A land surface model incorporated with soil freeze/thaw and its application in GAME/Tibet

Land surface process is of great importance in global climate change, moisture and heat exchange in the interface of the earth and atmosphere, human impacts on the environment and eco- system, etc. Soil freeze/thaw plays an important role in cold land surface processes. In this work the diurnal freeze/thaw effects on energy partition in the context of GAME/Tibet are studied. A sophisti- cated land surface model is developed, the particular aspect of which is its physical consideration of soil freeze/thaw and vapor flux. The simultaneous water and heat transfer soil sub-model not only reflects the water flow from unfrozen zone to frozen fringe in freezing/thawing soil, but also demon- strates the change of moisture and temperature field induced by vapor flux from high temperature zone to low temperature zone, which makes the model applicable for various circumstances. The modified Picard numerical method is employed to help with the water balance and convergence of the numerical scheme. Finally, the model is applied to analyze the diurnal energy and water cycle char- acteristics over the Tibetan Plateau using the Game/Tibet datasets observed in May and July of 1998. Heat and energy transfer simulation shows that: (i) There exists a negative feedback mechanism between soil freeze/thaw and soil temperature/ground heat flux; (ii) during freezing period all three heat fluxes do not vary apparently, in spite of the fact that the negative soil temperature is higher than that not considering soil freeze; (iii) during thawing period, ground heat flux increases, and sensible heat flux decreases, but latent heat flux does not change much; and (iv) during freezing period, soil temperature decreases, though ground heat flux increases.     

沙漠绿洲地区夏季地表能量收支的数值模拟

本文在MSPAS(Modified Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Scheme)的基础上,引入了一个有效的晴天大气辐射传输方案,建立了一个能在物理上真实地模拟陆气相互作用及其反馈机制的二维模式MLAIM（Modified Land Atmosphere Interaction Model）.本文利用HEIFE实验的观测资料对MLAIM的模拟结果进行了检验,对其中不合理的部分进行了分析,指出了在干旱半干旱区陆面过程参数修正的必要性,对干旱半干旱区土壤水分传输以及大气近地面层湍流输送的参数化方案进行了改进.改进后的模式能够较好地模拟夏季连续晴天条件下沙漠的地表能量收支,因此,本文利用MLAIM研究了绿洲对其周围沙漠地表能量收支的影响,并对地表能量收支各分量之间的相互作用进行了分析.结果表明,绿洲向其下风向沙漠的水汽输送是导致其上下风向沙漠间地表能量收支差异的最重要的因子.     

Numerical simulation and data assimilation of the water-energy cycle over semiarid northeastern China

The default fractional vegetation cover and terrain height were replaced by the estimated fractional vegetation cover, which was calculated by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) of Earth Observing System Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(EOS-MODIS) and the Digital Elevation Model of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission(SRTM) system. The near-surface meteorological elements over northeastern China were assimilated into the three-dimensional variational data assimilation system(3DVar) module in the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF) model. The structure and daily variations of air temperature, humidity, wind and energy fields over northeastern China were simulated using the WRF model. Four groups of numerical experiments were performed, and the simulation results were analyzed of latent heat flux, sensible heat flux, and their relationships with changes in the surface energy flux due to soil moisture and precipitation over different surfaces. The simulations were compared with observations of the stations Tongyu, Naiman, Jinzhou, and Miyun from June to August, 2009. The results showed that the WRF model achieves high-quality simulations of the diurnal characteristics of the surface layer temperature, wind direction, net radiation, sensible heat flux, and latent heat flux over semiarid northeastern China in the summer. The simulated near-surface temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were improved in the data assimilation case(Case 2) compared with control case(Case 1). The simulated sensible heat fluxes and surface heat fluxes were improved by the land surface parameterization case(Case 3) and the combined case(Case 4). The simulated temporal variations in soil moisture over the northeastern arid areas agree well with observations in Case 4, but the simulated precipitation should be improved in the WRF model. This study could improve the land surface parameters by utilizing remote sensing data and could further improve atmospheric elements with a data assimilation system. This work provides an effective attempt at combining multi-source data with different spatial and temporal scales into numerical simulations. The assimilation datasets generated by this work can be applied to research on climate change and environmental monitoring of arid lands, as well as research on the formation and stability of climate over semiarid areas.     

