Interactions between vegetation, atmospheric turbulence and clouds under a wide range of background wind conditions

With increasing background wind, the shaded surface area is enlarged due to Cu tilting. The consequent decrease in surface fluxes by a reduction in incoming radiation, is partly offset due to an enhancement in the surface exchange and turbulent mixing as a result of stronger wind speeds. Different and non-linear processes control the H and LE response to shading. H is mainly radiation driven, whereas plant responses dampen the shading effects on LE. As a result, the regional averaged (48 km2) reduction in H and LE are found to be 18% and 5%, respectively, compared to non-shading cloud conditions. Surprisingly, a nearly uniform regional net radiation reduction of 11% is found, with only a deviation between all 35 Cu shading cases of 0.5% (i.e. 1.2 W m−2) at the moment of maximum cloud cover. By comparing four representative simulations that are equal in net available energy, but differ in interactive and prescribed surface energy fluxes, we find a relative reduction in cloud cover between 5 and 10% during the maximum cloud cover period when the dynamic surface heterogeneity is neglected. We conclude that the local and spatial dynamic surface heterogeneity influences Cu development, while the Cu-vegetation coupling becomes progressively weaker with increasing stomatal relaxation time and background wind.