Abstract:By using the WRF model and land use data in 1985 and 2005 in Taihu lake area two numerical simulations are conducted to study the local climate responses to land use change. An analysis from a point of view of land surface processes is also performed. The results show that net short wave radiation fluxes, ground surface temperatures, and sensitive heat fluxes increased in the urbanized areas, while latent heat fluxes decreased. A decline of wind speed was found in the urbanized areas, and in the direction of the urbanization the belts in which kinetic energy decreased were also found. Moreover, lake breeze and urban heat island circulations enhanced. Consequently, cumulus precipitation occurred in urbanized areas and increased due to the additional vertical velocity, while convection and cumulus precipitation in old town and suburbs were inhibited. Stratiform precipitation's change was limited in areas of concentrated stratiform rainfall. Total precipitation increased in urbanized area, but decreased in old town and suburbs, with the growing proportion of convective precipitation. In areas with no land use change, the pattern of precipitation change coincided quite well with the pattern of surface energy flux change.