ABSTRACT
Abstract This paper provides an overview of major international studies of the land/atmosphere interaction carried out during the 1980s, with particular attention to ARME, HAPEX-MOBILHY and FIFE, and previews those proposed for the 1990s. Selected results, either particular to individual studies or common to several, are interpreted to provide insight on the value and reliability of experimental data and field systems and to provide guidance for future experiments. Progress in addressing the need to provide area-average aggregate values for surface energy fluxes is assessed, and a recommendation made for enhanced attention to the use of planetary boundary layer development as an indirect measure of these. Proposed observational studies on land/atmosphere interactions under the World Climate Research Programme and the International Geosphere/Biosphere Programme are described.
