Zhang et al. (2025) Moisture from US Corn Belt fuels more intense convective storms

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Identification

• Journal: Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-12-16
• Authors: Zhe Zhang, Andreas F. Prein, Cenlin He, Changhai Liu, Gonzalo Miguez-Macho, Fei Chen, Ronnie Abolafia‐Rosenzweig, Tzu-Shun Lin, Roy Rasmussen
• DOI: 10.3929/ethz-c-000795172

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study reveals that evapotranspiration from shallow groundwater, croplands, and irrigation in the US Corn Belt significantly amplifies mesoscale convective system frequency by 24-35%, extends storm lifetime by up to 10%, and accelerates storm movement, thereby intensifying convective storms.

Objective

• To investigate and quantify the role of evapotranspiration from shallow groundwater, extensive croplands, and irrigation in fueling convective storms and influencing their characteristics in the US Corn Belt.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional (US Corn Belt).
• Temporal Scale: Growing season (implied); individual storm lifetimes.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: High-resolution regional climate model coupled with an advanced water vapor tracer.
• Data sources: Model simulations.

Main Results

• Integrated groundwater-crop-irrigation interactions amplify Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) frequency by 24-35%.
• These interactions extend storm lifetime by up to 10%.
• They accelerate storm movement.
• Moisture from Corn Belt evapotranspiration enhances warm-moist inflows, sustaining convective cells and enhancing precipitation near the storm center, with more pronounced effects observed in stronger storms.

Contributions

• Provides novel quantitative evidence demonstrating the significant role of shallow groundwater and agricultural activities (croplands, irrigation) in intensifying convective storms.
• Utilizes an advanced water vapor tracer within a high-resolution regional climate model to track moisture from specific sources into individual convective storms, offering a detailed mechanistic understanding.
• Highlights the creation of cascading hazards that threaten water and food security due to these land-atmosphere interactions.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Zhang2025Moisture,
  author = {Zhang, Zhe and Prein, Andreas F. and He, Cenlin and Liu, Changhai and Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo and Chen, Fei and Abolafia‐Rosenzweig, Ronnie and Lin, Tzu-Shun and Rasmussen, Roy},
  title = {Moisture from US Corn Belt fuels more intense convective storms},
  journal = {Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3929/ethz-c-000795172},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000795172}
}