Vegetation canopies – where land surface and atmosphere are intertwined

On Tuesday 14th February the external seminar in the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science (ICAS) will be given by Arnold Moene from Wageningen University.

Plants have a pronounced influence on processes in the atmosphere through their control of transpiration (cloud formation), CO₂-uptake (global carbon balance) and energy partioning (convection). Vegetation canopies are also the location where the land surface and the atmosphere are intertwined. At this interface processes at very different scales come together: from the scale of individual stomata to the scale of the full atmospheric boundary layer. In this talk, Arnold will address how the processes in and above canopies can be understood when we focus on the peculiar characteristics of the turbulent flow in and above canopies, the energy balance (both at canopy level and at leaf level), and the biology related to carbon uptake. Arnold will focus on fluxes and variances of passive scalars (such as CO₂, water vapour and various chemical compounds); in particular he will address the impact of the distribution of sourcs and sinks inside the canopy.

Arnold Moene is Associate Professor in the Meteorology and Air Quality Group at Wageningen University. The overarching theme of his research is atmospheric turbulence in relation to the Earth's surface: flux measurement techniques (scintillometry), stable boundary layers (collapse), convective boundary layers (scalar similarity) and processes in and above plant canopies. Furthermore, he has a keen interest in teaching these subjects. In 2014 he published a textbook on Transport in the atmosphere-vegetation-soil continuum.

This seminar will take place at 2 pm - directions to the School of Earth and Environment can be found here.