Impact of vegetation removal and soil aridation on diurnal temperature range in a semiarid region: application to the Sahel.

ABSTRACT: Increased clouds and precipitation normally decrease the diurnal temperature range (DTR) and thus have commonly been offered as explanation for the trend of reduced DTR observed for many land areas over the last several decades. Observations show, however, that the DTR was reduced most in dry regions and especially in the West African Sahel during a period of unprecedented drought. Furthermore, the negative trend of DTR in the Sahel appears to have stopped and may have reversed after the rainfall began to recover. This study develops a hypothesis with climate model sensitivity studies showing that either a reduction in vegetation cover or a reduction in soil emissivity would reduce the DTR by increasing nighttime temperature through increased soil heating and reduced outgoing longwave radi

SUBMITTER: Zhou L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2084275 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature