A parametrization of the lateral waterflow for the global scale

 The representation of hydrological land surface processes has, so far, been treated inadequately in global models of the atmospheric general circulation (GCMs). In particular the lateral waterflows from the continents into the ocean have been described unsatisfactorily. The aim of this study is to develop a model for the lateral waterflow on the global scale which describes the translation and retention of the lateral discharge as a function of the spatially distributed land surface characteristics that are globally available. Here, global scale refers to the resolution of 0.5° and smaller, corresponding to a typical GCM gridbox area of about 2500 km². Discharge models need a number of specific input variables that are usually not available from measurements such as runoff and drainage. Therefore, these variables have to be derived from observed data such as precipitation and surface air temperature. For the model development in this study, a new simplified land surface scheme was applied to compute these variables. The discharge from a catchment of approximately the size of a 0.5° gridbox was simulated using several types of models. The intercomparison of the simulated lateral flows of the different models shows that as a minimum a separation between flow processes such as overland flow, baseflow and riverflow is required to yield good discharge simulations. As both the retention and translation of a flow process need to be simulated, a two-parameter model is required for the representation of overland flow and riverflow. For the baseflow, a one-parameter model is sufficient. The resulting model structure is called the hydrological discharge model or HD model. A first parametrization approach was defined using the gridbox characteristics of topography gradient and gridbox length. The skill of the discharge simulation depends not only on the formulations of the model, but also on the precise definition of the boundaries of the model catchments. The sizes and the positioning of the model catchments on the globe were defined by using a river direction file as well as a modified topography dataset. In a first application, the HD model successfully simulated river discharge using runoff and drainage from a five year atmospheric GCM integration (ECHAM4-T42) as input. The annual cycles of the monthly means of the simulated discharge of several large rivers were compared to the observed discharges provided by the Global Runoff Data Centre. The HD model achieves a considerable improvement of the simulated discharge compared to the model which is currently operational at MPI. The improved volume of the discharge is directly related to the definition of more realistic model catchments and the improved timing of the flow is mainly due to the newly introduced separation of the flow processes. Received: 20 November 1996 / Accepted: 8 July 1997     

Sensitivity of a GCM simulation to subgrid infiltration and surface runoff

A subgrid parameterization of infiltration and surface runoff was evaluated using a land surface model coupled to an atmospheric general circulation model. Averaged over 5 year simulations, the subgrid parameterization resulted in significantly less infiltration of water into the soil compared to a simulation without subgrid hydrologic processes. As a result, the soils were drier, latent heat flux decreased, and surface air temperature increased. These results are consistent with other studies of subgrid hydrologic parameterizations, which also resulted in drier soils, decreased latent heat flux, and warmer surface temperatures. Several river basins were studied in detail. In the Amazon and Lena basins, the subgrid parameterization resulted in better annual runoff compared to observed annual river flow; surface air temperature was unchanged in the Amazon and better, compared to observations, in the Lena. In the Ob, Yenisey, and Amur basins, the subgrid parameterization resulted in too much annual runoff; July surface air temperature was unchanged or worse (Amur). Annual runoff for the Mississippi basin was better with the subgrid parameterization, but July surface air temperature was worse. These results suggest the utility of subgrid hydrologic parameterizations vary among river basins depending on the relative importance of Horton and Dunne runoff and the geologic factors affecting runoff generation.     

