Pinatubo's effect on the moisture-based drivers of plant productivity

This repository provide the calculated results using the model (NASA GISS ModelE - MATRIX version) output published for the manuscript "Pinatubo's effect on the moisture-based drivers of plant productivity" (Singh et al., 2024). Details of the uploaded results is provided in the README file in the repository. However, the model raw output at the daily scale and calculated results are available on request from the corresponding author due to large data volume.

Abstract:- 

Large volcanic eruptions can significantly affect the state of the climate, including stratospheric sulfate concentrations, surface and top-of-atmosphere radiative fluxes, stratospheric and surface temperature, and regional hydroclimate. The prevalence of higher natural variability in how the regional rainfall responds to the volcanic-induced climate perturbations creates a knowledge gap in understanding of how eruptions affect ecohydrological conditions and plant productivity. In this study, we aim to explore the mechanisms by which the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo affected the hydroclimatic conditions and water-based drivers of plant productivity.  We focus on the detection of hydroclimate response through soil moisture and evapotranspiration metrics which are anticipated to possess less variability than the more commonly used precipitation-based metrics. The model simulates a radiative perturbation of -5 W/m2 and mean surface cooling of ~0.5 °C following the Pinatubo eruption in 1991. The rainfall response is spatially heterogenous, due to dominating variability, yet still shows suppressed rainfall in the northern hemisphere after the eruption. We find that up to 10-15% of land regions show a statistically significant agricultural response. Results confirm that these higher-order impacts successfully present a more robust understanding of inferred plant productivity impacts. Our results also explain the geographical dependence of various contributing factors to the compound response and their implications for exploring the climate impacts of such episodic forcings.