Articles | Volume 25, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1405-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-1405-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Soil moisture–atmosphere coupling strength over central Europe in the recent warming climate
Thomas Schwitalla
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 30, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Lisa Jach
Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 30, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Volker Wulfmeyer
Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 30, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Kirsten Warrach-Sagi
Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 30, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Related authors
Oliver Branch, Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 109–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the United Arab Emirates, water scarcity is reaching a crisis point, and new methods for obtaining freshwater are urgently needed. Regional climate engineering with large artificial heat islands can enhance desert precipitation by increasing cloud development. Through model simulation, we show that heat islands of 20 × 20 km or larger can potentially produce enough annual rainfall to supply thousands of people. Thus, artificial heat islands should be made a high priority for further research.
Alberto Caldas-Alvarez, Markus Augenstein, Georgy Ayzel, Klemens Barfus, Ribu Cherian, Lisa Dillenardt, Felix Fauer, Hendrik Feldmann, Maik Heistermann, Alexia Karwat, Frank Kaspar, Heidi Kreibich, Etor Emanuel Lucio-Eceiza, Edmund P. Meredith, Susanna Mohr, Deborah Niermann, Stephan Pfahl, Florian Ruff, Henning W. Rust, Lukas Schoppa, Thomas Schwitalla, Stella Steidl, Annegret H. Thieken, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Johannes Quaas
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3701–3724, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In a warming climate, extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent. To advance our knowledge on such phenomena, we present a multidisciplinary analysis of a selected case study that took place on 29 June 2017 in the Berlin metropolitan area. Our analysis provides evidence of the extremeness of the case from the atmospheric and the impacts perspectives as well as new insights on the physical mechanisms of the event at the meteorological and climate scales.
Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Oliver Branch, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 109–132, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The land surface can influence the occurrence of local rainfall through different feedback mechanisms. In Europe, this happens most frequently in summer. Here, we examine how differences in atmospheric temperature and moisture change where and how often the land surface can influence rainfall. The results show that the differences barely move the region of strong surface influence over Scandinavia and eastern Europe, but they can change the frequency of coupling events.
Thomas Schwitalla, Hans-Stefan Bauer, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, Thomas Bönisch, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4575–4597, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4575-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4575-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A prototype of an air quality forecasting system (AQFS) on a turbulence-permitting (TP) horizontal resolution of 50 m is developed. AQFS is based on the WRF-Chem model and uses high-resolution emission data from different pollution sources. A simulation case study of a typical winter day in south Germany serves as a test bed. Results indicate that the complex topography plays an important role for the horizontal and vertical pollution distribution over the Stuttgart metropolitan area.
Oliver Branch, Thomas Schwitalla, Marouane Temimi, Ricardo Fonseca, Narendra Nelli, Michael Weston, Josipa Milovac, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1615–1637, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Effective numerical weather forecasting is vital in arid regions like the United Arab Emirates where extreme events like heat waves, flash floods, and dust storms are becoming more severe. This study employs a high-resolution simulation with the WRF-NOAHMP model, and the output is compared with seasonal observation data from 50 weather stations. This type of verification is vital to identify model deficiencies and improve forecasting systems for arid regions.
Elena Xoplaki, Florian Ellsäßer, Jens Grieger, Katrin M. Nissen, Joaquim G. Pinto, Markus Augenstein, Ting-Chen Chen, Hendrik Feldmann, Petra Friederichs, Daniel Gliksman, Laura Goulier, Karsten Haustein, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Florian Knutzen, Stefan Kollet, Jürg Luterbacher, Niklas Luther, Susanna Mohr, Christoph Mudersbach, Christoph Müller, Efi Rousi, Felix Simon, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Svenja Szemkus, Sara M. Vallejo-Bernal, Odysseas Vlachopoulos, and Frederik Wolf
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 541–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Europe frequently experiences compound events, with major impacts. We investigate these events’ interactions, characteristics, and changes over time, focusing on socio-economic impacts in Germany and central Europe. Highlighting 2018’s extreme events, this study reveals impacts on water, agriculture, and forests and stresses the need for impact-focused definitions and better future risk quantification to support adaptation planning.
Syed Saqlain Abbas, Andreas Behrendt, Oliver Branch, and Volker Wulfmeyer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3878, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3878, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates turbulence statistics convective boundary layer. For this, we used data of two Doppler lidars, and an eddy covariance station between May to July 2021. We believe that these statistics are important to improve the land-atmosphere characterization in numerical weather prediction models.
Volker Wulfmeyer, Christoph Senff, Florian Späth, Andreas Behrendt, Diego Lange, Robert M. Banta, W. Alan Brewer, Andreas Wieser, and David D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1175–1196, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1175-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A simultaneous deployment of Doppler, temperature, and water-vapor lidar systems is used to provide profiles of molecular destruction rates and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation in the convective boundary layer (CBL). The results can be used for the parameterization of turbulent variables, TKE budget analyses, and the verification of weather forecast and climate models.
