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  7. Data on influence of atmospheric rivers on vegetation productivity and fire patterns in the southwestern US

Data on influence of atmospheric rivers on vegetation productivity and fire patterns in the southwestern US

Dates

Publication Date
Start Date
1988-10-01
End Date
2012-12-31

Citation

Albano, C.M. , Dettinger, M.D., and Soulard, C.E., 2017, Data on influence of atmospheric rivers on vegetation productivity and fire patterns in the southwestern U.S. Geological Survey data release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F71Z42KJ.

Summary

In the southwestern US, the meteorological phenomenon known as atmospheric rivers (ARs) has gained increasing attention due to its strong connections to floods, snowpacks and water supplies in the West Coast states. Relatively less is known about the ecological implications of ARs, particularly in the interior Southwest, where AR storms are less common. To address this gap, we compared a chronology of AR landfalls on the west coast between 1989-2011 and between 25-42.5ºN, to annual metrics of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI; an indicator of vegetation productivity) and daily-resolution precipitation data to assess influences of AR-fed winter precipitation on vegetation productivity across the southwestern US. We mapped [...]

Contacts

Point of Contact :
Desert Research Institute
Originator :
Christine M. Albano, Michael D. Dettinger, Christopher E. Soulard
Metadata Contact :
Christine M. Albano
Distributor :
Desert Research Institute
USGS Mission Area :
Land Resources
SDC Data Owner :
Climate Adaptation Science Centers

Attached Files

Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.

AR_Fire_OneYearLag_25N.tif.xml
“Project-level Metadata”
Original FGDC Metadata
View 		20.63 KB application/fgdc+xml
AtmosphericRiverCorrelationData.zip
“32 Correlation Grids” 		175.26 MB application/zip

Purpose

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are a major mechanism for water vapor transport from the tropics to mid-latitudes that strongly influence precipitation in western North America and elsewhere in the world. This study assesses historical relations between landfalling ARs and interannual variations in vegetation biomass production and associated fuels accumulation in the Southwest. The relations identified are stratified in terms of AR landfall latitude, the influence of topographic barriers, and across ecosystem types. As climatologists’ understanding of the synoptic patterns associated with the occurrence of ARs continues to evolve, an increased understanding of how AR landfalls, in aggregate, influence vegetation productivity and associated wildfire activity in dryland ecosystems may provide opportunities to better predict ecological responses to climate and climate change.

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Communities

  • National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
  • Southwest CASC
  • USGS Data Release Products

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DOI https://www.sciencebase.gov/vocab/category/item/identifier doi:10.5066/F71Z42KJ

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