A numerical study on impact of crop canopy on mesoscale climate

The impact of well watered mesoscale wheat planted on the mesoscale boundary layer structures of midlatitude arid area has been investigated by using a mesoscale biophysical meteorological model. The investigation indicates that mesoscale perturbations in temperature and specific humidity over crop area from the adjacent dry, bare soil, caused by the transpiration from the crop canopy and evaporation from underlying humid soil, result in a horizontal pressure gradient. A mesoscale circulation is forced by the pressure perturbation with a wind speed of about 5 m/s directing from the crop canopy to the bare soil in the lower boundary layer. In the daytime, the boundary layer structure over a complex terrain is determined by the interactions between upslope flow circulations and the circulations mentioned above when wheat crop canopies are located on plain and plateau. The impact of crop canopy scale on this thermally forced mesoscale circulation is also investigated.