Oliver Branch, Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 109–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the United Arab Emirates, water scarcity is reaching a crisis point, and new methods for obtaining freshwater are urgently needed. Regional climate engineering with large artificial heat islands can enhance desert precipitation by increasing cloud development. Through model simulation, we show that heat islands of 20 × 20 km or larger can potentially produce enough annual rainfall to supply thousands of people. Thus, artificial heat islands should be made a high priority for further research.
Efi Rousi, Andreas H. Fink, Lauren S. Andersen, Florian N. Becker, Goratz Beobide-Arsuaga, Marcus Breil, Giacomo Cozzi, Jens Heinke, Lisa Jach, Deborah Niermann, Dragan Petrovic, Andy Richling, Johannes Riebold, Stella Steidl, Laura Suarez-Gutierrez, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Dim Coumou, André Düsterhus, Florian Ellsäßer, Georgios Fragkoulidis, Daniel Gliksman, Dörthe Handorf, Karsten Haustein, Kai Kornhuber, Harald Kunstmann, Joaquim G. Pinto, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Elena Xoplaki
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1699–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive, multi-faceted analysis of the 2018 extreme summer in terms of heat and drought in central and northern Europe, with a particular focus on Germany. A combination of favorable large-scale conditions and locally dry soils were related with the intensity and persistence of the events. We also showed that such extremes have become more likely due to anthropogenic climate change and might occur almost every year under +2 °C of global warming.
Florian Späth, Verena Rajtschan, Tobias K. D. Weber, Shehan Morandage, Diego Lange, Syed Saqlain Abbas, Andreas Behrendt, Joachim Ingwersen, Thilo Streck, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 12, 25–44, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-25-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-25-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Important topics in land–atmosphere feedback research are water and energy balances and heterogeneities of fluxes at the land surface and in the atmosphere. To target these questions, the Land–Atmosphere Feedback Observatory (LAFO) has been installed in Germany. The instrumentation allows for comprehensive measurements from the bedrock to the troposphere. The LAFO observation strategy aims for simultaneous measurements in all three compartments: atmosphere, soil and land surface, and vegetation.
Alberto Caldas-Alvarez, Markus Augenstein, Georgy Ayzel, Klemens Barfus, Ribu Cherian, Lisa Dillenardt, Felix Fauer, Hendrik Feldmann, Maik Heistermann, Alexia Karwat, Frank Kaspar, Heidi Kreibich, Etor Emanuel Lucio-Eceiza, Edmund P. Meredith, Susanna Mohr, Deborah Niermann, Stephan Pfahl, Florian Ruff, Henning W. Rust, Lukas Schoppa, Thomas Schwitalla, Stella Steidl, Annegret H. Thieken, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Johannes Quaas
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3701–3724, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In a warming climate, extreme precipitation events are becoming more frequent. To advance our knowledge on such phenomena, we present a multidisciplinary analysis of a selected case study that took place on 29 June 2017 in the Berlin metropolitan area. Our analysis provides evidence of the extremeness of the case from the atmospheric and the impacts perspectives as well as new insights on the physical mechanisms of the event at the meteorological and climate scales.
Tobias K. D. Weber, Joachim Ingwersen, Petra Högy, Arne Poyda, Hans-Dieter Wizemann, Michael Scott Demyan, Kristina Bohm, Ravshan Eshonkulov, Sebastian Gayler, Pascal Kremer, Moritz Laub, Yvonne Funkiun Nkwain, Christian Troost, Irene Witte, Tim Reichenau, Thomas Berger, Georg Cadisch, Torsten Müller, Andreas Fangmeier, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Thilo Streck
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1153–1181, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1153-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1153-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Presented are measurement results from six agricultural fields operated by local farmers in southwestern Germany over 9 years. Six eddy-covariance stations measuring water, energy, and carbon fluxes between the vegetated soil surface and the atmosphere provided the backbone of the measurement sites and were supplemented by extensive soil and vegetation state monitoring. The dataset is ideal for testing process models characterizing fluxes at the vegetated soil surface and in the atmosphere.
Giannis Sofiadis, Eleni Katragkou, Edouard L. Davin, Diana Rechid, Nathalie de Noblet-Ducoudre, Marcus Breil, Rita M. Cardoso, Peter Hoffmann, Lisa Jach, Ronny Meier, Priscilla A. Mooney, Pedro M. M. Soares, Susanna Strada, Merja H. Tölle, and Kirsten Warrach Sagi
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 595–616, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-595-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-595-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Afforestation is currently promoted as a greenhouse gas mitigation strategy. In our study, we examine the differences in soil temperature and moisture between grounds covered either by forests or grass. The main conclusion emerged is that forest-covered grounds are cooler but drier than open lands in summer. Therefore, afforestation disrupts the seasonal cycle of soil temperature, which in turn could trigger changes in crucial chemical processes such as soil carbon sequestration.
Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Oliver Branch, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 109–132, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The land surface can influence the occurrence of local rainfall through different feedback mechanisms. In Europe, this happens most frequently in summer. Here, we examine how differences in atmospheric temperature and moisture change where and how often the land surface can influence rainfall. The results show that the differences barely move the region of strong surface influence over Scandinavia and eastern Europe, but they can change the frequency of coupling events.
Chang-Hwan Park, Aaron Berg, Michael H. Cosh, Andreas Colliander, Andreas Behrendt, Hida Manns, Jinkyu Hong, Johan Lee, Runze Zhang, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6407–6420, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6407-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6407-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we proposed an inversion of the dielectric mixing model for a 50 Hz soil sensor for agricultural organic soil. This model can reflect the variability of soil organic matter (SOM) in wilting point and porosity, which play a critical role in improving the accuracy of SM estimation, using a dielectric-based soil sensor. The results of statistical analyses demonstrated a higher performance of the new model than the factory setting probe algorithm.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Thomas Schwitalla, Hans-Stefan Bauer, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, Thomas Bönisch, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4575–4597, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4575-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4575-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A prototype of an air quality forecasting system (AQFS) on a turbulence-permitting (TP) horizontal resolution of 50 m is developed. AQFS is based on the WRF-Chem model and uses high-resolution emission data from different pollution sources. A simulation case study of a typical winter day in south Germany serves as a test bed. Results indicate that the complex topography plays an important role for the horizontal and vertical pollution distribution over the Stuttgart metropolitan area.
Oliver Branch, Thomas Schwitalla, Marouane Temimi, Ricardo Fonseca, Narendra Nelli, Michael Weston, Josipa Milovac, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1615–1637, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Effective numerical weather forecasting is vital in arid regions like the United Arab Emirates where extreme events like heat waves, flash floods, and dust storms are becoming more severe. This study employs a high-resolution simulation with the WRF-NOAHMP model, and the output is compared with seasonal observation data from 50 weather stations. This type of verification is vital to identify model deficiencies and improve forecasting systems for arid regions.
Cited articles
Albergel, C., de Rosnay, P., Balsamo, G., Isaksen, L., and Muñoz-Sabater, J.: Soil Moisture Analyses at ECMWF: Evaluation Using Global Ground-Based In Situ Observations, J. Hydrometeorol., 13, 1442–1460, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-11-0107.1, 2012.
Balsamo, G., Beljaars, A., Scipal, K., Viterbo, P., van den Hurk, B., Hirschi, M., and Betts, A. K.: A Revised Hydrology for the ECMWF Model: Verification from Field Site to Terrestrial Water Storage and Impact in the Integrated Forecast System, J. Hydrometeorol., 10, 623–643, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JHM1068.1, 2009.
Barriopedro, D., García-Herrera, R., Ordóñez, C., Miralles, D. G., and Salcedo-Sanz, S.: Heat Waves: Physical Understanding and Scientific Challenges, Rev. Geophys., 61, e2022RG000780, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022RG000780, 2023.
Beck, H. E., Pan, M., Miralles, D. G., Reichle, R. H., Dorigo, W. A., Hahn, S., Sheffield, J., Karthikeyan, L., Balsamo, G., Parinussa, R. M., van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Du, J., Kimball, J. S., Vergopolan, N., and Wood, E. F.: Evaluation of 18 satellite- and model-based soil moisture products using in situ measurements from 826 sensors, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 17–40, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-17-2021, 2021.
Becker, F. N., Fink, A. H., Bissolli, P., and Pinto, J. G.: Towards a more comprehensive assessment of the intensity of historical European heat waves (1979–2019), Atmos. Sci. Lett., 23, e1120, https://doi.org/10.1002/ASL.1120, 2022.
Boeing, F., Rakovec, O., Kumar, R., Samaniego, L., Schrön, M., Hildebrandt, A., Rebmann, C., Thober, S., Müller, S., Zacharias, S., Bogena, H., Schneider, K., Kiese, R., Attinger, S., and Marx, A.: High-resolution drought simulations and comparison to soil moisture observations in Germany, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 5137–5161, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-5137-2022, 2022.
Bollmeyer, C., Keller, J. D., Ohlwein, C., Wahl, S., Crewell, S., Friederichs, P., Hense, A., Keune, J., Kneifel, S., Pscheidt, I., Redl, S., and Steinke, S.: Towards a high-resolution regional reanalysis for the European CORDEX domain, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 141, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2486, 2015.
Bolton, D.: The Computation of Equivalent Potential Temperature, Mon. Weather Rev., 108, 1046–1053, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1980)108<1046:TCOEPT>2.0.CO;2, 1980.
Brown, D., Brownrigg, R., Haley, M., and Huang, W.: NCAR Command Language (NCL), UCAR/NCAR – Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) [code], https://doi.org/10.5065/D6WD3XH5, 2012.