The impact of natural vegetation restoration on surface soil moisture of secondary forests and shrubs in the karst region of southwest China

Soil moisture is crucial to vegetation restoration in karst areas, and climate factors and vegetation restoration are key factors affecting changes in soil moisture. However, there is still much controversy over the long-term changes in soil moisture during vegetation restoration. In order to reveal the changes in soil moisture during vegetation restoration, we conducted long-term positioning monitoring of soil moisture at 0–10 and 10–20 cm on secondary forests sample plot (SF, tree land) and shrubs sample plot (SH, shrub land) in karst areas from 2013 to 2020. The results showed that the aboveground biomass of SF and SH increased by 50% and 240%, respectively, and the soil moisture of the SF and SH showed an increasing trend. When shrubs are restored to trees in karst areas, the soil moisture becomes more stable. However, the correlation coefficients (R²) between the annual rainfall and the annual average soil moisture of SF and SH are 0.84 and 0.55, respectively, indicating that soil moistures in tree land are more affected by rainfall. The soil moisture of shrubs and trees are relatively low during the months of alternating rainy and dry seasons. Rainfall has a very significant impact on the soil moisture of tree land, while air temperature and wind speed have a significant impact on the soil moisture of tree land, but the soil moistures of shrub land are very significantly affected by rainfall and relative humidity. Therefore, during the process of vegetation restoration from shrubs to trees, the main meteorological factors that affect soil moisture changes will change. The results are important for understanding the hydrological processes in the ecological restoration process of different vegetation types in karst areas.     

Analysis of spatial distribution and multi-year trend of the remotely sensed soil moisture on the Tibetan Plateau

Long-term highly accurate surface soil moisture data of TP(Tibetan Plateau)are important to the research of Asian monsoon and global atmospheric circulation.However,due to the sparse in-situ networks,the lack of soil moisture observations has seriously hindered the progress of climate change researches of TP.Based on the Dual-Channel soil moisture retrieval algorithm and the satellite observation data of AMSR-E(Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS),we have produced the surface soil moisture data of TP from 2003 to 2010 and analyzed the seasonal characteristic of the soil moisture spatial distribution and its multi-year changing trend in area of TP.Compared to the in-situ observations,the accuracy of the soil moisture retrieved by the proposed algorithm is evaluated.The evaluation result shows that the new soil moisture product has a better accuracy in the TP region than the official product of AMSR-E.The spatial distribution of the annual mean values of soil moisture and the seasonal variations of the monthly-averaged soil moisture are analyzed.The results show that the soil moisture variations in space and time are consistent with the precipitation distribution and the water vapor transmission path in TP.Based on the new soil moisture product,we also analyzed the spatial distribution of the changing trend of multi-year soil moisture in TP.From the comparisons with the precipitation changing trend obtained from the meteorological observation sites in TP,we found that the spatial pattern of the changing trend of soil moisture coincides with the precipitation as a whole.     

An integrated hydrological and meteorological approach for the simulation of terrestrial evapotranspiration / Une approche hydrologique et météorologique intégrée pour la simulation de l'évapotranspiration terrestre

Abstract

Terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) plays an important role in determining water and heat balances in the water cycle between the land surface and the atmosphere. In the present research a dynamic approach is developed to simulate actual ET distribution for large-scale spatial and temporal scales based on an integration of meteorological and hydrological methods. The method developed has been used to examine the impacts of climate change, complex land cover features, and soil moisture on actual ET. The distribution characteristics of actual ET demonstrate that ET in eastern China is greater than that in western China, and that ET is greater in low-latitude regions of China than in high-latitude regions. Actual monthly and annual ET values in most regions show an increasing tendency from the year 1991 to 2000, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The results of the present study also confirm that soil moisture is one of the critical factors that affect regional ET in China. It is demonstrated that the integrated hydrological-meteorological approach is effective for simulating actual ET on large spatial and temporal scales.     

