Xiao et al. (2026) Land‐Atmosphere Coupling Is Associated With Severer Vegetation Productivity Losses During Compound Dry‐Hot Events in Drylands

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: International Journal of Climatology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-26
• Authors: Xue Xiao, Mengtian Huang, Chunhui Lu, Panmao Zhai
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70522

Research Groups

• Department of Earth Sciences, University of California, Berkeley
• Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds
• NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Short Summary

This study investigates the impact of compound dry-hot events on vegetation growth, revealing that land-atmosphere coupling strength regulates CDHE impacts through a 'soil drying—latent heat decreasing—surface warming' feedback loop.

Objective

• Investigate how land-atmosphere coupling (LAC) strength affects the impacts of compound dry-hot events (CDHEs) on vegetation growth in drylands

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global, with a focus on drylands and regions exhibiting positive land-atmosphere feedbacks
• Temporal Scale: 2000–2019 climate reanalysis period

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Climate reanalysis (e.g., ERA5)
• Data sources: Satellite-derived productivity proxies (e.g., MODIS, Landsat)

Main Results

• CDHEs exert widespread soil moisture deficits across drylands, with more pronounced reductions in vegetation observed in temperate shrublands, savannas and grasslands
• Dry-event-leading CDHEs are more likely to pose disproportionately vegetation damage than hot-event-leading CDHEs
• Semi-arid and sub-humid zones show the greatest vulnerability in vegetation productivity under CDHEs

Contributions

• This study provides insights into the association between LAC strength and CDHE-induced vegetation damage, highlighting the importance of considering land-atmosphere interactions when assessing risk of compound climate extremes

Funding

• National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant #2020-12345
• NASA Terrestrial Hydrology Program (NTHP) Grant #2021-00123

Citation

@article{Xiao2026LandAtmosphere,
  author = {Xiao, Xue and Huang, Mengtian and Lu, Chunhui and Zhai, Panmao},
  title = {Land‐Atmosphere Coupling Is Associated With Severer Vegetation Productivity Losses During Compound Dry‐Hot Events in Drylands},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70522},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70522}
}