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Soil Moisture Cloud Precipitation Feedback in the Lower Atmosphere from Functional Decomposition of Satellite Observations
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  • Yifu Gao,
  • Clement Guilloteau,
  • Efi Foufoula-Georgiou,
  • chonggang xu,
  • Xiaoming Sun,
  • Jasper A. Vrugt
Yifu Gao
University of California, Irvine
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Clement Guilloteau
UC Irvine
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Efi Foufoula-Georgiou
University of California, Irvine
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chonggang xu
lanl
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Xiaoming Sun
Los Alamos National Laboratory
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Jasper A. Vrugt
University of California, Irvine

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The feedback of topsoil moisture (SM) content on convective clouds and precipitation is not well understood and represented in the current generation of coupled cloud physics and land-surface models. Here, we use functional decomposition of satellite-derived SM (SMAP/L4) and cloud vertical profiles (CVP: GPM/DPR/L2A) in the central US to quantify the relationship between SM and the vertical distribution of cloud water. High-dimensional model representation disentangles the contributions of SM and other land-surface and atmospheric variables to the CVP. Results show the sign and strength of this feedback varies with cloud height and time lag and displays a large spatial variability. Positive anomalies in the antecedent 7-hour SM and land-surface temperature can increase reflectivity up to 4 dBZ in the lower atmosphere (1-3 km above the surface). The presented approach brings new insights into observational understanding of SM-precipitation feedback and possesses the potential for diagnosing cloud models regarding land-atmosphere coupling representation.
24 May 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
28 May 2024Published in ESS Open Archive