An overview of hydrometeorological datasets from a small agricultural catchment (Nučice) in the Czech Republic

We introduce the freely available web-based Water in an Agricultural Landscape—NUčice Database (WALNUD) dataset that includes both hydrological and meteorological records at the Nučice experimental catchment (0.53 km²), which is representative of an intensively farmed landscape in the Czech Republic. The Nučice experimental catchment was established in 2011 for the observation of rainfall–runoff processes, soil erosion processes, and water balance of a cultivated landscape. The average altitude is 401 m a.s.l., the mean land slope is 3.9%, and the climate is humid continental (mean annual temperature 7.9°C, annual precipitation 630 mm). The catchment is drained by an artificially straightened stream and consists of three fields covering over 95% of the area which are managed by two different farmers. The typical crops are winter wheat, rapeseed, and alfalfa. The installed equipment includes a standard meteorological station, several rain gauges distributed across the basin, and a flume with an H-type facing that is used to monitor stream discharge, water turbidity, and basic water quality indicators. Additionally, the groundwater level and soil water content at various depths near the stream are recorded. Recently, large-scale soil moisture monitoring efforts have been introduced with the installation of two cosmic-ray neutron sensors for soil moisture monitoring. The datasets consist of observed variables (e.g. measured precipitation, air temperature, stream discharge, and soil moisture) and are available online for public use. The cross-seasonal, open access datasets at this small-scale agricultural catchment will benefit not only hydrologists but also local farmers.     

Utilization of satellite data in land surface hydrology: sensitivity and assimilation

This paper investigates the sensitivity of potential evapotranspiration to input meteorological variables, i.e. surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure. The sensitivity studies have been carried out for a wide range of land surface variables such as wind speed, leaf area index and surface temperatures. Errors in the surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure result in errors of different signs in the computed potential evapotranspiration. This result has implications for use of estimated values from satellite data or analysis of surface air temperature and surface vapor pressure in large‐scale hydrological modeling. The comparison of cumulative potential evapotranspiration estimates using ground observations and satellite observations over Manhattan, Kansas for a period of several months shows a variable difference between the two estimates. The use of satellite estimates of surface skin temperature in hydrological modeling to update the soil moisture using a physical adjustment concept is studied in detail, including the extent of changes in soil moisture resulting from the assimilation of surface skin temperature. The soil moisture of the 1 cm surface layer was adjusted by 0·9 mm over a 10‐day period as a result of a 3 K difference between the predicted and the observed surface temperature. This is a considerable amount given the fact that the top layer can hold only 5 mm of moisture. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of overland flow variation and blue water production in a farmed semi-arid water harvesting catchment

Upgrading agriculture in semi-arid areas and ensuring its sustainability require an optimal management of rainfall partition between blue and green waters in the farmed water harvesting catchment. The main objective of this study is to analyze the influence of heterogeneous land use on the spatial and temporal variation of rainfall partitioning and blue water production within a typical farmed catchment located in north-eastern Tunisia. The catchment has an area of 2.6 km² and comprises at its outlet a dam, which retains the runoff water in a reservoir. Overland flow and soil water balance components were monitored during two cropping seasons (2000/2001 and 2001/2002) on a network of eleven plots of 2 m² each with different land use and soil characteristics. The hydrological balances of both the catchment and reservoir have been monitored since 1994.Observed data showed a very large temporal and spatial variability of overland flow within the catchment reflecting the great importance of total rainfall as well as land use. During the 2001/2002 season the results showed a large variation of the number of observed runoff events, from 27 to 39, and of the annual overland flow depths, from 8 mm (under vineyard on calcaric cambisols) up to 43 mm (under shrubs-pasture on haplic regosols), between the plots. The annual runoff amounts were moderate; they always corresponded to less than 15% of the annual rainfall amount whatever the observation scale. It was also observed that changes in land use in years with similar rainfall could lead to significant differences in blue water flow. An attempt for predicting the overland flow by the general linear regression approach showed an r² of 31%, the predictors used are the class of soil infiltration capacity, the initial moisture saturation ratio of the soil surface layer and the total rainfall amounts.These experimental results indicate that the variation in land use in a semi-arid catchment is a main factor of variation in soil surface conditions and explain the major role played by the former on hydrological behavior of the upstream area and on rainfall partition between overland flow and infiltration. Therefore, to predict the water harvesting capacities in terms of blue water production of a farmed catchment in semi-arid areas it seems essential to consider precisely its land use and its temporal evolution related to management practices.     

