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Overlooked cooling effects of albedo in terrestrial ecosystems

Journal Article · · Environmental Research Letters
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [6];  [7]
  1. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), East Lansing, MI (United States)
  2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  3. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  4. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Beijing Normal University, Beijing (China)
  5. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Clayton, VIC (Australia)
  6. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Planetek Italia S.r.l, Bari (Italy)
  7. Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Radiative forcing (RF) resulting from changes in surface albedo is increasingly recognized as a significant driver of global climate change but has not been adequately estimated, including by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment reports, compared with other warming agents. Here, we first present the physical foundation for modeling albedo-induced RF and the consequent global warming impact (GWIΔα). We then highlight the shortcomings of available current databases and methodologies for calculating GWIΔα at multiple temporal scales. There is a clear lack of comprehensive in situ measurements of albedo due to sparse geographic coverage of ground-based stations, whereas estimates from satellites suffer from biases due to the limited frequency of image collection, and estimates from earth system models (ESMs) suffer from very coarse spatial resolution land cover maps and associated albedo values in pre-determined lookup tables. Field measurements of albedo show large differences by ecosystem type and large diurnal and seasonal changes. As indicated from our findings in southwest Michigan, GWIΔα is substantial, exceeding the RFΔα values of IPCC reports. Inclusion of GWIΔα to landowners and carbon credit markets for specific management practices are needed in future policies. We further identify four pressing research priorities: developing a comprehensive albedo database, pinpointing accurate reference sites within managed landscapes, refining algorithms for remote sensing of albedo by integrating geostationary and other orbital satellites, and integrating the GWIΔα component into future ESMs.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0018409; 80NSSC20K0410
OSTI ID:
2440384
Journal Information:
Environmental Research Letters, Vol. 19, Issue 9; ISSN 1748-9326
Publisher:
IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
albedo
land conversion
radiation forcing
global warming impact