C3S: European State of the Climate 2018, Copernicus Climate Change Service, https://climate.copernicus.eu/ESOTC/2018 (last access: 11 April 2025), 2018.
C3S: European State of the Climate 2021 summary, Copernicus Climate Change Service, https://doi.org/10.21957/9d7g-hn83, 2022.
Caldas-Alvarez, A., Augenstein, M., Ayzel, G., Barfus, K., Cherian, R., Dillenardt, L., Fauer, F., Feldmann, H., Heistermann, M., Karwat, A., Kaspar, F., Kreibich, H., Lucio-Eceiza, E. E., Meredith, E. P., Mohr, S., Niermann, D., Pfahl, S., Ruff, F., Rust, H. W., Schoppa, L., Schwitalla, T., Steidl, S., Thieken, A. H., Tradowsky, J. S., Wulfmeyer, V., and Quaas, J.: Meteorological, impact and climate perspectives of the 29 June 2017 heavy precipitation event in the Berlin metropolitan area, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3701–3724, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3701-2022, 2022.
Cornes, R. C., van der Schrier, G., van den Besselaar, E. J. M., and Jones, P. D.: An Ensemble Version of the E-OBS Temperature and Precipitation Data Sets, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123, 9391–9409, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD028200, 2018 (data available at: https://surfobs.climate.copernicus.eu/dataaccess/access_eobs.php#datafiles, last access: 9 April 2025).
Dee, D. P., Uppala, S. M., Simmons, A. J., Berrisford, P., Poli, P., Kobayashi, S., Andrae, U., Balmaseda, M. A., Balsamo, G., Bauer, P., Bechtold, P., Beljaars, A. C. M., van de Berg, L., Bidlot, J., Bormann, N., Delsol, C., Dragani, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A. J., Haimberger, L., Healy, S. B., Hersbach, H., Hólm, E. V., Isaksen, L., Kållberg, P., Köhler, M., Matricardi, M., McNally, A. P., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Morcrette, J.-J., Park, B.-K., Peubey, C., Rosnay, P. de, Tavolato, C., Thépaut, J.-N., and Vitart, F.: The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 553–597, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.828, 2011.
Denissen, J. M. C., Teuling, A. J., Pitman, A. J., Koirala, S., Migliavacca, M., Li, W., Reichstein, M., Winkler, A. J., Zhan, C., and Orth, R.: Widespread shift from ecosystem energy to water limitation with climate change, Nat. Clim. Chang., 12, 677–684, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01403-8, 2022.
Dirmeyer, P. A.: The terrestrial segment of soil moisture-climate coupling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L16702, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL048268, 2011.
Dirmeyer, P. A., Wang, Z., Mbuh, M. J., and Norton, H. E.: Intensified land surface control on boundary layer growth in a changing climate, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 1290–1294, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL058826, 2014.
Dirmeyer, P. A., Balsamo, G., Blyth, E. M., Morrison, R., and Cooper, H. M.: Land-Atmosphere Interactions Exacerbated the Drought and Heatwave Over Northern Europe During Summer 2018, AGU Advances, 2, e2020AV000283, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020AV000283, 2021.
Dorigo, W., Himmelbauer, I., Aberer, D., Schremmer, L., Petrakovic, I., Zappa, L., Preimesberger, W., Xaver, A., Annor, F., Ardö, J., Baldocchi, D., Bitelli, M., Blöschl, G., Bogena, H., Brocca, L., Calvet, J.-C., Camarero, J. J., Capello, G., Choi, M., Cosh, M. C., van de Giesen, N., Hajdu, I., Ikonen, J., Jensen, K. H., Kanniah, K. D., de Kat, I., Kirchengast, G., Kumar Rai, P., Kyrouac, J., Larson, K., Liu, S., Loew, A., Moghaddam, M., Martínez Fernández, J., Mattar Bader, C., Morbidelli, R., Musial, J. P., Osenga, E., Palecki, M. A., Pellarin, T., Petropoulos, G. P., Pfeil, I., Powers, J., Robock, A., Rüdiger, C., Rummel, U., Strobel, M., Su, Z., Sullivan, R., Tagesson, T., Varlagin, A., Vreugdenhil, M., Walker, J., Wen, J., Wenger, F., Wigneron, J. P., Woods, M., Yang, K., Zeng, Y., Zhang, X., Zreda, M., Dietrich, S., Gruber, A., van Oevelen, P., Wagner, W., Scipal, K., Drusch, M., and Sabia, R.: The International Soil Moisture Network: serving Earth system science for over a decade, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5749–5804, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5749-2021, 2021.
Duan, S. Q., Findell, K. L., and Wright, J. S.: Three Regimes of Temperature Distribution Change Over Dry Land, Moist Land, and Oceanic Surfaces, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL090997, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090997, 2020.
