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Landscape and Climate Change
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Landscape and Climate Change

A special issue of Climate (ISSN 2225-1154).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 23376

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Katja Trachte

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Chair of Atmospheric Processes Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg, Burger Chaussee 2, LG 4/3 Campus Nord, 03044 Cottbus, Germany
Interests: land surface–atmosphere interactions; boundary-layer processes; carbon and water cycles; orographic-induced cloud and precipitation dynamics; climate change in tropical mountainous areas

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The characteristics of landscapes and climate are strongly related through a direct exchange between the terrestrial and the atmospheric system. Alterations in these properties inevitably have consequences for the climate system. While changes in landscapes affect greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn contribute to global warming, changes in climate cause vegetation shifts along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. Modifications in vegetation type compositions further feedback to the hydroclimatic system as well as to atmospheric processes that alter the regional and local climate with impacts on the socio-ecological system.

 

In this special issue, contributions that address one or more of the following topics are welcome:

  • direct and indirect effects of land use change, such as deforestation, agriculture, and urbanization;
  • impacts of climate change on eco-hydrological systems;
  • interactions and feedback effects between land surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer;
  • causal factors of changes in surface energy fluxes;
  • carbon and water cycles;
  • water recycling, evapotranspiration, and precipitation dynamics;
  • ecosystem services, natural resources, and water availability; and
  • sustainable management of forestry and land-use practices.

Prof. Dr. Katja Trachte
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Climate is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • climate change
  • land use change
  • landscape diversity
  • carbon and water cycles
  • surface energy fluxes
  • evapotranspiration
  • precipitation dynamics
  • ecosystem services
  • sustainable land use management

