Vegetation feedback on the boundary layer climate of Southern Africa
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Date
2005
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Abstract
Upward feedbacks from the land surface and vegetation to the atmosphere boundary layer over southern Africa are investigated. Satellite derived rainfall and vegetation data and model evaporative fluxes for the period 1981-2000 are used to reveal spatial and temporal inter-relationships via Principal Compnents Analysis. Seasonal rainfall and NDVI exhibit distinct unimodal seasonal cycles of intraseasonal rainfall events at approxemately 40 and 20 days. The 40-day oscillation reflects the Madden-Julian Oscillation and is partilly phase-locked to the seasonal cycle. The spatial loadings are focused on a region along the eastern edge of the Kalahari, extending from western Zambezi towards central South Africa.
Description
Thesis for the Master of Science Degree, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Zululand, 2005.
Keywords
Boundary layer (Meteorology), Microclimatology., Convection (Meteorology), Vegetation and climate.