Patterns of plant rehydration and growth following pulses of soil moisture availability

Feldman, Andrew F.; Short Gianotti, Daniel J.; Konings, Alexandra G.; Gentine, Pierre; Entekhabi, Dara

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-831-2021

Articles | Volume 18, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-831-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Microwave remote sensing for improved understanding of vegetation–water...

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-831-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 3

Research article

|

05 Feb 2021

Research article |

| 05 Feb 2021

Patterns of plant rehydration and growth following pulses of soil moisture availability

Andrew F. Feldman, Daniel J. Short Gianotti, Alexandra G. Konings, Pierre Gentine, and Dara Entekhabi

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-831-2021-supplement

Data sets

SMAP L1C enhanced brightness temperatures J. Chaubell et al. https://nsidc.org/data/SPL1CTB_E

LandSAF leaf area index I. F. Trigo et al. https://landsaf.ipma.pt/en/products/vegetation/lai/

Model code and software

Land-atmosphere drivers of landscape-scale plant water content loss A. F. Feldman et al. https://github.com/afeld24/VOD_Timescales

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Short summary

We quantify global plant water uptake durations after rainfall using satellite-based plant water content measurements. In wetter regions, plant water uptake occurs within a day due to rapid coupling between soil and plant water content. Drylands show multi-day plant water uptake after rain pulses, providing widespread evidence for slow rehydration responses and pulse-driven growth responses. Our results suggest that drylands are sensitive to projected shifts in rainfall intensity and frequency.