Mediterranean mountainous regions constitute a climate change hotspot where snow plays a crucial role in water resources. The characteristic snow-patched distribution over these areas makes spatial resolution the limiting factor for its correct representation. This work assesses the estimation of snow cover area and the contribution of the patchy areas to the seasonal and annual regime of the s...

Understanding the regulation of ecosystem ET is crucial to comprehend present and potential future vegetation and water availability in arid environments. We compared ET data from eddy-covariance flux measurements in two semiarid shrub-dominated ecosystems. Located in the Kubuqi Desert (KD, Inner Mongolia, China) and the Sierra Madre (SM, Wyoming, USA), the ecosystems shared similarities in lat...

In arid and semiarid parts of the world, evaporation from irrigated fields may significantly influence humidity, near-surface winds, and precipitation. Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra imagery from summer and autumn 2000 the authors attempt to improve the realism of a regional climate model (the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–NCAR Mesoscale Model...

in semiarid regions such as saida, the steppe ecosystem is currently submitted to desertification under the combined effect of human activity and climate change. our study is a contribution to the assessment of the biodiversity of steppe formations through a phytoecological diagnosis at the south zone of the wilaya of saida. to achieve the objective of this study, a methodological approach base...

Increasingly strict energy policies, rising energy prices, and a desire for a positive corporate image currently serve as incentives for multinational corporations to reduce their plants’ energy consumption. This paper quantitatively investigates and discusses the value of a traditional north-light roof using a complete building energy simulation and optimization framework. The findings indicat...

The severity of recent droughts in semiarid regions is increasingly attributed to anthropogenic climate change, but it is unclear whether these moisture anomalies exceed those of the past and how past variability compares to future projections. On the Mongolian Plateau, a recent decade-long drought that exceeded the variability in the instrumental record was associated with economic, social, an...