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Updated: May 18, 2026

A Protocol for Conducting Rainfall Simulation to Study Soil Runoff
Published on: April 3, 2014
Afternoon rain more likely over drier soils.
Christopher M Taylor1, Richard A M de Jeu, Françoise Guichard
1NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB, UK. cmt@ceh.ac.uk
Afternoon rain preferentially falls on relatively dry soils globally, challenging models that simulate excessive droughts. This study reveals a key soil moisture-precipitation link.
Area of Science:
- Atmospheric Science
- Hydrology
- Climate Science
Background:
- Land surface properties, including soil moisture, significantly impact energy partitioning and atmospheric conditions.
- Soil moisture influences evapotranspiration, affecting local temperature and humidity, which can modulate convective storm development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the global-scale observational relationship between soil moisture and precipitation.
- To analyze the coupling of soil moisture and convective storm initiation and intensity.
Main Methods:
- Global-scale observational analysis of soil moisture and precipitation data across six continents.
- Statistical analysis to identify preferential rainfall locations relative to surrounding soil moisture conditions.
Main Results:
- Afternoon rainfall globally shows a preference for falling over soils that are relatively drier than their surroundings.
- This soil moisture-precipitation coupling is most pronounced in semi-arid regions with frequent convective events.
- No observational evidence of a positive feedback (rain favoring wetter soils) was found at the 50-100 km scale.
Conclusions:
- Observed soil moisture-precipitation coupling is driven by enhanced sensible heat flux over drier soils, promoting moist convection.
- Discrepancies exist between observational findings and state-of-the-art climate models, which often exhibit a dominant positive feedback, potentially leading to simulated drought exaggeration.
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