Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia
Prior research has shown that deforestation in the southwestern Amazon enhances the formation of nonprecipitating shallow cumulus clouds, while deep cumulus convection was favored over forested land. The research presented here further investigates the trends of hydrometeors in the area by examining...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67485 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6641-7595 |
| _version_ | 1826190435500949504 |
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| author | Knox, Ryan Gary Bisht, Gautam Wang, Jingfeng Bras, Rafael L. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Knox, Ryan Gary Bisht, Gautam Wang, Jingfeng Bras, Rafael L. |
| author_sort | Knox, Ryan Gary |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Prior research has shown that deforestation in the southwestern Amazon enhances the formation of nonprecipitating shallow cumulus clouds, while deep cumulus convection was favored over forested land. The research presented here further investigates the trends of hydrometeors in the area by examining how precipitation frequency changes as a function of distance to the forest’s edge. Measurements are made from the precipitation radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM; TRMM 2A25) satellite, and continuous forest coverage is retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; MODIS MCD12Q1). The event-based areal fractions of precipitation coverage (precipitation fraction) are calculated; referenced to forested, nonforested, and forest-edge land cover; and compared. As results are generally consistent with previous findings, the novel conclusions here extend that precipitation frequency in the southwestern Amazon (i) decreases over regions of nonforests far removed (10-plus km) from forest borders but (ii) increases within several kilometers of the forest edges, particularly over the nonforest side of the transition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:40:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/67485 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:40:12Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/674852022-09-30T10:24:01Z Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia Knox, Ryan Gary Bisht, Gautam Wang, Jingfeng Bras, Rafael L. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Knox, Ryan Gary Knox, Ryan Gary Bisht, Gautam Prior research has shown that deforestation in the southwestern Amazon enhances the formation of nonprecipitating shallow cumulus clouds, while deep cumulus convection was favored over forested land. The research presented here further investigates the trends of hydrometeors in the area by examining how precipitation frequency changes as a function of distance to the forest’s edge. Measurements are made from the precipitation radar on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM; TRMM 2A25) satellite, and continuous forest coverage is retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS; MODIS MCD12Q1). The event-based areal fractions of precipitation coverage (precipitation fraction) are calculated; referenced to forested, nonforested, and forest-edge land cover; and compared. As results are generally consistent with previous findings, the novel conclusions here extend that precipitation frequency in the southwestern Amazon (i) decreases over regions of nonforests far removed (10-plus km) from forest borders but (ii) increases within several kilometers of the forest edges, particularly over the nonforest side of the transition. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ATM-0449793) United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNG06GD63G) 2011-12-08T19:16:19Z 2011-12-08T19:16:19Z 2011-05 2010-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0894-8755 1520-0442 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67485 Knox, Ryan et al. “Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia.” Journal of Climate 24 (2011): 2368-2377. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. © 2011 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6641-7595 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2010jcli3815.1 Journal of Climate Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological Society AMS |
| spellingShingle | Knox, Ryan Gary Bisht, Gautam Wang, Jingfeng Bras, Rafael L. Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title | Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title_full | Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title_fullStr | Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title_short | Precipitation Variability over the Forest-to-Nonforest Transition in Southwestern Amazonia |
| title_sort | precipitation variability over the forest to nonforest transition in southwestern amazonia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67485 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6641-7595 |
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