HR: 15:30h
AN: A54B-01    [Abstracts]
TI: Historical Land Cover and Biophysical Parameter Data to Study the Consequences of Land Use Change within the Eastern United States
AU: * Steyaert, L T
EM: steyaert@usgs.gov
AF: U.S. Geological Survey National Center for EROS, Code 614.4 NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: * Steyaert, L T
EM: steyaert@usgs.gov
AF: Biospheric Sciences Branch NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 614.4 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: Previous studies have demonstrated the utility of historical land cover data in regional climate modeling sensitivity tests to help quantify the effects of land use change on land surface processes, weather, and climate variability. Land use history is also important for long-term net carbon flux studies. In order to address these types of climate change research issues, historical land cover and biophysical parameter datasets were developed to investigate the consequences of land use change on land-atmosphere interactions within the eastern United States. This reconstructed land cover analysis, which was performed at four separate time-slices (mid-1600s, 1850, 1920, and 1992), resulted in 5-km gridded datasets for the land area to the east of the U.S. Great Plains. The temporal trajectory of land cover change was mapped by a set of consistently-defined land surface parameter classes that are designed for use in a regional land-atmosphere modeling system. Preliminary diagnostic analysis of land cover change and associated biophysical parameter fields in this region suggests significant implications for the land surface energy balance due to, for example, the magnitude of changes in land surface albedo and roughness. As part of land surface process research with these historical datasets, a regional climate modeling system could be coupled with impact assessment models to investigate potential land use change effects on managed ecosystems and climate including feedbacks.
DE: 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions
DE: 1655 Water cycles (1836)
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 3329 Mesoscale meteorology
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly