Clouds prefer native vegetation

Abstract

The replacement of native vegetation for agriculture leads to significant changes in land surface characteristics, such as albedo, surface roughness and canopy resistance. These land surface changes induce changes in the atmospheric boundary layer. From an analysis of case studies and climatological records, it is shown that in Western Australia this change in surface characteristics and in particular, the albedo, has reduced the occurrence of convective cloud formation through limiting the vertical development of the boundary layer.