Biosphere/Hydrosphere/Land–Atmosphere Interactions

Biosphere/Hydrosphere/Land–Atmosphere interactions play a crucial role in weather and climate. Surface water and energy exchange fluxes drive the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer, on both local and regional scales. Surface–atmosphere trace gas exchange fluxes affect the chemical composition of the boundary layer, acting both as a source and a sink of atmospheric trace species, including both greenhouse gases and more reactive species that drive atmospheric chemistry, such as isoprene. Together, these surface–atmosphere interactions thus dominate the environmental conditions of life on Earth. As man-made emissions are altering the Earth’s energy budget, surface–atmosphere interactions are changing as well. Magnified or reduced hydrologic cycles and slowly changing biosphere and land surface conditions owing to land use change or increasing frequency of extreme weather and climate occurrences, will not only alter local to regional energy and water fluxes, but also trace gas exchange rates. Both are expected to create feedbacks on atmospheric conditions, including atmospheric chemistry, which will need to be understood to project future risks, and to effectively respond with mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Atmosphere invites contributions analyzing how local to regional energy and trace gas exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere affect atmospheric conditions, including, but no limited to, weather and climate phenomena from local to regional scales, exchange mechanisms, greenhouse gas and other trace gas fluxes and their atmospheric reactions, deposition processes, or anthropogenic land use change effects.

Keywords:

• Atmospheric boundary layer;
• Surface–atmospheric interactions;
• Land–atmospheric interactions;
• Forests–atmosphere interactions;
• Air–sea interactions;
• Wind–wave interactions.