Numerical simulations of the impacts of land-cover change on cold fronts in South-West Western Australia
Tools
Tools
Kala, J., Lyons, T.J. and Nair, U.S. (2011) Numerical simulations of the impacts of land-cover change on cold fronts in South-West Western Australia. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 138 (1). pp. 121-138.
![[img]](http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) | PDF - Authors' Version Download (1266kB) |
*Subscription may be required
Abstract
The south-west of Western Australia has experienced significant land-cover change as well as a decline in rainfall. Given that most precipitation in the region results from frontal passages, the impact of land-cover change on the dynamics of cold fronts is explored using the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System version 6.0. Frontal simulations are evaluated against high resolution atmospheric soundings, station observations, and gridded rainfall analyses and shown to reproduce the qualitative features of cold fronts. Land-cover change results in a decrease in total frontal precipitation through a decrease in boundary-layer turbulent kinetic energy and vertically integrated moisture convergence, and an increase in wind speed within the lower boundary layer. Such processes contribute to reduced convective rainfall under current vegetation cover.
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Murdoch Affiliation: | Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Forest and Woodland Health School of Environmental Science |
| Publisher: | Kluwer Academic Publishers |
| Copyright: | 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. |
| URI: | http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/3668 |
| Item Control Page |
