Effects of vegetation on summer temperature in North Korea

Keywords: North Korea, biogeophysical process, climate change, land and atmosphere interaction, deforestation, vegetation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 21

Abstract

Vegetation reduction could affect the regional climate by perturbing the surface energy and moisture balances as changing in albedo and evapotranspiration. However, it is unknown whether the vegetation effects on climate through the biogeophysical processes appear in North Korea, where the severe reduction in forests has been observed. Our study aimed at identifying the biogeophysical processes in vegetation and climate interactions during summer in North Korea using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the AVHRR GIMMS NDIV3g and the climate reanalysis data from the ERA5-Land over the period of 1982-2015. The highest rate of decreasing NDVI were detected in the western region of North Korea during June through August. Based on the detrended correlation analysis of NDVI with surface energy variables, including solar radiation, sensible and latent heat fluxes, Bowen ratio, and temperature, we identified the cooling effect of vegetation in the western region with lower NDVI and lower elevation, but the warming effect of vegetation in the northern region with higher NDVI and higher elevation. The different biogeophysical effects were induced by the increasing and decreasing Bowen ratio with increasing vegetation, respectively, in the northern and western regions. In the western region of North Korea where the large-scale human-induced forest loss observed, the increasing summer temperature due to the decreasing cooling effect of vegetation would be up to 1.5 ℃ by the end of this century if the current rate of deforestation is ongoing.