Forward and Backward Linkages between Land Surface Temperature and Leaf Area Index for the Summer in Belarus

Abstract

On the basis of Earth remote sensing data for 2000–2020, quantitative estimates of the influence of vegetation cover degradation on the summer warming in Belarus have been obtained. The average leaf area index of Belarus for this period increased by 3.3%, mainly due to forest areas, the leaf index of which increased by about 8%. The growth of the leaf area index slowed down the summer warming of forest lands in the north (above 54° N) by about half and by more than a quarter in the south of Belarus. At the same time, the leaf area index of croplands decreased by about 5%, which caused their additional warming and amplified their land surface temperature daily cycle for the summer period. Statistically significant signs of bioclimatic land degradation have been found on the territory of Belarus with a total area of about 400 000 ha, which are enhanced by high values of positive feedback between temperature, vegetation cover, and soil moisture. About of 58% of the degrading lands are agricultural lands located mainly in the southern part of the country. On these lands, the summer temperature grows twice as fast as the average for Belarus, and the leaf index decreases at a rate of about 2% per year, which indicates the insufficiency of agriculture climate mitigation in certain regions of Belarus.