Findell, K. L. and Eltahir, E. A. B.: Atmospheric Controls on Soil Moisture–Boundary Layer Interactions. Part I: Framework Development, J. Hydrometeorol., 4, 552–569, https://doi.org/10.1175/1525-7541(2003)004<0552:ACOSML>2.0.CO;2, 2003.
Findell, K. L., Yin, Z., Seo, E., Dirmeyer, P. A., Arnold, N. P., Chaney, N., Fowler, M. D., Huang, M., Lawrence, D. M., Ma, P.-L., and Santanello Jr., J. A.: Accurate assessment of land–atmosphere coupling in climate models requires high-frequency data output, Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1869–1883, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1869-2024, 2024.
García-Herrera, R., Díaz, J., Trigo, R. M., Luterbacher, J., and Fischer, E. M.: A Review of the European Summer Heat Wave of 2003, Crit. Rev. Env. Sci. Tec., 40, 267–306, https://doi.org/10.1080/10643380802238137, 2010.
García-Monteiro, S., Sobrino, J. A., Julien, Y., Sòria, G., and Skokovic, D.: Surface Temperature trends in the Mediterranean Sea from MODIS data during years 2003–2019, Regional Studies in Marine Science, 49, 102086, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2021.102086, 2022.
Georgakakos, K. P. and Bras, R. L.: A hydrologically useful station precipitation model: 1. Formulation, Water Resour. Res., 20, 1585–1596, https://doi.org/10.1029/WR020i011p01585, 1984.
Guo, Z. and Dirmeyer, P. A.: Interannual Variability of Land–Atmosphere Coupling Strength, J. Hydrometeorol., 14, 1636–1646, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-12-0171.1, 2013.
Guo, Z., Dirmeyer, P. A., Koster, R. D., Sud, Y. C., Bonan, G., Oleson, K. W., Chan, E., Verseghy, D., Cox, P., Gordon, C. T., McGregor, J. L., Kanae, S., Kowalczyk, E., Lawrence, D., Liu, P., Mocko, D., Lu, C.-H., Mitchell, K., Malyshev, S., McAvaney, B., Oki, T., Yamada, T., Pitman, A., Taylor, C. M., Vasic, R., and Xue, Y.: GLACE: The Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment. Part II: Analysis, J. Hydrometeorol., 7, 611–625, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM511.1, 2006.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A., Muñoz‐Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P., Biavati, 710 G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D., Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková, M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., Rosnay, P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., and Thépaut, J.-N.: The ERA5 global reanalysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 1999–2049, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803, 2020.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Biavati, G., Horányi, A., Muñoz Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Rozum, I., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Dee, D., and Thépaut, J.-N.: ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS) [data set], https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.adbb2d47, 2023.
Huebener, H., Hoffmann, P., Keuler, K., Pfeifer, S., Ramthun, H., Spekat, A., Steger, C., and Warrach-Sagi, K.: Deriving user-informed climate information from climate model ensemble results, Adv. Sci. Res., 14, 261–269, https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-14-261-2017, 2017.
Jach, L., Warrach-Sagi, K., Ingwersen, J., Kaas, E., and Wulfmeyer, V.: Land Cover Impacts on Land-Atmosphere Coupling Strength in Climate Simulations With WRF Over Europe, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 125, e2019JD03198, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031989, 2020.
Jach, L., Schwitalla, T., Branch, O., Warrach-Sagi, K., and Wulfmeyer, V.: Sensitivity of land–atmosphere coupling strength to changing atmospheric temperature and moisture over Europe, Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 109–132, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, 2022.
Knist, S., Goergen, K., Buonomo, E., Christensen, O. B., Colette, A., Cardoso, R. M., Fealy, R., Fernández, J., García-Díez, M., Jacob, D., Kartsios, S., Katragkou, E., Keuler, K., Mayer, S., van Meijgaard, E., Nikulin, G., Soares, P. M. M., Sobolowski, S., Szepszo, G., Teichmann, C., Vautard, R., Warrach-Sagi, K., Wulfmeyer, V., and Simmer, C.: Land-atmosphere coupling in EURO-CORDEX evaluation experiments, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 122, 79–103, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025476, 2017.
Kornhuber, K., Petoukhov, V., Petri, S., Rahmstorf, S., and Coumou, D.: Evidence for wave resonance as a key mechanism for generating high-amplitude quasi-stationary waves in boreal summer, Clim. Dynam., 49, 1961–1979, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3399-6, 2017.
Koster, R. D., Dirmeyer, P. A., Guo, Z., Bonan, G., Chan, E., Cox, P., Gordon, C. T., Kanae, S., Kowalczyk, E., Lawrence, D., Liu, P., Lu, C.-H., Malyshev, S., McAvaney, B., Mitchell, K., Mocko, D., Oki, T., Oleson, K., Pitman, A., Sud, Y. C., Taylor, C. M., Verseghy, D., Vasic, R., Xue, Y., and Yamada, T.: Regions of strong coupling between soil moisture and precipitation, Science, 305, 1138–1140, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1100217, 2004.
