This book presents a state-of-the-art scientific overview of the influence of terrestrial vegetation and soils within the Earth system. It deals especially with interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere via the hydrological cycle and their interlinkage with anthropogenic activities. Measurements gathered in integrated field experiments in the Sahel, the Amazon, North America and South-east Asia confirm the importance of these interactions, but a substantial data consolidation effort still needs to be undertaken. Observations are complemented by modelling studies, including regional models that simulate flows and transport in river catchments, coupled land-cover and regional climate systems, and Earth-system and global circulation models. Water, nutrientand sediment fluxes in river basins are also discussed and are shown to be highly impacted and regulated by humans through land use, pollution and river engineering. Finally, the book discusses environmental vulnerability and methodologies for assessing the risks associated with regional and global climatic and environmental variability and change.The editors emphasise that the results reported in this book are based on the research work of many individual scientists and teams around the world associated with the objectives of the IGBP-BAHC and WCRP-GEWEX international research programmes.

Klappentext

A state-of-the-art overview of the influence of terrestrial vegetation and soils within the Earth system. The text deals especially with interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere via the hydrological cycle and their interlinkage with anthropogenic activities. Measurements gathered in integrated field experiments in the Sahel, the Amazon, North America and South-east Asia confirm the importance of these interactions. Observations are complemented by modelling studies, including regional models that simulate flows and transport in river catchments, coupled land-cover and regional climate systems, and Earth-system and global circulation models. Water, nutrient and sediment fluxes in river basins are also discussed and are shown to be highly impacted and regulated by humans through land use, pollution and river engineering. Finally, the book discusses environmental vulnerability and methodologies for assessing the risks associated with regional and global climatic and environmental variability and change. The results reported in this book are based on the research work of many individual scientists and teams around the world associated with the objectives of the IGBP-BAHC and WCRP-GEWEX international research programmes.

Inhalt

Land Surface Matter in Climate and Weather: The Climate near the Ground; The Regional Climate; The Global Climate; The Sahelian Climate; The Amazonian Climate; The Boreal Climate;The Asian Monsoon Climate.- How Measurable is the Earth System: The Energy Balance Closure Problem; Radiation Measurements in Integrated Terrestrial Experiments; Surface Turbulent Fluxes; Accuracy and Utility of Aircraft Flux Measurements; Boundary Layer Budgeting; Vegetation Structure, Dynamics and Physiology; Remote Sensing and Land Surface Experiments; The Water Balance Concept; Use of Field Experiments in Improving the Land Surface Description in Atmospheric Models; Further Insight from Large-scale Observational Studies of Land/Atmosphere Interactions.- The Value of Land Surface Data Consolidation: Motivation for Data Consolidation; Existing Degrees of Consolidation; Achieving Full Consolidation; Terrestrial Data Assimilation.- The Integrity of River and Drainage Basin Systems: Responses of Hydrological Processes to Environmental Change at Small Catchment Scales; River Basin Responses to Global Change and Anthropogenic Impacts; Responses of Continental Aquatic Systems at the Global Scale; Case Study 1 - The Amazon Basin; Case Study 2: The Elbe River Basin in Central Europe; Case Study 3: The Mixed Underdeveloped/Developed Mgeni Catchment, South Africa; Scaling Relative Responses of Terrestrial Aquatic Systems to Global Changes.- How to Evaluate Vulnerability in Changing Environmental Conditions: Predictability and Uncertainty; Contrast between Predictive and Vulnerability Approaches; The Scenario Approach; The Vulnerability Approach; Case Studies; Conclusions.