IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v16y2025i1d10.1038_s41467-025-58729-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Observational evidence of increased afternoon rainfall downwind of irrigated areas

Author

Listed:
  • P. Greve

    (Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon)

  • A. U. Schmitt

    (Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon)

  • D. G. Miralles

    (Ghent University)

  • S. McDermid

    (New York University
    NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)

  • K. L. Findell

    (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA))

  • A. García-García

    (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ)

  • J. Peng

    (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ
    Leipzig University)

Abstract

Irrigation plays a vital role in addressing the growing food demand of an increasing global population. It represents one of the most critical and direct human interventions on the coupled water and energy cycles. As irrigated farmland continues to expand, understanding the climate impact of extensive irrigation becomes increasingly important. Yet, the effect on rainfall patterns near irrigated areas remains unclear. Here, using two global, high-resolution, sub-daily precipitation datasets, we show that afternoon rain events occur more often 10 km to 50 km downwind and less often upwind of extensively irrigated land. However, we also find that the total amount of heavy afternoon rain downwind of irrigated areas is lower than upwind. Our results establish large-scale observational evidence of the local precipitation dynamics surrounding irrigated areas; these insights will help constrain the representation of these processes in next-generation climate and weather forecasting models and provide valuable insights for regional water management.

Suggested Citation

  • P. Greve & A. U. Schmitt & D. G. Miralles & S. McDermid & K. L. Findell & A. García-García & J. Peng, 2025. "Observational evidence of increased afternoon rainfall downwind of irrigated areas," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58729-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58729-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-58729-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-025-58729-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wim Thiery & Auke J. Visser & Erich M. Fischer & Mathias Hauser & Annette L. Hirsch & David M. Lawrence & Quentin Lejeune & Edouard L. Davin & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2020. "Warming of hot extremes alleviated by expanding irrigation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-7, December.
    2. Nathaniel D. Mueller & Ethan E. Butler & Karen A. McKinnon & Andrew Rhines & Martin Tingley & N. Michele Holbrook & Peter Huybers, 2016. "Cooling of US Midwest summer temperature extremes from cropland intensification," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 6(3), pages 317-322, March.
    3. Benoit P. Guillod & Boris Orlowsky & Diego G. Miralles & Adriaan J. Teuling & Sonia I. Seneviratne, 2015. "Reconciling spatial and temporal soil moisture effects on afternoon rainfall," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-6, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alan F. Hamlet & Kyuhyun Byun & Scott M. Robeson & Melissa Widhalm & Michael Baldwin, 2020. "Impacts of climate change on the state of Indiana: ensemble future projections based on statistical downscaling," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 1881-1895, December.
    2. Yi Yao & Agnès Ducharne & Benjamin I. Cook & Steven J. Hertog & Kjetil Schanke Aas & Pedro F. Arboleda-Obando & Jonathan Buzan & Jeanne Colin & Maya Costantini & Bertrand Decharme & David M. Lawrence , 2025. "Impacts of irrigation expansion on moist-heat stress based on IRRMIP results," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Xiaolong Jin & Penghui Jiang & Haoyang Du & Dengshuai Chen & Manchun Li, 2021. "Response of local temperature variation to land cover and land use intensity changes in China over the last 30 years," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Roshan Jha & Arpita Mondal & Anjana Devanand & M. K. Roxy & Subimal Ghosh, 2022. "Limited influence of irrigation on pre-monsoon heat stress in the Indo-Gangetic Plain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Jinxiu Liu & Weihao Shen & Yaqian He, 2021. "Effects of Cropland Expansion on Temperature Extremes in Western India from 1982 to 2015," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Daniel Althoff & Lineu Neiva Rodrigues & Demetrius David Silva, 2020. "Impacts of climate change on the evaporation and availability of water in small reservoirs in the Brazilian savannah," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 215-232, March.
    7. Laura C. Bowling & Keith A. Cherkauer & Charlotte I. Lee & Janna L. Beckerman & Sylvie Brouder & Jonathan R. Buzan & Otto C. Doering & Jeffrey S. Dukes & Paul D. Ebner & Jane R. Frankenberger & Benjam, 2020. "Agricultural impacts of climate change in Indiana and potential adaptations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 163(4), pages 2005-2027, December.
    8. Shasha Song & Isaac R. Santos & Huaming Yu & Faming Wang & William C. Burnett & Thomas S. Bianchi & Junyu Dong & Ergang Lian & Bin Zhao & Lawrence Mayer & Qingzhen Yao & Zhigang Yu & Bochao Xu, 2022. "A global assessment of the mixed layer in coastal sediments and implications for carbon storage," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Koffi Djaman & Curtis Owen & Margaret M. West & Samuel Allen & Komlan Koudahe & Murali Darapuneni & Michael O’Neill, 2020. "Relationship between Relative Maturity and Grain Yield of Maize ( Zea mays L.) Hybrids in Northwest New Mexico for the 2003–2019 Period," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-12, July.
    10. Yang, Meijian & Wang, Guiling, 2023. "Heat stress to jeopardize crop production in the US Corn Belt based on downscaled CMIP5 projections," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    11. Hsin Hsu & Paul A. Dirmeyer, 2023. "Soil moisture-evaporation coupling shifts into new gears under increasing CO2," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    12. Magdalena Cornejo & Nicolás Merener & Ezequiel Merovich, 2024. "Extreme Dry Spells and Larger Storms in the U.S. Midwest Raise Crop Prices," Working Papers 303, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    13. Olivera-Guerra, Luis-Enrique & Laluet, Pierre & Altés, Víctor & Ollivier, Chloé & Pageot, Yann & Paolini, Giovanni & Chavanon, Eric & Rivalland, Vincent & Boulet, Gilles & Villar, Josep-Maria & Merlin, 2023. "Modeling actual water use under different irrigation regimes at district scale: Application to the FAO-56 dual crop coefficient method," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    14. Kai Kornhuber & Corey Lesk & Carl F. Schleussner & Jonas Jägermeyr & Peter Pfleiderer & Radley M. Horton, 2023. "Risks of synchronized low yields are underestimated in climate and crop model projections," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Yao, Xiaochen & Zhang, Zhiyu & Yuan, Fenghui & Song, Changchun, 2024. "The impact of global cropland irrigation on soil carbon dynamics," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    16. Lai, Chengguang & Sun, Haowei & Wu, Xushu & Li, Jun & Wang, Zhaoli & Tong, Hongfu & Feng, Jiajin, 2024. "Water availability may not constrain vegetation growth in Northern Hemisphere," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    17. Liu, Shengli & Zhang, Wei & Shi, Tongtong & Li, Tong & Li, Hui & Zhou, Guanyin & Wang, Zhanbiao & Ma, Xiongfeng, 2025. "Increasing exposure of cotton growing areas to compound drought and heat events in a warming climate," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    18. Potopová, V. & Trnka, M. & Vizina, A. & Semerádová, D. & Balek, J. & Chawdhery, M.R.A. & Musiolková, M. & Pavlík, P. & Možný, M. & Štěpánek, P. & Clothier, B., 2022. "Projection of 21st century irrigation water requirements for sensitive agricultural crop commodities across the Czech Republic," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    19. Li, Bingze & Wang, Chunmei & Gu, Xingfa & Zhou, Xiang & Ma, Ming & Li, Lei & Feng, Zhuangzhuang & Ding, Tianyu & Li, Xiaofeng & Jiang, Tao & Li, Xiaojie & Zheng, Xingming, 2022. "Accuracy calibration and evaluation of capacitance-based soil moisture sensors for a variety of soil properties," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 273(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58729-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.