The influence of ground moisture conditions in North America on summer climate as modeled in the GISS GCM.

Abstract

For three different summertime simulations, the ground moisture on 1 June over the US is reduced to 1/4 of its value in the control run. The results show that the subsequent surface air temperature is significantly higher throughout most of the summer, while the precipitation decreases, especially in June and July. Knowledge of late spring ground moisture anomalies should thus be an aid in predicting summertime climate.-from Author