Topoclimate and Microclimate

Abstract

Unlike macro-scale climatic processes, topoclimate (on a spatial scale, the climate of aterrain of several km2) and microclimate (the climate of relief units comprising the 10- to 100-m2 scale) are strongly interrelated with relief and surface properties such as aspect, slope angle, surface albedo and roughness. Such terrain properties create boundary conditions for specific microclimates which, in turn, will counteract on the associated micro-habitats and modify their surface properties until equilibrium state is reached. While there is considerable knowledge of topo- and microclimates in the humid macroclimatic context, little is known about the situation in an arid environment.