Anthropogenic Aerosols Weaken Land–Atmosphere Coupling over North China

North China, characterized by its strong land–atmosphere coupling, also has a high concentration of atmospheric aerosols from anthropogenic emissions. However, the impact of aerosols on land–atmosphere coupling in this region remains partially unclear. Here, we use Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) experiments to show that the aerosol radiative effect weakens land–atmosphere coupling in North China. This weakening occurs across all five indexes used to measure different aspects of land–atmosphere coupling. Notably, the weakening is more pronounced for indexes that describe surface coupling compared to the index that characterizes the coupling between the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and clouds. The mechanisms underlying the aerosol influence can be primarily attributed to the reduction of land surface fluxes and their sensitivities to soil moisture, while the weakened entrainment of moisture at the upper boundary of the PBL may also contribute to the effects.