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| Home > Publications database > Land-Atmosphere Coupling in a Changing Climate: Understanding Variability, Extremes, and Human Influence through Regional Climate Modeling |
| Book/Dissertation / PhD Thesis | FZJ-2026-03893 |
2026
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH Zentralbibliothek, Verlag
Jülich
ISBN: 978-3-95806-981-7
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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.34734/FZJ-2026-03893
Abstract: Land–atmosphere coupling, which represents the exchanges of water, energy and momentum between the land surface and atmosphere, plays a central role in shaping regional hydroclimate variability and climate extremes. These influences are transmitted through a chain of linked processes connecting soil moisture, evapotranspiration, boundary-layer development, cloud formation, and precipitation. However, the roles of intermediate processes in the land–atmosphere coupling chain, their spatiotemporal dynamics, and sensitivity to human interventions remain insufficiently understood. Using a series of Terrestrial System Modeling Platform (TSMP) simulations, this thesis investigates the roleof cloud moisture in the land–atmosphere coupling chain under different hydroclimatic conditions over Europe (Chapter 3). A process-based analysis identifies evapotranspiration–cloud interactions as a critical sub-process in the coupling chain, showing that the nonlinear response of cloud moisture dynamics to land-surface fluxes varies strongly with both soil moisture conditions and large-scale atmospheric moisture advection. A causal analysis framework using the Liang–Kleeman information flow method is then developed to diagnose the dynamics of land–atmosphere coupling during compound dry-hot events by tracking the directional influences of soil moisture and shortwave radiation on near-surface temperature (Chapter 4). The results show that near-surface temperature variability over much of Europe is controlled mainly by shortwave radiation under climatological conditions, but during the development of compound dry-hot events, the directional influence of soil moisture on temperature strengthens while that of shortwave radiation weakens, indicating a shift toward stronger soil moisture control and more water-limited conditions. The same causal analysis framework is further applied to assess the impacts of irrigation on compound dry-hot events and land–atmosphere coupling based on TSMP simulations with irrigation forcing (Chapter 5). The results demonstrate that irrigation reduces the frequency and intensity of compound dry-hot events in Europe and weakens soil moisture–temperature coupling, although these effects are mainly confined to heavily irrigated regions. Overall, this thesis shows that land–atmosphere coupling over Europe is highly dynamic and state-dependent across contrasting hydroclimatic conditions. These findings provide a process-level understanding of the mechanisms shaping land–atmosphere coupling and highlight the value of combining fully coupled climate modeling with causal analysis methods for assessing regional climate variability and human–climate interactions.
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