Preface paper to the Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere (SALSA) Program special issue

D. C. Goodrich, A. Chehbouni, B. Goff, B. MacNish, T. Maddock, S. Moran, W. J. Shuttleworth, D. G. Williams, C. Watts, L. H. Hipps, D. I. Cooper, J. Schieldge, Y. H. Kerr, H. Arias, M. Kirkland, R. Carlos, P. Cayrol, W. Kepner, B. Jones, R. AvissarA. Begue, J. M. Bonnefond, G. Boulet, B. Branan, J. P. Brunel, L. C. Chen, T. Clarke, M. R. Davis, H. DeBruin, G. Dedieu, E. Elguero, W. E. Eichinger, J. Everitt, J. Garatuza-Payan, V. L. Gempko, H. Gupta, C. Harlow, O. Hartogensis, M. Helfert, C. Holifield, D. Hymer, A. Kahle, T. Keefer, S. Krishnamoorthy, J. P. Lhomme, J. P. Lagouarde, D. Lo Seen, D. Luquet, R. Marsett, B. Monteny, W. Ni, Y. Nouvellon, R. Pinker, C. Peters, D. Pool, J. Qi, S. Rambal, J. Rodriguez, F. Santiago, E. Sano, S. M. Schaeffer, M. Schulte, R. Scott, X. Shao, K. A. Snyder, S. Sorooshian, C. L. Unkrich, M. Whitaker, I. Yucel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere Program (SALSA) is a multi-agency, multi-national research effort that seeks to evaluate the consequences of natural and human-induced environmental change in semi-arid regions. The ultimate goal of SALSA is to advance scientific understanding of the semi-arid portion of the hydrosphere-biosphere interface in order to provide reliable information for environmental decision making. SALSA approaches this goal through a program of long-term, integrated observations, process research, modeling, assessment, and information management that is sustained by cooperation among scientists and information users. In this preface to the SALSA special issue, general program background information and the critical nature of semi-arid regions is presented. A brief description of the Upper San Pedro River Basin, the initial location for focused SALSA research follows. Several overarching research objectives under which much of the interdisciplinary research contained in the special issue was undertaken are discussed. Principal methods, primary research sites and data collection used by numerous investigators during 1997-1999 are then presented. Scientists from about 20 US, five European (four French and one Dutch), and three Mexican agencies and institutions have collaborated closely to make the research leading to this special issue a reality. The SALSA Program has served as a model of interagency cooperation by breaking new ground in the approach to large scale interdisciplinary science with relatively limited resources.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3-20
Number of pages18
JournalAgricultural and Forest Meteorology
Volume105
Issue number1-3
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 20 2000

Keywords

  • Ecological diversity
  • Energy balance
  • Interdisciplinary
  • Land-Surface-Atmosphere
  • SALSA
  • Semi-Arid
  • Water balance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Forestry
  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Atmospheric Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Preface paper to the Semi-Arid Land-Surface-Atmosphere (SALSA) Program special issue'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this