Sensitivity of Surface Temperature to Land Use and Land Cover Change-Induced Biophysical Changes: The Scale Issue

Abstract

While the signs of the sensitivities of surface temperature (Ts) to land use and land cover change-induced biophysical changes are relatively well understood, their exact magnitude and how their magnitude depends on the scale characterizing the size of the change remain elusive. In this study, we compare the sensitivities of surface temperature to changes in surface albedo and surface water availability from three analytical/semianalytical models, which are designed for small ('1 km), intermediate (from ∼1 to ∼10 km), and large ('10–20 km) scales. Results suggest that the sensitivities of surface temperature to biophysical changes are scale dependent due to atmospheric feedbacks. Our results demonstrate that it is important to consider the scale and the associated atmospheric feedbacks when quantifying the sensitivities of surface temperature to biophysical changes.