Zheng et al. (2026) State Dependence of Soil‐Moisture Responses to Meteorological Dry–Wet Abrupt Alternation

⚠️ 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: 2026-11-02
• Authors: Meiling Zheng, Mingzhu Cao, Jianyu Fu, Guangguang Yang, Bingjun Liu
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.70658

Research Groups

Not explicitly stated in the abstract.

Short Summary

This study investigated global soil moisture responses to meteorological dry-wet abrupt alternation (M-DWAA) events, revealing that soil moisture acts as a state-dependent filter, selectively propagating atmospheric signals rather than responding uniformly.

Objective

• To understand the different types of soil-moisture responses to meteorological dry-wet abrupt alternation (M-DWAA) and the factors associated with their variability globally.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global
• Temporal Scale: 2001–2023

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random Forest models
• Data sources: Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSMI)

Main Results

• The propagation of M-DWAA signals into soil moisture was selective.
• Soil-moisture responses during both dry and wet phases occurred in only 37.77% of M-DWAA events.
• More than half (54.05%) of M-DWAA events produced soil-moisture responses during only one phase (either dry or wet).
• Soil-moisture response patterns were strongly state-dependent.
• Dual-phase responses were generally associated with stronger atmospheric forcing and antecedent soil-moisture conditions closer to neutral states.
• Antecedent soil moisture was identified as the most important predictor for soil-moisture response types by Random Forest analysis.
• Hydroclimatic and land-surface conditions provided additional explanatory information.
• Soil moisture exhibits state-dependent filtering characteristics, rather than responding uniformly to atmospheric forcing.

Contributions

• Provides a global perspective for understanding heterogeneous land-surface responses to M-DWAA.
• Enhances understanding of how atmospheric dry-wet signals are expressed in terrestrial ecosystems.
• Offers insights for assessing ecosystem vulnerability and agricultural water availability risks under increasing climate variability.
• Demonstrates that soil moisture acts as a state-dependent filter for atmospheric dry-wet signals.

Funding

Not explicitly stated in the abstract.

Citation

@article{Zheng2026State,
  author = {Zheng, Meiling and Cao, Mingzhu and Fu, Jianyu and Yang, Guangguang and Liu, Bingjun},
  title = {State Dependence of Soil‐Moisture Responses to Meteorological Dry–Wet Abrupt Alternation},
  journal = {International Journal of Climatology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/joc.70658},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70658}
}