Impacts of Land-Cover Change on the Hydrometeorology of the Amazon
Renato
Ramos da
Silva, Duke University, renato@duke.edu
(Presenting)
Roni
Avissar, Duke University, avissar@duke.edu
Hydroclimate change resulting from the replacement of natural forest by degraded vegetation in the Amazon has yet to be fully understood and quantified. In this study the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is used to understand and quantify the impacts of deforestation on the hydrometeorology of the Amazon basin during the wet season. Three scenarios of land covers are considered: (1) current vegetation; (2) original forest, before massive deforestation was initiated in the Amazon basin; and (3)degraded land-cover as a result of deforestation expension as estimated by Nepstad et al. Special attention is paid to convection, cloud formation and rainfall distribution. Results indicate a significant impact of land-cover change on the amount and spatial distribution of precipitation during the wet season in Rondonia.