Land Surface Influence on Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) Change during Interstorms

Abstract

Abstract Changes in surface water and energy balance can influence weather through interactions between the land and lower atmosphere. In convecting atmospheres, increases in convective available potential energy (CAPE) at the base of the column are driven by surface turbulent fluxes and can lead to precipitation. Using two global satellite datasets, we analyze the impact of surface energy balance partitioning on convective development by tracking CAPE over soil moisture drydowns (interstorms) during the summer, when land–atmosphere coupling is strongest. Our results show that the sign and magnitude of CAPE development during summertime drydowns depends on regional hydroclimate and initial soil moisture content. On average, CAPE increases between precipitation events over humid regions (e.g., the eastern United States) and decreases slightly over arid regions (e.g., the western United States). The soil moisture content at the start of a drydown was found to only impact CAPE evolution over arid regions, leading to greater decreases in CAPE when initial soil moisture content was high. The effect of these factors on CAPE can be explained by their influence principally on surface evaporation, demonstrating the importance of evaporative controls on CAPE and providing a basis for understanding the soil moisture–precipitation relationship, as well as land–atmosphere interaction as a whole. Significance Statement Land–atmosphere coupling is a long-standing topic with growing interest within the climate and modeling communities. Understanding and characterizing the feedbacks between the land surface and lower atmosphere has important implications for weather and climate prediction. One component of land–atmosphere coupling not yet fully understood is the soil moisture–precipitation relationship. Our work quantifies the land influence on one pathway for precipitation, convection, by tracking the evolution of atmospheric convective energy as soils dry between storms. Using global satellite observations, we find clear spatial and temporal trends that link summertime convective development to soil moisture content and evaporation. Our observational results provide a benchmark for evaluating how well weather and climate models capture the complex coupling between land and atmosphere.