Contribution of surface roughness to simulations of historical deforestation

• The direct change in surface roughness leads to a global surface warming of 0.08 °C.
• A most prominent warming of 0.72 °C during summer occurs due to changes in roughness.
• The effect of surface roughness is comparable with the whole effect of deforestation.

Surface roughness which partitions surface net radiation into energy fluxes is a key parameter for estimation of biosphere–atmosphere interactions and climate variability. An earth system model of intermediate complexity (EMIC), MPM-2, is used to derive the impact of surface roughness on climate from simulations of historical land cover change effects. The direct change in surface roughness leads to a global surface warming of 0.08 °C through altering the turbulence in the boundary layer. The regional temperature response to surface roughness associated deforestation is very strong at northern mid-latitudes with a most prominent warming of 0.72 °C around 50°N in the Eurasia continent during summer. They can be explained mainly as direct and indirect consequences of decreases in surface albedo and increases in precipitation in response to deforestation, although there are a few significant changes in precipitation. There is also a prominent warming of 0.25 °C around 40°N in the North American continent. This study indicates that land surface roughness plays a significant role which is comparable with the whole land conversion effect in climate change. Therefore, further investigation of roughness–climate relationship is needed to incorporate these aspects.