Reconciling different approaches to quantifying land surface temperature impacts of afforestation using satellite observations

Wang, Huanhuan; Yue, Chao; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-75-2023

Articles | Volume 20, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-75-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-75-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 20, issue 1

Research article

|

06 Jan 2023

Research article |

| 06 Jan 2023

Reconciling different approaches to quantifying land surface temperature impacts of afforestation using satellite observations

Huanhuan Wang, Chao Yue, and Sebastiaan Luyssaert

Data sets

MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity 8-Day L3 Global 1km SIN Grid V061 Z. Wan, S. Hook, and G. Hulley https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD11A2.061

MOD11C3 MODIS/Terra Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V006 Z. Wan, S. Hook, and G. Hulley https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD11C3.006

MOD16A2 MODIS/Terra Net Evapotranspiration 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 S. Running, Q. Mu, and M. Zhao https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD16A2.006

CERES Energy Balanced and Filled (EBAF) TOA and Surface Monthly means data in netCDF Edition 4.1 NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/TERRA-AQUA/CERES/EBAF_L3B.004.1

MCD43A3 MODIS/Terra+Aqua BRDF/Albedo Daily L3 Global - 500m V006 C. Schaaf and Z. Wang https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD43A3.006

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Global 1 arc second NASA JPL https://doi.org/10.5067/MEaSUREs/SRTM/SRTMGL1.003

Short summary

This study provided a synthesis of three influential methods to quantify afforestation impact on surface temperature. Results showed that actual effect following afforestation was highly dependent on afforestation fraction. When full afforestation is assumed, the actual effect approaches the potential effect. We provided evidence the afforestation faction is a key factor in reconciling different methods and emphasized that it should be considered for surface cooling impacts in policy evaluation.