NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The Impact of a Amazonian Deforestation on Dry-Season RainfallMany modeling studies have concluded that widespread deforestation of Amazonia would lead to decreased rainfall. We analyze geosynchronous infrared satellite data with respect to percent cloudiness, and analyze rain estimates from microwave sensors aboard the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. We conclude that in the dry-season, when the effects of the surface are not overwhelmed by synoptic-scale weather disturbances, shallow cumulus cloudiness, deep convective cloudiness, and rainfall occurrence all are larger over the deforested and non-forested (savanna) regions than over areas of dense jungle. This difference is in response to a local circulation initiated by the differential heating of the region s varying forestation. Analysis of the diurnal cycle of cloudiness reveals a shift in the onset of convection toward afternoon hours in the deforested and towards the morning hours in the savanna regions when compared to the neighboring forested regions. Analysis of 14 years of monthly estimates from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager data revealed that in only in August was there a pattern of higher monthly rainfall amounts over the deforested region.
Document ID
20030102242
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Negri, Andrew J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Adler, Robert F.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Xu, Liming
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Surratt, Jason
(North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh, NC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2003
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Document Inquiry

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available