Testing a GCM land surface scheme against catchment-scale runoff data

A GCM land surface scheme was used, in off-line mode, to simulate the runoff, latent and sensible heat fluxes for two distinct Australian catchments using observed atmospheric forcing. The tropical Jardine River catchment is 2500 km² and has an annual rainfall of 1700 mm y^–1 while the Canning River catchment is 540 km², has a Mediterranean climate (annual rainfall of 800 mm y^–1) and is ephemeral for half the year. It was found that the standard version of a land surface scheme developed for a GCM, and initialised as for incorporation into a GCM, simulated similar latent and sensible heat fluxes compared to a basin-scale hydrological model (MODHYDROLOG) which was calibrated for each catchment. However, the standard version of the land surface scheme grossly overestimated the observed peak runoff in the wet Jardine River catchment at the expense of runoff later in the season. Increasing the soil water storage permitted the land surface scheme to simulate observed runoff quite well, but led to a different simulation of latent and sensible heat compared to MODHYDROLOG. It is concluded that this 2-layer land surface scheme was unable to simulate both catchments realistically. The land surface scheme was then extended to a three-layer model. In terms of runoff, the resulting control simulations with soil depths chosen as for the GCM were better than the best simulations obtained with the two-layer model. The three-layer model simulated similar latent and sensible heat for both catchments compared to MODHYDROLOG. Unfortunately, for the ephemeral Canning River catchment, the land surface scheme was unable to time the observed runoff peak correctly. A tentative conclusion would be that this GCM land surface scheme may be able to simulate the present day state of some larger and wetter catchments but not catchments with peaky hydrographs and zero flows for part of the year. This conclusion requires examination with a range of GCM land surface schemes against a range of catchments. Received: 9 June 1995 / Accepted: 4 April 1996     

Implementation of a surface runoff model with Horton and Dunne mechanisms into the regional climate model RegCM_NCC

A surface runoff parameterization scheme that dynamically represents both Horton and Dunne runoff generation mechanisms within a model grid cell together with a consideration of the subgrid-scaie soil heterogeneity, is implemented into the National Climate Center regional climate model （RegCM_NCC）. The effects of the modified surface runoff scheme on RegCMANCC performance are tested with an abnormal heavy rainfall process which occurred in summer 1998. Simulated results show that the model with the original surface runoff scheme （noted as CTL） basically captures the spatial pattern of precipitation, circulation and land surface variables, but generally overestimates rainfall compared to observations. The model with the new surface runoff scheme （noted as NRM） reasonably reproduces the distribution pattern of various variables and effectively diminishes the excessive precipitation in the CTL. The processes involved in the improvement of NRM-simulated rainfall may be as follows： with the new surface runoff scheme, simulated surface runoff is larger, soil moisture and evaporation （latent heat flux） are decreased, the available water into the atmosphere is decreased; correspondingly, the atmosphere is drier and rainfall is decreased through various processes. Therefore, the implementation of the new runoff scheme into the RegCMANCC has a significant effect on results at not only the land surface, but also the overlying atmosphere.     

A subgrid parameterization of orographic precipitation

Summary Estimates of the impact of global climate change on land surface hydrology require climate information on spatial scales far smaller than those explicitly resolved by global climate models of today and the foreseeable future. To bridge the gap between what is required and what is resolved, we propose a subgrid-scale parameterization of the influence of topography on clouds, precipitation, and land surface hydrology. The parameterization represents subgrid variations in surface elevation in terms of probability distributions of discrete elevation classes. Separate cloud, radiative, and surface processes are calculated for each elevation class. Rainshadow effects are not treated by the parameterization; they have to be explicitly resolved by the host model. The simulated surface temperature, precipitation, and snow cover for each elevation class are distributed to different geographical locations according to the spatial distribution of surface elevation within each grid cell.The subgrid parameterization has been implemented in the Pacific Northwest Laboratory's climate version of the Penn State/NCAR Mesoscale Model. The scheme is evaluated by driving the regional climate model with observed lateral boundary conditions for the Pacific Northwest and comparing simulated fields with surface observations. The method yields more realistic spatial distributions of precipitation and snow cover in mountainous areas and is considerably more computationally efficient than achieving high resolution by the use of nesting in the regional climate model.With 17 Figures     

非均匀地表条件下区域平均径流率的一种参数化方法及其模拟试验

从陆面水文过程的物理机制出发，引进概率统计分布理论，推导出一种由非均匀土壤含水量及降水气候强迫所形成的次网格尺度非均匀径流率的解析表达式，从而将通常的次网格尺度地表径流的参数化方案（mosaic方法）改进为考虑网格区整体非均匀性的统计-动力参数化方案。文中用仿真模拟资料验证了该方案的可靠性与可行性，并作数值试验。结果表明，该方案切实可行。     

