This project studies the climate effects of the conversion of the Amazon forest to a grassland, using simulations with the NCAR Community Climate Model (CCM) and simple analyses for the surface parametrizations. Emphasis is on the hydrological cycle, in particular precipitation and evapotranspiration and inferred runoff. Besides the full deforestation scenario, short numerical simulations will be used to reveal the relative importance of changes in albedo, surface roughness, and surface longwave emission. The problem studied is used as an example to yield a better understanding of mechanisms operating in a climate model coupled to a land process model. This study is important because the increased understanding derived from it will be used to determine needs for further improvement in the land component of climate models. This research is funded under the Climate Modeling, Analysis and Prediction (CMAP) initiative of the Global Change Research Program.
