Land surface albedo dynamics.

Land surface albedo represents the fraction of solar radiation scattered backward by land surfaces. In the presence of vegetation, surface albedo results from complex nonlinear radiation transfer processes determining the amount of radiation that is scattered by the vegetation and its background, transmitted through the vegetation layer, or absorbed by the vegetation layer and its background. Anomalies in mid- and high latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere result mainly from interannual variations in snow cover extent and duration in winter and spring. The large negative anomalies over the United States reflect the lack of snowfall and snowpack over the Rockies, the Midwest, and much of the eastern half of the country.

PINTY Bernard; 

2014-01-27

AMER METEOROLOGICAL SOC

JRC86991

0003-0007,   

http://journals.ametsoc.org/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1175%2F2013BAMSStateoftheClimate.1,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC86991,   

10.1175/2013BAMSStateoftheClimate.1,