Biophysical climate responses to albedo management for wheat residue retention, cover crops, and pale wheat across European croplands

Agricultural management offers a pathway for climate change mitigation beyond greenhouse gas fluxes through biophysical processes that directly modify land-atmosphere energy exchange. Changes in cropland surface albedo influence the climate that operates independently of the biogeochemical impact. The need to account for both biogeochemical and biophysical processes in agriculture is increasingly recognized in assessments of climate-neutral agriculture, but the biophysical impacts remain largely unconstrained.

In this study, we quantified the albedo-mediated climate impacts of three promising agricultural practices, which include cover crop, residue management, and selection of highly reflective crop varieties (pale wheat) over European croplands under present and future climate conditions. To do so, we employed the ORCHIDEE-CROP land surface model, which incorporates a detailed representation of crop growth and management, together with improved albedo dynamics calibrated using observations from nine European cropland sites and satellite-derived leaf area index (LAI) from the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service.

In idealized simulations assuming EU-wide implementation of solutions, we show that scenarios of cover crop, residue retention and pale-wheat cultivation increase annual mean surface albedo by 0.001±0.001, 0.008±0.003 and 0.021±0.004, with pale wheat generating the largest enhancement. All three practices induce modest local surface cooling (-0.11±0.07°C, -0.25±0.13°C and -0.13±0.03°C), with stronger cooling in southern Europe than in northern regions. Residue retention produces the strongest cooling response due to pronounced albedo contrasts during high-radiation summer months, and this biophysical signal persists and strengthens under future climate conditions. Although the albedo-mediated mitigation benefits of cover crops and residue retention are relatively small compared to their biogeochemical impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, these practices are readily deployable and are increasingly adopted for agronomic purposes, particularly in comparison with pale wheat cultivation. Beyond mitigation, albedo management offers adaptation benefits by reducing absorbed shortwave radiation and surface temperatures, thereby alleviating heat stress during critical crop growth stages and enhancing yield stability. Overall, agricultural albedo management emerges as a scalable strategy for climate mitigation and local adaptation across European croplands.