Establishment and analysis of a High-Resolution Assimilation Dataset of the water-energy cycle in China

For better prediction and understanding of land-atmospheric interaction, in-situ observed meteorological data acquired from the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) were assimilated in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the monthly Green Vegetation Coverage (GVF) data, which was calculated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of the Earth Observing System Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (EOS-MODIS) and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) system. Furthermore, the WRF model produced a High-Resolution Assimilation Dataset of the water-energy cycle in China (HRADC). This dataset has a horizontal resolution of 25 km for near surface meteorological data, such as air temperature, humidity, wind vectors and pressure (19 levels); soil temperature and moisture (four levels); surface temperature; downward/upward short/long radiation; 3-h latent heat flux; sensible heat flux; and ground heat flux. In this study, we 1) briefly introduce the cycling 3D-Var assimilation method and 2) compare results of meteorological elements, such as 2 m temperature and precipitation generated by the HRADC with the gridded observation data from CMA, and surface temperature and specific humidity with Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) output data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). We find that the simulated results of monthly 2 m temperature from HRADC is improved compared with the control simulation and has effectively reproduced the observed patterns. The simulated special distribution of ground surface temperature and specific humidity from HRADC are much closer to GLDAS outputs. The spatial distribution of root mean square errors (RMSE) and bias of 2 m temperature between observations and HRADC is reduced compared with the bias between observations and the control run. The monthly spatial distribution of surface temperature and specific humidity from HRADC is consistent with the GLDAS outputs over China. This study could improve the land surface parameters by utilizing remote sensing data and could further improve atmospheric elements with a data assimilation system. This work provides an effective attempt at combining multi-source data with different spatial and temporal scales into numerical simulations, and the simulated results could be used in further research on the long-term climatic effects and characteristics of the water-energy cycle over China.     

Regularities in the formation of groundwater infiltration recharge

The effect of meteorological, landscape, geological-pedological, and hydrogeological factors on the formation of total water balance and infiltration recharge of groundwater. The results of analysis of calculated mean annual and within-year values of water balance elements on land surface and in the vadose zone were used to identify some regularities, governing the resulting input of moisture to groundwater table at different depth of its occurrence (infiltration).     

Evaluating the spatial distribution of water balance in a small watershed,Pennsylvania

A conceptual water‐balance model was modified from a point application to be distributed for evaluating the spatial distribution of watershed water balance based on daily precipitation, temperature and other hydrological parameters. The model was calibrated by comparing simulated daily variation in soil moisture with field observed data and results of another model that simulates the vertical soil moisture flow by numerically solving Richards' equation. The impacts of soil and land use on the hydrological components of the water balance, such as evapotranspiration, soil moisture deficit, runoff and subsurface drainage, were evaluated with the calibrated model in this study. Given the same meteorological conditions and land use, the soil moisture deficit, evapotranspiration and surface runoff increase, and subsurface drainage decreases, as the available water capacity of soil increases. Among various land uses, alfalfa produced high soil moisture deficit and evapotranspiration and lower surface runoff and subsurface drainage, whereas soybeans produced an opposite trend. The simulated distribution of various hydrological components shows the combined effect of soil and land use. Simulated hydrological components compare well with observed data. The study demonstrated that the distributed water balance approach is efficient and has advantages over the use of single average value of hydrological variables and the application at a single point in the traditional practice. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrological behaviour of a small catchment in the dehesa landuse system (Extremadura, SW Spain)

Investigations of the hydrological processes operating in a small experimental catchment representative of the dehesa ecosystem were carried out. The dehesa constitutes a system of agro-silvo-pastoral landuse, which is characterized by a Mediterranean, semi-arid climate. The study includes an analysis of the relationships between rainfall, soil water content and discharge, as well as the establishment of the annual water budget. The results demonstrate a complex hydrological response. The relationships between the factors involved and the operating processes are difficult to explain because of the decisive role played by the valley bottoms. These areas typically possess a sediment fill, and contrast with the shallow soils developed on the hillslopes. Genesis and quantity of runoff (Hortonian or saturation) measured at the outlet depend on the antecedent moisture conditions of the valley bottoms because of their water-retention capacity. Annual runoff coefficients are similar to those reported from other semi-arid areas. The analysis of the annual water budget shows that rainfall is positively related with both actual evapotranspiration and discharge.     

