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The temporal variability of soil wetness and its impact on climate

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Abstract

The temporal variability of soil wetness and its interactions with the atmosphere were studied using a general circulation model of the atmosphere. It was found that time series of soil wetness computed by the model contain substantial amounts of variance at low frequencies. Long time-scale anomalies of soil moisture resemble the red noise response of the soil layer to white noise rainfall forcing. The dependence of the temporal variability of soil moisture on potential evaporation and precipitation is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA, Princeton University, 08542, Princeton, NJ, USA

    S. Manabe & T. Delworth

Authors
  1. S. Manabe
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  2. T. Delworth
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Additional information

Subsequent to the preparation of this manuscript, the detailed results of this study have been published elsewhere. See Delworth and Manabe (1988, 1989).

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Manabe, S., Delworth, T. The temporal variability of soil wetness and its impact on climate. Climatic Change 16, 185–192 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00134656

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