higher than six other sites in
the Caribbean by ∼ 200–600 m, highlighting the importance of site
selection to measure topographic influence on cloud height. Proximity to the
oceanic cloud system where shallow cumulus clouds are seasonally invariant in
altitude and cover, along with local trade-wind orographic lifting and cloud
formation, may explain the dry season low clouds. The results indicate
that climate change threats to low-elevation TMCFs are not limited to the dry
season; changes in synoptic-scale weather patterns that increase frequency of
drought periods during the wet seasons (periods of higher cloud base) may
also impact ecosystem health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T01:18:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f86fb9605daf4cf48ab2c667ed829628 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T01:18:19Z |
| publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-f86fb9605daf4cf48ab2c667ed8296282022-12-22T03:08:50ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242017-06-01177245725910.5194/acp-17-7245-2017Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate changeA. E. Van Beusekom0G. González1M. A. Scholl2USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 00926, USAUSDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Jardín Botánico Sur, 1201 Calle Ceiba, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 00926, USAUS Geological Survey National Research Program, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20192, USAThe degree to which cloud immersion provides water in addition to rainfall, suppresses transpiration, and sustains tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) during rainless periods is not well understood. Climate and land use changes represent a threat to these forests if cloud base altitude rises as a result of regional warming or deforestation. To establish a baseline for quantifying future changes in cloud base, we installed a ceilometer at 100 m altitude in the forest upwind of the TMCF that occupies an altitude range from ∼ 600 m to the peaks at 1100 m in the Luquillo Mountains of eastern Puerto Rico. Airport Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) ceilometer data, radiosonde data, and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite data were obtained to investigate seasonal cloud base dynamics, altitude of the trade-wind inversion (TWI), and typical cloud thickness for the surrounding Caribbean region. Cloud base is rarely quantified near mountains, so these results represent a first look at seasonal and diurnal cloud base dynamics for the TMCF. From May 2013 to August 2016, cloud base was lowest during the midsummer dry season, and cloud bases were lower than the mountaintops as often in the winter dry season as in the wet seasons. The lowest cloud bases most frequently occurred at higher elevation than 600 m, from 740 to 964 m. The Luquillo forest low cloud base altitudes were higher than six other sites in the Caribbean by ∼ 200–600 m, highlighting the importance of site selection to measure topographic influence on cloud height. Proximity to the oceanic cloud system where shallow cumulus clouds are seasonally invariant in altitude and cover, along with local trade-wind orographic lifting and cloud formation, may explain the dry season low clouds. The results indicate that climate change threats to low-elevation TMCFs are not limited to the dry season; changes in synoptic-scale weather patterns that increase frequency of drought periods during the wet seasons (periods of higher cloud base) may also impact ecosystem health.http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/7245/2017/acp-17-7245-2017.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. E. Van Beusekom G. González M. A. Scholl Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| title_full | Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| title_fullStr | Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| title_short | Analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| title_sort | analyzing cloud base at local and regional scales to understand tropical montane cloud forest vulnerability to climate change |
| url | http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/7245/2017/acp-17-7245-2017.pdf |
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