卫星热红外亮温、气温及地温观测的年变变化对比研究

过对NOAA卫星热红外亮温与野外安装气象观测站接收的气温、地下不同深度地温(0.2, 0.5, 1.5,2 m)进行不同方式的对比研究,分析了卫星热红外亮温、气温、地下不同深度地温的变化特征,探讨了亮温与气温及不同深度地温之间的关系．结果表明:① 卫星热红外亮温观测,由于受天气、云层短周期因素变化影响,曲线呈现高频突跳特征,但按最大值拟合出的亮温曲线有较好的年变变化规律;② 浅层地温受气温及太阳辐射的影响较大,能够体现出日变化,表现出很好的季节变化规律;③ 深层地温年变平稳, 年变变化与季节相关．但与气温相比,表现出滞后效应,且深度越深,滞后时间越长;④ 亮温、气温及深度0.2 m地温三者之间呈现很好的相关性．亮温、气温、0.2 m地温的极值几乎同时段出现,都符合季节变化．分析表明,亮温能够真实地反映地表温度的变化情况,能够为利用卫星热红外亮温提取地震异常信息提供可靠准确证据．本研究结果为理解不同观测属性及其相互关系,以及更好地为地震监测应用提供了基础．      

Lateral terrestrial water flow contribution to summer precipitation at continental scale – A comparison between Europe and West Africa with WRF-Hydro-tag ensembles

It is well accepted that summer precipitation can be altered by soil moisture condition. Coupled land surface – atmospheric models have been routinely used to quantify soil moisture – precipitation feedback processes. However, most of the land surface models (LSMs) assume a vertical soil water transport and neglect lateral terrestrial water flow at the surface and in the subsurface, which potentially reduces the realism of the simulated soil moisture – precipitation feedback. In this study, the contribution of lateral terrestrial water flow to summer precipitation is assessed in two different climatic regions, Europe and West Africa, for the period June–September 2008. A version of the coupled atmospheric-hydrological model WRF-Hydro with an option to tag and trace land surface evaporation in the modelled atmosphere, named WRF-Hydro-tag, is employed. An ensemble of 30 simulations with terrestrial routing and 30 simulations without terrestrial routing is generated with random realizations of turbulent energy with the stochastic kinetic energy backscatter scheme, for both Europe and West Africa. The ensemble size allows to extract random noise from continental-scale averaged modelled precipitation. It is found that lateral terrestrial water flow increases the relative contribution of land surface evaporation to precipitation by 3.6% in Europe and 5.6% in West Africa, which enhances a positive soil moisture – precipitation feedback and generates more uncertainty in modelled precipitation, as diagnosed by a slight increase in normalized ensemble spread. This study demonstrates the small but non-negligible contribution of lateral terrestrial water flow to precipitation at continental scale.     

Method development for estimating soil organic carbon content in an alpine region using soil moisture data

The high soil organic carbon(SOC) content in alpine meadow can significantly change soil hydrothermal properties and further affect the soil temperature and moisture as well as the surface water and energy budget. Therefore, this study first introduces a parameterization scheme to describe the effect of SOC content on soil hydraulic and thermal parameters in a land surface model(LSM), and then the SOC content is estimated by minimizing the difference between observed and simulated surface-layer soil moisture. The accuracy of the estimated SOC content was evaluated using in situ observation data at a soil moisture and temperature-measuring network in Naqu, central Tibetan Plateau. Sensitivity experiments show that the optimum time window for stabilizing the estimation results cannot be shorter than three years. In the experimental area, the estimated SOC content can generally reflect the spatial distribution of the measurements, with a root mean square error of 0.099 m^3 m^-3, a mean bias of 0.043 m^3 m^-3, and a correlation coefficient of 0.695. The estimated SOC content is not sensitive to the temporal frequency of the soil moisture data input. Even if the temporal frequency is as low as that of current soil moisture products derived from passive microwave satellites, the estimation result is still stable. Therefore, by combining a high-quality satellite soil moisture product and a parameter optimization method, it is possible to obtain grid-scale effective parameter values, such as SOC content,for an LSM and improve the simulation ability of the LSM.     