Koster, R. D., Schubert, S. D., and Suarez, M. J.: Analyzing the Concurrence of Meteorological Droughts and Warm Periods, with Implications for the Determination of Evaporative Regime, J. Climate, 22, 3331–3341, https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2718.1, 2009.
Laurila, T. K., Sinclair, V. A., and Gregow, H.: Climatology, variability, and trends in near-surface wind speeds over the North Atlantic and Europe during 1979–2018 based on ERA5, Int. J. Climatol., 41, 2253–2278, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.6957, 2021.
Lavers, D. A., Simmons, A., Vamborg, F., and Rodwell, M. J.: An evaluation of ERA5 precipitation for climate monitoring, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 148, 3152–3165, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4351, 2022.
Lo, M.-H., Wu, W.-Y., Tang, L. I., Ryu, D., Rashid, M., and Wu, R.-J.: Temporal Changes in Land Surface Coupling Strength: An Example in a Semi-Arid Region of Australia, J. Climate, 34, 1503–1513, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0250.1, 2021.
Ludwig, P., Ehmele, F., Franca, M. J., Mohr, S., Caldas-Alvarez, A., Daniell, J. E., Ehret, U., Feldmann, H., Hundhausen, M., Knippertz, P., Küpfer, K., Kunz, M., Mühr, B., Pinto, J. G., Quinting, J., Schäfer, A. M., Seidel, F., and Wisotzky, C.: A multi-disciplinary analysis of the exceptional flood event of July 2021 in central Europe – Part 2: Historical context and relation to climate change, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1287–1311, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1287-2023, 2023.
Markonis, Y., Kumar, R., Hanel, M., Rakovec, O., Máca, P., and AghaKouchak, A.: The rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe, Science Advances, 7, eabb9668, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb9668, 2021.
Martens, B., Schumacher, D. L., Wouters, H., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Verhoest, N. E. C., and Miralles, D. G.: Evaluating the land-surface energy partitioning in ERA5, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4159–4181, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4159-2020, 2020.
Miralles, D. G., Holmes, T. R. H., De Jeu, R. A. M., Gash, J. H., Meesters, A. G. C. A., and Dolman, A. J.: Global land-surface evaporation estimated from satellite-based observations, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 453–469, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-453-2011, 2011.
Miralles, D. G., Teuling, A. J., van Heerwaarden, C. C., and Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, J.: Mega-heatwave temperatures due to combined soil desiccation and atmospheric heat accumulation, Nat. Geosci., 7, 345–349, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2141, 2014.
Miralles, D. G., Gentine, P., Seneviratne, S. I., and Teuling, A. J.: Land-atmospheric feedbacks during droughts and heatwaves: state of the science and current challenges, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 1436, 19–35, https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13912, 2019.
Mohr, S., Ehret, U., Kunz, M., Ludwig, P., Caldas-Alvarez, A., Daniell, J. E., Ehmele, F., Feldmann, H., Franca, M. J., Gattke, C., Hundhausen, M., Knippertz, P., Küpfer, K., Mühr, B., Pinto, J. G., Quinting, J., Schäfer, A. M., Scheibel, M., Seidel, F., and Wisotzky, C.: A multi-disciplinary analysis of the exceptional flood event of July 2021 in central Europe – Part 1: Event description and analysis, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 525–551, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-525-2023, 2023.
Müller, O. V., Vidale, P. L., Vannière, B., Schiemann, R., Senan, R., Haarsma, R. J., and Jungclaus, J. H.: Land–Atmosphere Coupling Sensitivity to GCMs Resolution: A Multimodel Assessment of Local and Remote Processes in the Sahel Hot Spot, J. Climate, 34, 967–985, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-20-0303.1, 2021.
Muñoz-Sabater, J., Dutra, E., Agustí-Panareda, A., Albergel, C., Arduini, G., Balsamo, G., Boussetta, S., Choulga, M., Harrigan, S., Hersbach, H., Martens, B., Miralles, D. G., Piles, M., Rodríguez-Fernández, N. J., Zsoter, E., Buontempo, C., and Thépaut, J.-N.: ERA5-Land: a state-of-the-art global reanalysis dataset for land applications, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4349–4383, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4349-2021, 2021.
Orth, R., O, S., Zscheischler, J., Mahecha, M. D., and Reichstein, M.: Contrasting biophysical and societal impacts of hydro-meteorological extremes, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 14044, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4139, 2022.
Ossó, A., Allan, R. P., Hawkins, E., Shaffrey, L., and Maraun, D.: Emerging new climate extremes over Europe, Clim. Dynam., 58, 487–501, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05917-3, 2022.