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2636 KiB  
Article
Land Use Change and Its Impacts on Land Surface Temperature in Galle City, Sri Lanka
by DMSLB Dissanayake
Climate 2020, 8(5), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8050065 - 18 May 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 6649
Abstract
This study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of land use land cover (LULC) and its impact on land surface temperature (LST) in the Galle Municipal Council area (GMCA), Sri Lanka. The same was achieved by employing the multi-temporal satellite data and geo-spatial techniques between [...] Read more.
This study investigated the spatiotemporal changes of land use land cover (LULC) and its impact on land surface temperature (LST) in the Galle Municipal Council area (GMCA), Sri Lanka. The same was achieved by employing the multi-temporal satellite data and geo-spatial techniques between 1996 and 2019. The post-classification change detection technique was employed to determine the temporal changes of LULC, and its results were utilized to assess the LST variation over the LULC changes. The results revealed that the area had undergone a drastic LULC transformation. It experienced 38% increase in the built-up area, while vegetation and non-built-up area declined by 26% and 12%, respectively. Rapid urban growth has had a significant effect on the LST, and the built-up area had the highest mean LST of 22.7 °C, 23.2 °C, and 26.3 °C for 1996, 2009, and 2019, correspondingly. The mean LST of the GMCA was 19.2 °C in 1996, 20.1 °C in 2009, and 22.4 °C in 2019. The land area with a temperature above 24 °C increased by 9% and 12% in 2009 and 2019, respectively. The highest LST variation (5.5 °C) was observed from newly added built-up area, which was also transferred from vegetation land. Meanwhile, the lowest mean LST difference was observed from newly added vegetation land. The results show that the mean annual LST increased by 3.2 °C in the last 22 years in GMCA. This study identified significant challenges for urban planners and respective administrative bodies to mitigate and control the negative effect of LST for the long livability of Galle City. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape and Climate Change)
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25 pages, 51633 KiB  
Article
Effects of Climatic Warming and Wildfires on Recent Vegetation Changes in the Lake Baikal Basin
by Alexander N. Safronov
Climate 2020, 8(4), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8040057 - 16 Apr 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4156
Abstract
The vegetation changes in the area of the Russian part of the Lake Baikal water basin for the period 2010–2018 were investigated using MCD12C1 land cover. The decline in swamp systems area began in 2012 and continued until 2015, after which it partially [...] Read more.
The vegetation changes in the area of the Russian part of the Lake Baikal water basin for the period 2010–2018 were investigated using MCD12C1 land cover. The decline in swamp systems area began in 2012 and continued until 2015, after which it partially recovered during the heavy rain season in 2018. During the period of 2010–2018, the area covered by forests did not exceed 20.3% of the Baikal basin of the total portion of the Baikal basin under study. Deforestation began in 2013 and continued until 2017. Over 2013–2018, the forest level decreased by 12.1% compared to the forest state in 2013. The analysis of summer rainfalls and aridity indexes was performed by using CRU TS and GPCC climatic datasets. It is shown that the interannual variations of precipitation and aridity changes are determined by the variability of the global circulation of moist air masses. The MCD64A1 (burned area) and MCD14ML (active fires) MODIS products were used for investigation of the influence of wildfires on vegetation changes. The spatial hotspot distributions and burned areas in general correspond to aridity zones, but they cannot explain the 20-fold increase in the number of wildfires. Most of the hotspot locations are away from settlements, roads, and loggings, in difficult-to-access mountainous areas, as well as in the low-inhabited areas of Siberia. We assume that the nature of such ignitions includes dry thunderstorms, pyrocumulus lightning, or remote impact. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape and Climate Change)
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22 pages, 8803 KiB  
Article
Water Balance and Soil Moisture Deficit of Different Vegetation Units under Semiarid Conditions in the Andes of Southern Ecuador
by Andreas Fries, Karen Silva, Franz Pucha-Cofrep, Fernando Oñate-Valdivieso and Pablo Ochoa-Cueva
Climate 2020, 8(2), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli8020030 - 8 Feb 2020
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 6112
Abstract
Water availability in semiarid regions is endangered, which is not only due to changing climate conditions, but also to anthropogenic land use changes. The present study analyzed the annual and monthly water balance (WBc) and the soil moisture deficit (Ds [...] Read more.
Water availability in semiarid regions is endangered, which is not only due to changing climate conditions, but also to anthropogenic land use changes. The present study analyzed the annual and monthly water balance (WBc) and the soil moisture deficit (Ds) for different vegetation units under semiarid conditions in the Andes of southern Ecuador, based on limited meteorological station data and field measurements (soil samples). To calculate crop evapotranspiration (ETc) the Blaney–Criddle method was applied, and the specific crop factor (Kc) included, because only temperature (T) and precipitation (P) data were available. By means of the soil samples the water retention capacity (RC) of the different soil types present in the study area were estimated, which, in combination with WBc, provided reliable results respective to water surpluses or deficits for the different vegetation units. The results indicated highest Ds for cultivated areas, particularly for corn and sugarcane plantations, where annual deficits up to −1377.5 mm ha−1 and monthly deficits up to −181.1 mm ha−1 were calculated. Natural vegetation cover (scrubland, forest and paramo), especially at higher elevations, did not show any deficit throughout the year (annual surpluses up to 1279.6 mm ha−1; monthly surpluses up to 280.1 mm ha−1). Hence, it could be concluded that the prevailing climate conditions in semiarid regions cannot provide the necessary water for agricultural practices, for which reason irrigation is required. The necessary water can be supplied by areas coved by natural vegetation, but these areas are endangered due to population growth and the associated land use changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape and Climate Change)
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24 pages, 5820 KiB  
Article
Observed Mesoscale Hydroclimate Variability of North America’s Allegheny Mountains at 40.2° N
by Evan Kutta and Jason Hubbart
Climate 2019, 7(7), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli7070091 - 18 Jul 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5528
Abstract
Spatial hydroclimatic variability of Eastern North America’s Allegheny Mountain System (AMS) is commonly oversimplified to elevation differences and the rain-shadow effect. Descriptive and higher order statistical properties of hourly meteorological observations (1948–2017) from seven airports were analyzed to better understand AMS climatic complexity. [...] Read more.
Spatial hydroclimatic variability of Eastern North America’s Allegheny Mountain System (AMS) is commonly oversimplified to elevation differences and the rain-shadow effect. Descriptive and higher order statistical properties of hourly meteorological observations (1948–2017) from seven airports were analyzed to better understand AMS climatic complexity. Airports were located along a longitudinal transect (40.2 °N) and observation infrastructure was positioned to minimize climatic gradients associated with insolation, slope, and aspect. Results indicated average ambient temperature was well correlated with airport elevation (R2 = 0.97). However, elevation was relatively poorly correlated to dew point temperature (R2 = 0.80) and vapor pressure deficit (R2 = 0.61) heterogeneity. Skewness and kurtosis of ambient and dew point temperatures were negative at all airports indicating hourly values below the median were more common and extreme values were less common than a normal distribution implies. Westerly winds accounted for 54.5% of observations indicating prevailing winds misrepresented nearly half of AMS weather phenomena. The sum of maximum hourly precipitation rates was maximized in Philadelphia, PA implying a convective precipitation maximum near the border of Piedmont and Coastal Plain provinces. Results further indicate the AMS represents a barrier to omnidirectional moisture advection suggesting physiographic provinces are characterized by distinct evapotranspiration and precipitation regimes. The current work draws attention to observed mesoscale hydroclimatic heterogeneity of the AMS region and identifies mechanisms influencing local to regional water quantity and quality issues that are relevant to many locations globally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Landscape and Climate Change)
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