具有Horton及Dunne机制的径流模型在VIC模型中的应用(英)

地表径流主要由蓄满(Dunne)和超渗产流(Horton)机制产生;土壤性质的空间变异性、前期土壤水、地形及降水的空间变异性导致不同的径流机制。在研究区域或模型网格内,蓄满产流及超渗产流可能同时出现,缺乏考虑任何一种机制以及土壤性质的次网格空间变率可能导致地表径流的过高或过低估计,从而影响土壤水的计算。利用Philip入渗公式用于时间压缩逼近(TCA)给出了一种径流参数化方法,该方法可以动态实现模型网格中的Horton及Dunne产流机理,它考虑了土壤空间变异性对Horton和Dunne径流的影响。该径流模型应用到基于水文原理的陆面过程模型VIC,在淮河流域及美国宾西法尼亚州的一个流域进行了测试,结果表明:新的参数化方法对地表径流和土壤水分含量的分配起着重要作用,对于改进径流和土壤水的模拟有重要意义。     

Parameterization of the thermal impacts of sub-grid orography on numerical modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia

Summary A parameterization scheme for the thermal effects of subgrid scale orography is incorporated into a regional climate model (developed at Nanjing University) and its impact on modeling of the surface energy budget over East Asia is evaluated. This scheme includes the effect of terrain slope and orientation on the computation of solar and infrared radiation fluxes at the surface, as well as the surface sensible and latent heat fluxes. Calculations show that subgrid terrain parameters alter the diurnal cycle and horizontal distributions of surface energy budget components. This effect becomes more significant with increased terrain slope, especially in winter. Due to the inclusion of the subgrid topography, the surface area of a model grid box changes over complex terrain areas. Numerical experiments, with and without the subgrid scale topography scheme, show that the parameterization scheme of subgrid scale topography modifies the distribution of the surface energy budget and surface temperature around the Tibetan Plateau. Comparisons with observations indicate that the subgrid topography scheme, implemented in the climate model, reproduces the observed detailed spatial temperature structures at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and reduces the tendency to overestimate precipitation along the southern coastal areas of China in summer.     

Numerical Simulation and Evaluation of a New Hydrological Model Coupled with GRAPES

Hydrological processes exert enormous influences on the land surface water and energy balance, and have a close relationship with human society. We have developed a new hydrological runoff parameterization called XXT to improve the performance of a coupled land surface-atmosphere modeling system. The XXT parameterization, which is based upon the Xinanjiang hydrological model and TOPMODEL, includes an optimized function of runoff calculation with a new soil moisture storage capacity distribution curve(SMSCC). We then couple XXT with the Global/Regional Assimilation Prediction System (GRAPES) and compare it to GRAPES coupled with a simple water balance model (SWB).For the model evaluation and comparison, we perform 72-h online simulations using GRAPES-XXT and GRAPES-SWB during two torrential events in August 2007 and July 2008, respectively. The results show that GRAPES can reproduce the rainfall distribution and intensity fairly well in both cases. Differences in the representation of feedback processes between surface hydrology and the atmosphere result in differences in the distributions and amounts of precipitation simulated by GRAPES-XXT and GRAPES-SWB. The runoff simulations are greatly improved by the use of XXT in place of SWB, particularly with respect to the distribution and amount of runoff. The average runoff depth is nearly doubled in the rainbelt area, and unreasonable runoff distributions simulated by GRAPES-SWB are made more realistic by the introduction of XXT. Differences in surface soil moisture between GRAPES-XXT and GRAPES-SWB show that the XXT model changes infiltration and increases surface runoff. We also evaluate river flood discharge in the Yishu River basin. The peak values of flood discharge calculated from the output of GRAPES-XXT agree more closely with observations than those calculated from the output of GRAPES-SWB.     

