Role of soil-vegetation in influencing terrestrial water cycle through natural-human induced processes over the Indian region

The Indian subcontinent exhibits a strong seasonal pattern of monsoonal rainfall from June to September and remains drier for the remaining eight months. This strong seasonal rainfall drives vegetation patterns by regulating vegetation growth and productivity. However, it is critical to understand how vegetation maintains land-atmosphere interactions during this drier period by maintaining vegetation productivity with optimal water loss through evapotranspiration. Also, this region comprises most of the agricultural land, which is significantly dependent on irrigation systems, and such local processes may affect and perturb the hydrological cycle via evapotranspiration. It is essential to examine the factors responsible for maintaining the terrestrial ecosystem's carbon-water cycle during drier periods, which may be related to irrigation systems. Such features are not yet explored. We examined satellite-based products and found that the terrestrial carbon-water cycle during drier periods is maintained by the moisture stored during monsoonal rainfall and sustained during drier periods. To understand the ecosystem-specific response, we explored natural forests and human-controlled croplands, which have unique roles through soil-vegetation dynamics to maintain vegetation productivity during drier periods. Soil Moisture-Evapotranspiration coupling is observed over the above ecosystems, and their disparities have led to insights into the uniqueness of land-atmosphere coupling.