Prodhomme, C., Materia, S., Ardilouze, C., White, R. H., Batté, L., Guemas, V., Fragkoulidis, G., and García-Serrano, J.: Seasonal prediction of European summer heatwaves, Clim. Dynam., 58, 2149–2166, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-021-05828-3, 2022.
Qi, Y., Chen, H., and Zhu, S.: Influence of Land–Atmosphere Coupling on Low Temperature Extremes Over Southern Eurasia, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 128, e2022JD037252, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD037252, 2023.
Rakovec, O., Samaniego, L., Hari, V., Markonis, Y., Moravec, V., Thober, S., Hanel, M., and Kumar, R.: The 2018–2020 Multi‐Year Drought Sets a New Benchmark in Europe, Earths Future, 10, e2021EF002394, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002394, 2022.
Rousi, E., Kornhuber, K., Beobide-Arsuaga, G., Luo, F., and Coumou, D.: Accelerated western European heatwave trends linked to more-persistent double jets over Eurasia, Nat. Commun., 13, 3851, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31432-y, 2022.
Rousi, E., Fink, A. H., Andersen, L. S., Becker, F. N., Beobide-Arsuaga, G., Breil, M., Cozzi, G., Heinke, J., Jach, L., Niermann, D., Petrovic, D., Richling, A., Riebold, J., Steidl, S., Suarez-Gutierrez, L., Tradowsky, J. S., Coumou, D., Düsterhus, A., Ellsäßer, F., Fragkoulidis, G., Gliksman, D., Handorf, D., Haustein, K., Kornhuber, K., Kunstmann, H., Pinto, J. G., Warrach-Sagi, K., and Xoplaki, E.: The extremely hot and dry 2018 summer in central and northern Europe from a multi-faceted weather and climate perspective, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 1699–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-1699-2023, 2023.
Santanello, J. A., Peters-Lidard, C. D., and Kumar, S. V.: Diagnosing the Sensitivity of Local Land–Atmosphere Coupling via the Soil Moisture–Boundary Layer Interaction, J. Hydrometeorol., 12, 766–786, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-10-05014.1, 2011.
Santanello, J. A., Dirmeyer, P. A., Ferguson, C. R., Findell, K. L., Tawfik, A. B., Berg, A., Ek, M., Gentine, P., Guillod, B. P., van Heerwaarden, C., Roundy, J., and Wulfmeyer, V.: Land–Atmosphere Interactions: The LoCo Perspective, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 99, 1253–1272, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-17-0001.1, 2018.
Schneider, D. P., Deser, C., Fasullo, J., and Trenberth, K. E.: Climate Data Guide Spurs Discovery and Understanding, EoS Transactions, 94, 121–122, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013eo130001, 2013.
Schumacher, D. L., Keune, J., Dirmeyer, P., and Miralles, D. G.: Drought self-propagation in drylands due to land-atmosphere feedbacks, Nat. Geosci., 15, 262–268, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00912-7, 2022.
Seneviratne, S. I., Lüthi, D., Litschi, M., and Schär, C.: Land-atmosphere coupling and climate change in Europe, Nature, 443, 205–209, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05095, 2006.
Seneviratne, S. I., Corti, T., Davin, E. L., Hirschi, M., Jaeger, E. B., Lehner, I., Orlowsky, B., and Teuling, A. J.: Investigating soil moisture–climate interactions in a changing climate: A review, Earth-Sci. Rev., 99, 125–161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2010.02.004, 2010.
Spensberger, C., Madonna, E., Boettcher, M., Grams, C. M., Papritz, L., Quinting, J. F., Röthlisberger, M., Sprenger, M., and Zschenderlein, P.: Dynamics of concurrent and sequential Central European and Scandinavian heatwaves, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 2998–3013, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3822, 2020.
Stephens, G., Polcher, J., Zeng, X., van Oevelen, P., Poveda, G., Bosilovich, M., Ahn, M.-H., Balsamo, G., Duan, Q., Hegerl, G., Jakob, C., Lamptey, B., Leung, R., Piles, M., Su, Z., Dirmeyer, P., Findell, K. L., Verhoef, A., Ek, M., L’Ecuyer, T., Roca, R., Nazemi, A., Dominguez, F., Klocke, D., and Bony, S.: The First 30 Years of GEWEX, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 104, E126–E157, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-22-0061.1, 2023.
Sun, G., Hu, Z., Ma, Y., Xie, Z., Sun, F., Wang, J., and Yang, S.: Analysis of local land atmosphere coupling characteristics over Tibetan Plateau in the dry and rainy seasons using observational data and ERA5, Sci. Total Environ., 774, 145138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145138, 2021.
Taszarek, M., Brooks, H. E., Czernecki, B., Szuster, P., and Fortuniak, K.: Climatological Aspects of Convective Parameters over Europe: A Comparison of ERA-Interim and Sounding Data, J. Climate, 31, 4281–4308, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0596.1, 2018.