陆面特征非均一作用参数化及其对区域气候影响的数值模拟试验

本文首先改进了陆地下垫面特征非均一性的次网格尺度参数化方法，然后利用三维地气耦合的区域气候模式，设计一系列值试验，研究了下垫面特征改变对区域气候环境变化的影响，主要分析了陆地表面特征变化对我国苏南附近地区夏季温度化的影响，结果表明采用地下垫面特征非均一作用的次网格尺度参数化方法对于改进数值模拟结果的质量有一定效果。     

The thermodynamic influence of subgrid orography in a global climate model

Assessments of the impacts of climate change typically require information at scales of 10 km or less. Such a resolution in global climate simulations is unlikely for at least two decades. We have developed an alternative to explicit resolution that provides a framework for meeting the needs of climate change impact assessment much sooner. We have applied to a global climate model a physically based subgrid-scale treatment of the influence of orography on temperature, clouds, precipitation, and land surface hydrology. The treatment represents subgrid variations in surface elevation in terms of fractional area distributions of discrete elevation classes. For each class it calculates the height rise/descent of air parcels traveling through the grid cell, and applies the influence of the rise/descent to the temperature and humidity profiles of the elevation class. Cloud, radiative, and surface processes are calculated separately for each elevation class using the same physical parametrizations used by the model without the subgrid orography parametrization. The simulated climate fields for each elevation class can then be distributed in post-processing according to the spatial distribution of surface elevation within each grid cell. Parallel 10-year simulations with and without the subgrid treatment have been performed. The simulated temperature, precipitation and snow water are mapped to 2.5-minute (~5 km) resolution and compared with gridded analyses of station measurements. The simulation with the subgrid scheme produces a much more realistic distribution of snow water and significantly more realistic distributions of temperature and precipitation than the simulation without the subgrid scheme. Moreover, the 250-km grid cell means of most other fields are virtually unchanged by the subgrid scheme. This suggests that the tuning of the climate model without the subgrid scheme is also applicable to the model with the scheme.     

陆面气象要素非均匀分布对模式计算的影响及其参数化初步探讨

为改进陆面过程的参数化，初步探讨了模式中陆面气象要素次网格尺度不均匀性分布对模拟计算结果的影响。应用平均化方法初步探讨陆面过程的参数化，并分析了气象要素次网格尺度不均匀性分布对计算结果的影响特征。结果表明，次网格尺度不均匀性分布对模式的计算结果会产生一定的偏差，可用平均化方法对陆面过程次网格尺度不均匀性分布进行初步参数化。     

Introduction of a sub-grid hydrology in the ISBA land surface model

In atmospheric models, the partitioning of precipitation between infiltration and runoff has a major influence on the terrestrial water budget, and thereby on the simulated weather or climate. River routing models are now available to convert the simulated runoff into river discharge, offering a good opportunity to validate land surface models at the regional scale. However, given the low resolution of global atmospheric models, the quality of the hydrological simulations is much dependent on various processes occurring on unresolved spatial scales. This paper focuses on the parameterization of sub-grid hydrological processes within the ISBA land surface model. Five off-line simulations are performed over the French Rhône river basin, including various sets of parameterizations related to the sub-grid variability of topography, precipitation, maximum infiltration capacity and land surface properties. Parallel experiments are conducted at a high (8 km by 8 km) and low (1° by 1°) resolution, in order to test the robustness of the simulated water budget. Additional simulations are performed using the whole package of sub-grid parameterizations plus an exponential profile with depth of saturated hydraulic conductivity, in order to investigate the interaction between the vertical soil physics and the horizontal heterogeneities. All simulations are validated against a dense network of gauging measurements, after the simulated runoff is converted into discharge using the MODCOU river routing model. Generally speaking, the new version of ISBA, with both the sub-grid hydrology and the modified hydraulic conductivity, shows a better simulation of river discharge, as well as a weaker sensitivity to model resolution. The positive impact of each individual sub-grid parameterization on the simulated discharges is more obvious at the low resolution, whereas the high-resolution simulations are more sensitive to the exponential profile with depth of saturated hydraulic conductivity.     

