Impact of land use on Costa Rican regional climate
Nair, U.S.
Welch, R.M.
Lawton, R.O.
Pielke, R.A., Sr.
Dept. of Atmos. Sci., Alabama Univ., Huntsville, AL;
This paper appears in: Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2000. Proceedings. IGARSS 2000. IEEE 2000 International
Publication Date: 2000
Volume: 5,
On page(s): 1993-1995 vol.5
Meeting Date: 07/24/2000 - 07/28/2000
Location: Honolulu, HI, USA
ISBN: 0-7803-6359-0
References Cited: 6
INSPEC Accession Number: 6788546
Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/IGARSS.2000.858213
Current Version Published: 2002-08-06
Abstract
In the Costa Rican lowlands, the satellite observations show
significant differences in cloud formation and development over forested
regions compared to deforested regions. This difference in cloudiness
appears to be a signal of land use change influencing the regional
climate. Model simulations suggest deforestation results in increased
cloud base over deforested areas. The effect of increasing SST on cloud
base height is erratic and at times results in decreased cloud base.
Simulations suggest the magnitude of change in cloud base caused by land
use changes is larger than changes caused by small changes in SST. The
air masses in lowland regions are ultimately responsible for formation
of orographic clouds in the Monteverde region. Thus similar to the
lowland cloud fields, the modification of the lowland air masses from
deforestation cause orographic clouds to form at higher altitudes
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