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Monitoring change in precipitation with change in land cover over Central America

Vani Starry Manoharan, University of Alabama in Huntsville, vsmano@nsstc.uah.edu (Presenting)
Ronald Welch, Univeristy of Alabama in Huntsville, welch@nsstc.uah.edu

Efforts to stem the loss of the biologically richest regions of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor are highly ambitious, and they would provide better prospects for the survival of the existing endangered species. Central America is a biologically diverse region with the existence of variety of Holdridge life zones, ranging from sub tropical montane forests to tropical dry low lands, and the rate of conversion of forests to pastures is high. This tends to : 1) lower the surface soil moisture, 2) lower NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) values, and 3) alter cloudiness, 4) alter day-time temperatures, and 5) gradually alter the dry seasonal rainfall. Long-term trend analysis of changes in rainfall rates will be accomplished by correlating the 25 year archived data of rain gauge measurements from different stations all over Central America with the cloud cover observed by GOES. The extent of change in rainfall rate due to land use change influences the conservation and management of the existing ecosytems.


NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Active Awards Represented by this Poster:

  • Award: NNX07AF14G
    Start Date: 2007-04-06
     

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