降水气候强迫下非均匀地表区域平均径流的一种参数化方案

将任一中尺度区域的平均瞬间径流率考虑为区域平均降水量和地表土壤层水分渗透垦的余项.根据降水量在地理空间上分布的实测资料拟合其空间概率密度函数(PDF),并结合土壤入渗物理过程的数学描述及其经验公式,精确估计出地表土壤渗透率及其空间分布,由此建立区域地表径流率的统计-动力学估计方案.换言之,区域内地表产流率可视为区域平均降水量与区域平均的土壤下渗量之差值,而区域内土壤的平均下渗量又町分为非饱和区和饱和区两部分的下渗量来分别计算.就陆面水分循环的物理过程而言,地表入渗现象是在一定的下垫面特性基础上,由一定的水分供应源而形成的.根据大气降水向地表层输送水分的物理过程,在满足植被表层覆盖需水(截流水)和地表层土壤人渗水基础上,多余的降水量才会形成地表径流.凶此,推求地表产流率的主要关键在于地表土壤层需水量.为此奉文根据土壤水分通量方程推导出水分入渗公式.又从描述土壤水分和降水的空间PDF出发,推导出非均匀土壤含水量及降水气候强迫所形成的次网格尺度区域平均径流率计算公式.利用长江三角洲地区1996年降水量和土壤特性等实测资料建立区域平均地表径流率的估计公式,并对其影响凶素进行敏感性试验.结果表明,该方法与用Mosaic方法计算的区域径流率(或产流率)结果十分接近.由此可见,该文提出的降水气候强迫下非均匀地表区域平均径流的这种统计-动力参数化方案,具有相当的可靠性与可行性.     

The coupling of the Common Land Model (CLM0) to a regional climate model (RegCM)

Summary We replace the existing land surface parameterization scheme, the Biosphere-Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS), in a regional climate model (RegCM) with the newly developed Common Land Model (CLM0). The main improvements of CLM0 include a detailed 10-layer soil model, the distinction between soil ice and water phases, a linked photosynthesis-stomatal conductance model, a multilayer snow model, and an improved runoff parameterization. We compare the performance of CLM0 and BATS as coupled to the RegCM in a one year simulation over East Asia. We find that the RegCM/CLM0 improves the winter cold bias present in the RegCM/BATS simulation. With respect to the surface energy balance, lower CLM0 albedos allow the absorption of more solar radiation at the surface. CLM0 tends to simulate higher sensible heat and lower latent heat fluxes than its BATS counterpart. The surface water balance also changes considerably between the two land surface schemes. Compared to BATS, CLM0 precipitation is reduced overall and surface runoff is increased, thereby allowing less water to enter the soil column. Evapotranspiration is lower in CLM0 due to lower ground evaporation, which leads to a wetter surface soil in CLM0 in spite of less precipitation input. However, transpiration is greater in CLM0 than BATS, which has an overall effect of less surface storage during the summertime. Comparison with station observations indicates that CLM0 tends to improve the simulation of root zone soil water content compared to BATS. Another pronounced difference between the two schemes is that CLM0 produces lower snow amounts than BATS because of different snow models and warmer CLM0 temperatures. In this case, BATS snow cover amounts are more in line with observations. Overall, except for the snow amounts, CLM0 appears to improve the RegCM simulation of the surface energy and water budgets compared to BATS.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION ON THE RESPONSE OF LAND SURFACE TO SEVERE WEATHER*

A coupled model of RAMS3b(Regional Atmospheric Modeling System,Version 3b) and LSPM(a land surface process model),in which some basic hydrological processes such as precipitation,evapotranspiration.surface runoff,infiltration and bottom drainage are included,has been established.With the coupled model,we have simulated the response of soil to the sever eweather process which caused the disastrous flood in north italy during 4-7.November,1994,simultaneously compared with the observation and the original RAMS3b,which has a soil and vegetation parameterization scheme(hereafter,SVP) emphasizing on the surface energy fluxes,while some hydrological processes in the soil are not described clearly.The results show that the differences between coupling LSPM and SVP exist mainly in the response of soil to the precipitation.The soil in the SVP never saturates under the strong input of precipitation,while the newly coupled model seems better,the soil has been saturated for one day or more and causes strong surface runoff,which constitutes the flood.Further sensitivity experiments show that the surface hydrological processes are very sensitive to the initial soil moisture and soil type when we compared the results with a relatively dry case and sandy soil.The coupled model has potentiality for simulation on the interaction between regional climate and land surface hydrological processes,and the regional water resources research concerning desertification,drought and flood.     

A simple parameterization of sub-grid scale open water for climate models

The effects of small fractions ( < 30%) of open water covering a grid element are currently neglected even in atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) which incorporate complex land surface parameterization schemes. Here, a method for simulating sub-grid scale open water is proposed which permits any existing land surface model to be modified to account for open water. This new parameterization is tested as an addition to an advanced land surface scheme and, as expected, is shown to produce general increases in the surface latent heat flux at the expense of the surface sensible heat flux. Small changes in temperature are associated with this change in the partitioning of available energy which is driven by an increase in the wetness of the grid element. The sensitivity of the land surface to increasing amounts of open water is dependent upon the type of vegetation represented. Dense vegetation (with a high leaf area index) is shown to complicate the apparently simple model sensitivity and indicates that more advanced methods of incorporating open water into AGCMs need to be considered and compared against the parameterization suggested here. However, the sensitivity of one land surface model to incorporating open water is large enough to warrant consideration of its incorporation into climate models.     

Impact of subgrid scale scheme on topography and landuse for better regional scale simulation of meteorological variables over the western Himalayas

An attempt is made to integrate subgrid scale scheme on the work of Dimri and Ganju (Pure Appl Geophys 167:1–24, 2007) to understand the overall nature of surface heterogeneity and landuse variability along with resolvable finescale micro/meso scale circulation over the Himalayan region, which is having different altitudes and orientations causing prevailing weather conditions to be complex. This region receives large amount of precipitation due to eastward moving low-pressure synoptic weather systems, called western disturbances, during winter season (December, January, February—DJF). Surface heterogeneity and landuse variability of the Himalayan region gives rise to numerous micro/meso scale circulation along with prevailing weather. Therefore, in the present work, a mosaic type parameterization of subgrid scale topography and landuse within a framework of a regional climate model (RegCM3) is extended to study interseasonal variability of surface climate during a winter season (October 1999–March 2000) of the work of Dimri and Ganju (Pure Appl Geophys 167:1–24, 2007). In this scheme, meteorological variables are disaggregated from the coarse grid to the fine grid, land surface calculations are then performed separately for each subgrid cell, and surface fluxes are calculated and reaggregated onto the coarse grid cell for input to the atmospheric model. By doing so, resolvable finescale structures due to surface heterogeneity and landuse variability at coarse grid are subjected to parameterize at regular finescale surface subgrid. Model simulations show that implementation of subgrid scheme presents more realistic simulation of precipitation and surface air temperature. Influence of topographic elevation and valleys is better represented in the scheme. Overall, RegCM3 with subgrid scheme provides more accurate representation of resolvable finescale atmospheric/surface circulations that results in explaining mean variability in a better way.     

Sensitivity of the hydrological cycle to the parametrization of soil hydrology in a GCM

 The sensitivity of the hydrological cycle to soil hydrology is investigated with the LMD GCM. The reference simulation includes the land-surface scheme SECHIBA, with a two-reservoir scheme for soil water storage and runoff at saturation. We studied a non-linear drainage parametrization, and a distributed surface runoff parametrization, accounting for the subgrid scale variability (SSV) of soil moisture capacity, through a distribution where the shape parameter was b. GCM results show that the drainage parametrization induces significant reductions in soil moisture and evaporation rate compared to the reference simulation. They are related to changes in moisture convergence in the tropics, and to a precipitation decrease in the extratropics. When drainage is implemented, the effect of the SSV parametrization (b=0.2) is also to reduce soil moisture and evaporation rates compared to the simulation with drainage only. These changes are much smaller than the former, but the sensitivity of the hydrological cycle to the SSV parametrization is shown to be larger in dry periods, and to be enhanced by an increase of the shape parameter b. The comparison of simulated total runoffs with observed data shows that the soil hydrological parametrizations does not reduce the GCM systematic errors in the annual water balance, but that they can improve the representation of the total runoff’s annual cycle.