Tawfik, A. B.: Terrestrial coupling indices, GitHub [code], https://github.com/abtawfik/coupling-metrics/tree/master/terrestrial_coupling_index (last access: 9 Apil 2025), 2015.
Toreti, A., Bavera, D., Acosta Navarro, J., Cammalleri, C., De Jager, A., Di Ciollo, C., Hrast Essenfelder, A., Maetens, W., Magni, D., Masante, D., Mazzeschi, M., Niemeyer, S., and Spinoni, J.: Drought in Europe August 2022, EUR 31192 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, JRC130493, ISBN 978-92-76-55855-2, https://doi.org/10.2760/264241, 2022.
Ukkola, A. M., Pitman, A. J., Donat, M. G., de Kauwe, M. G., and Angélil, O.: Evaluating the Contribution of Land-Atmosphere Coupling to Heat Extremes in CMIP5 Models, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 9003–9012, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079102, 2018.
van der Wiel, K., Batelaan, T. J., and Wanders, N.: Large increases of multi-year droughts in north-western Europe in a warmer climate, Clim. Dynam., 60, 1781–1800, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-022-06373-3, 2022.
van Heerwaarden, C. C. and Teuling, A. J.: Disentangling the response of forest and grassland energy exchange to heatwaves under idealized land–atmosphere coupling, Biogeosciences, 11, 6159–6171, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6159-2014, 2014.
Warrach‐Sagi, K., Ingwersen, J., Schwitalla, T., Troost, C., Aurbacher, J., Jach, L., Berger, T., Streck, T., and Wulfmeyer, V.: Noah‐MP With the Generic Crop Growth Model Gecros in the WRF Model: Effects of Dynamic Crop Growth on Land‐Atmosphere Interaction, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 127, e2022JD036518, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD036518, 2022.
Wehrli, K., Guillod, B. P., Hauser, M., Leclair, M., and Seneviratne, S. I.: Identifying Key Driving Processes of Major Recent Heat Waves, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 11746–11765, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD030635, 2019.
Wei, J., Zhao, J., Chen, H., and Liang, X.-Z.: Coupling Between Land Surface Fluxes and Lifting Condensation Level: Mechanisms and Sensitivity to Model Physics Parameterizations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 126, e2020JD034313, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD034313, 2021.
WMO: WMO STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE IN 2003, Tech. Rep. WMO-No. 966, World Meteorological Organization, ISBN 978-92-63-10966-8, 2004.
WMO: WMO Guidelines on the Calculation of Climate Normals: Tech. Rep. WMO-No. 1203, World Meteorological Organization, ISBN 978-92-63-11203-3, 2017.
WMO: Precipitation, relative humidity and soil moisture for July 2018, World Meteorological Organization, https://climate.copernicus.eu/precipitation-relative-humidity-and-soil-moisture-july-2018 (last access: 11 April 2025), 2018.
WMO: Europe has hottest summer on record: EU Copernicus, World Meteorological Organization, https://wmo.int/media/news/europe-has-hottest-summer-record-eu-copernicus-0 (last access: 11 April 2025), 2022a.
WMO: Precipitation, relative humidity and soil moisture for July 2022, World Meteorological Organization, https://climate.copernicus.eu/precipitation-relative-humidity-and-soil-moisture-july-2022 (last access: 11 April 2025), 2022b.
Xoplaki, E., Ellsäßer, F., Grieger, J., Nissen, K. M., Pinto, J. G., Augenstein, M., Chen, T.-C., Feldmann, H., Friederichs, P., Gliksman, D., Goulier, L., Haustein, K., Heinke, J., Jach, L., Knutzen, F., Kollet, S., Luterbacher, J., Luther, N., Mohr, S., Mudersbach, C., Müller, C., Rousi, E., Simon, F., Suarez-Gutierrez, L., Szemkus, S., Vallejo-Bernal, S. M., Vlachopoulos, O., and Wolf, F.: Compound events in Germany in 2018: drivers and case studies, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 541–564, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-541-2025, 2025.
Yin, Z., Findell, K. L., Dirmeyer, P., Shevliakova, E., Malyshev, S., Ghannam, K., Raoult, N., and Tan, Z.: Daytime-only mean data enhance understanding of land–atmosphere coupling, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 861–872, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-861-2023, 2023.
Yuan, R., Li, F., and Ye, R.: Global diagnosis of land–atmosphere coupling based on water isotopes, Sci. Rep., 13, 21319, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-48694-1, 2023.
Short summary
During recent decades, Europe has experienced increasing periods of severe drought and heatwave. To provide an overview of how land-surface conditions shape land–atmosphere (LA) coupling, the interannual LA coupling strength variability for the summer seasons of 1991–2022 is investigated by means of ERA5 data. The results clearly reflect ongoing climate change by a shift in the coupling relationships towards reinforced heating and drying by the land surface.
During recent decades, Europe has experienced increasing periods of severe drought and heatwave....
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint