Articles | Volume 29, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6917-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6917-2025
Research article
 | 
02 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 02 Dec 2025

Global observations of land-atmosphere interactions during flash drought

Bethan L. Harris, Christopher M. Taylor, Wouter Dorigo, Ruxandra-Maria Zotta, Darren Ghent, and Iván Noguera

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Cited articles

Ahmad, S. K., Kumar, S. V., Lahmers, T. M., Wang, S., Liu, P., Wrzesien, M. L., Bindlish, R., Getirana, A., Locke, K. A., Holmes, T. R., and Otkin, J. A.: Flash Drought Onset and Development Mechanisms Captured With Soil Moisture and Vegetation Data Assimilation, Water Resources Research, 58, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032894, 2022. a
Albergel, C., de Rosnay, P., Gruhier, C., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Hasenauer, S., Isaksen, L., Kerr, Y., and Wagner, W.: Evaluation of remotely sensed and modelled soil moisture products using global ground-based in situ observations, Remote Sensing of Environment, 118, 215–226, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.RSE.2011.11.017, 2012. a
Anderson, M. C., Hain, C., Wardlow, B., Pimstein, A., Mecikalski, J. R., and Kustas, W. P.: Evaluation of Drought Indices Based on Thermal Remote Sensing of Evapotranspiration over the Continental United States, Journal of Climate, 24, 2025–2044, https://doi.org/10.1175/2010JCLI3812.1, 2011. a
Anderson, M. C., Hain, C., Otkin, J., Zhan, X., Mo, K., Svoboda, M., Wardlow, B., and Pimstein, A.: An Intercomparison of Drought Indicators Based on Thermal Remote Sensing and NLDAS-2 Simulations with U.S. Drought Monitor Classifications, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 14, 1035–1056, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-12-0140.1, 2013. a
Anderson, W. B., Zaitchik, B. F., Hain, C. R., Anderson, M. C., Yilmaz, M. T., Mecikalski, J., and Schultz, L.: Towards an integrated soil moisture drought monitor for East Africa, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2893–2913, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-16-2893-2012, 2012. a
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Short summary
An improved understanding of land-atmosphere coupling processes during flash (rapid-onset) droughts is needed to aid the development of forecasts for these events. We use satellite observations to investigate the surface energy budget during flash droughts globally. The most intense events show a perturbed surface energy budget months before onset. In some regions, vegetation observations 1–2 months before onset provide information on the likelihood of heat extremes during an event.
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