Field data and flow system response in clay (vertisol) shale terrain,north central Texas,USA

The water budget in clay shale terrain is controlled by a complex interaction between the vertisol soil layer, the underlying fractured rock, land use, topography, and seasonal trends in rainfall and evapotranspiration. Rainfall, runoff, lateral flow, soil moisture, and groundwater levels were monitored over an annual recharge cycle. Four phases of soil–aquifer response were noted over the study period: (1) dry‐season cracking of soils; (2) runoff initiation, lateral flow and aquifer recharge; (3) crack closure and down‐slope movement of subsurface water, with surface seepage; (4) a drying phase. Surface flow predominated within the watershed (25% of rainfall), but lateral flow through the soil zone continued for most of the year and contributed 11% of stream flow through surface seepage. Actual flow through the fractured shale makes up a small fraction of the water budget but does appear to influence surface seepage by its effect on valley‐bottom storage. When the valley soil storage is full, lateral flow exits onto the valley‐bottom surface as seasonal seeps. Well response varied with depth and hillslope position. FLOWTUBE model results and regional recharge estimates are consistent with an aquifer recharge of 1·6% of annual precipitation calculated from well heights and specific yield of the shale aquifer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

北极夏季冰面上近地层特征及热量收支问题

应用1999年8月19～24日我国第1次北极考察资料对北极夏季近地层气象要素梯度特征和冰面热量收支问题进行了讨论.北极夏季近地层相对于冰面的相对湿度很大,经常接近于饱和状态,冰温具有明显的日变化,夜间冰面附近冰温梯度较大,白天很小.在冰温垂直分布中20cm冰层温度有时可出现极大值.冰面热量收支计算表明,夜间冰面辐射冷却损失热量主要由冰层向冰面热量输送来补偿.白天冰层的热量主要来源于穿透短波辐射,冰面和以下冰层间的热量交换很低.白天冰面冰雪融化热量是不可忽视的.     

Connecting Satellite Observations with Water Cycle Variables Through Land Data Assimilation: Examples Using the NASA GEOS-5 LDAS

A land data assimilation system (LDAS) can merge satellite observations (or retrievals) of land surface hydrological conditions, including soil moisture, snow, and terrestrial water storage (TWS), into a numerical model of land surface processes. In theory, the output from such a system is superior to estimates based on the observations or the model alone, thereby enhancing our ability to understand, monitor, and predict key elements of the terrestrial water cycle. In practice, however, satellite observations do not correspond directly to the water cycle variables of interest. The present paper addresses various aspects of this seeming mismatch using examples drawn from recent research with the ensemble-based NASA GEOS-5 LDAS. These aspects include (1) the assimilation of coarse-scale observations into higher-resolution land surface models, (2) the partitioning of satellite observations (such as TWS retrievals) into their constituent water cycle components, (3) the forward modeling of microwave brightness temperatures over land for radiance-based soil moisture and snow assimilation, and (4) the selection of the most relevant types of observations for the analysis of a specific water cycle variable that is not observed (such as root zone soil moisture). The solution to these challenges involves the careful construction of an observation operator that maps from the land surface model variables of interest to the space of the assimilated observations.     

Diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes in high mountain terrain: High-resolution fully coupled atmosphere-hydrology modelling and impact of lateral flow

Water and energy fluxes are inextricably interlinked within the interface of the land surface and the atmosphere. In the regional earth system models, the lower boundary parameterization of land surface neglects lateral hydrological processes, which may inadequately depict the surface water and energy fluxes variations, thus affecting the simulated atmospheric system through land-atmosphere feedbacks. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to evaluate the hydrologically enhanced regional climate modelling in order to represent the diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes in high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) and coupled WRF Hydrological modelling system (WRF-Hydro) are applied in a high alpine catchment in Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, the headwater area of the Heihe River. By evaluating and intercomparing model results by both models, the role of lateral flow processes on the surface energy fluxes dynamics is investigated. The model evaluations suggest that both WRF and coupled WRF-Hydro reasonably represent the diurnal variations of the near-surface meteorological fields, surface energy fluxes and hourly partitioning of available energy. By incorporating additional lateral flow processes, the coupled WRF-Hydro simulates higher surface soil moisture over the mountainous area, resulting in increased latent heat flux and decreased sensible heat flux of around 20–50 W/m² in their diurnal peak values during summertime, although the net radiation and ground heat fluxes remain almost unchanged. The simulation results show that the diurnal cycle of surface energy fluxes follows the local terrain and vegetation features. This highlights the importance of consideration of lateral flow processes over areas with heterogeneous terrain and land surfaces.