Soil-atmosphere relationships: The Hungarianperspective

Abstract

Abstract This study discusses scientific contributions analyzingsoil-atmosphere relationships. These studies dealwith both the biogeophysical and biogeochemical aspectsof this relationship, with biogeophysical aspects beingin the majority. All of the studies refer either directly orindirectly to the fundamental importance of soil moisturecontent. Moisture has a basic influence on the spatiotemporalpattern of evapotranspiration, and so 1) oncloud formation and precipitation events by regulatingthe intensity of convection, and 2) on the trace-gas exchangesin the near-surface atmosphere. Hungarian modelingefforts have highlighted that soils in the PannonianBasin have region-specific features. Consequently, shallowand deep convection processes are also, to some extent,region-specific, at least in terms of the diurnal changeof the planetary boundary layer height and the spatial distributionof convective precipitation. The soil-dependentregion-distinctiveness of these two phenomena has beenrecognized; at the same time the strength of the relationshipshas not yet been quantified.