Scale-dependent cloud enhancement from land restoration in West African drylands

Jessica Ruijsch; Christopher M. Taylor; Ronald W.A. Hutjes; Adriaan J. Teuling

doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02154-y

Scale-dependent cloud enhancement from land restoration in West African drylands

Jessica Ruijsch^*, Christopher M. Taylor, Ronald W.A. Hutjes, Adriaan J. Teuling

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Land restoration projects, including reforestation and area protection, are being implemented across African drylands such as the Sahel. In addition to biodiversity, livelihood and carbon sequestration benefits, restoration can also affect the local climate through land-atmosphere interaction. Yet, it remains unknown to what extent dryland restoration can affect cloud cover development and, ultimately, precipitation. Here, we use twenty years of high-resolution data from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite to study the impact of land restoration on cloud development in West African drylands. Results show that cloud cover frequency and convective initiation are higher above vegetated areas, particularly during the start and end of the wet seasons. Furthermore, we find a more pronounced cloud cover enhancement over protected areas larger than 121 km², suggesting a scale-dependent relationship between project size and cloud cover development.

Original language	English
Article number	174
Number of pages	11
Journal	Communications Earth and Environment
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02154-y
Publication status	Published - 2025

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https://edepot.wur.nl/689754Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Scale-dependent cloud enhancement from land restoration in West African drylands",

abstract = "Land restoration projects, including reforestation and area protection, are being implemented across African drylands such as the Sahel. In addition to biodiversity, livelihood and carbon sequestration benefits, restoration can also affect the local climate through land-atmosphere interaction. Yet, it remains unknown to what extent dryland restoration can affect cloud cover development and, ultimately, precipitation. Here, we use twenty years of high-resolution data from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite to study the impact of land restoration on cloud development in West African drylands. Results show that cloud cover frequency and convective initiation are higher above vegetated areas, particularly during the start and end of the wet seasons. Furthermore, we find a more pronounced cloud cover enhancement over protected areas larger than 121 km2, suggesting a scale-dependent relationship between project size and cloud cover development.",

author = "Jessica Ruijsch and Taylor, \{Christopher M.\} and Hutjes, \{Ronald W.A.\} and Teuling, \{Adriaan J.\}",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1038/s43247-025-02154-y",

language = "English",

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journal = "Communications Earth and Environment",

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T1 - Scale-dependent cloud enhancement from land restoration in West African drylands

AU - Ruijsch, Jessica

AU - Taylor, Christopher M.

AU - Hutjes, Ronald W.A.

AU - Teuling, Adriaan J.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Land restoration projects, including reforestation and area protection, are being implemented across African drylands such as the Sahel. In addition to biodiversity, livelihood and carbon sequestration benefits, restoration can also affect the local climate through land-atmosphere interaction. Yet, it remains unknown to what extent dryland restoration can affect cloud cover development and, ultimately, precipitation. Here, we use twenty years of high-resolution data from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite to study the impact of land restoration on cloud development in West African drylands. Results show that cloud cover frequency and convective initiation are higher above vegetated areas, particularly during the start and end of the wet seasons. Furthermore, we find a more pronounced cloud cover enhancement over protected areas larger than 121 km2, suggesting a scale-dependent relationship between project size and cloud cover development.

AB - Land restoration projects, including reforestation and area protection, are being implemented across African drylands such as the Sahel. In addition to biodiversity, livelihood and carbon sequestration benefits, restoration can also affect the local climate through land-atmosphere interaction. Yet, it remains unknown to what extent dryland restoration can affect cloud cover development and, ultimately, precipitation. Here, we use twenty years of high-resolution data from the Meteosat Second Generation satellite to study the impact of land restoration on cloud development in West African drylands. Results show that cloud cover frequency and convective initiation are higher above vegetated areas, particularly during the start and end of the wet seasons. Furthermore, we find a more pronounced cloud cover enhancement over protected areas larger than 121 km2, suggesting a scale-dependent relationship between project size and cloud cover development.

U2 - 10.1038/s43247-025-02154-y

DO - 10.1038/s43247-025-02154-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:86000070469

SN - 2662-4435

VL - 6

JO - Communications Earth and Environment

JF - Communications Earth and Environment

M1 - 174

ER -

Scale-dependent cloud enhancement from land restoration in West African drylands

Abstract

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