The role of surface energy balance complexity in land surface models' sensitivity to increasing carbon dioxide

Global simulations with the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre climate model coupled to the CHAmeleon Surface Model (CHASM) are used to explore the sensitivity of simulated changes in evaporation, precipitation, air temperature and soil moisture resulting from a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Five simulations, using prescribed sea surface temperatures, are conducted which are identical except in the level of complexity used to represent the surface energy balance. The simulation of air temperature, precipitation, evaporation and soil moisture at 1 2 CO₂ and at 2 2 CO₂ are generally sensitive at statistically significant levels to the complexity of the surface energy balance representation (i.e. the level of complexity used to represent these processes affects the simulated climate). However, changes in mean quantities, resulting from a doubling of atmospheric CO₂, are generally insensitive to the surface energy balance complexity. Conversely, changes in the spatial and temporal variance of evaporation and soil moisture are sensitive to the surface energy balance complexity. The addition of explicit canopy interception to the simplest model examined here enables that model to capture the change in the variance of evaporation simulated by the more complex models. In order to simulate changes in the variability of soil moisture, an explicit parameterization of bare soil evaporation is required. Overall, our results increase confidence that the simulation by climate models of the mean impact of increasing CO₂ on climate are reliable. Changes in the variability resulting from increased CO₂ on air temperature, precipitation or evaporation are also likely to be reliable since climate models typically use sufficiently complex land surface schemes. However, if the impact of increased CO₂ on soil moisture is required, then a more complex surface energy balance representation may be needed in order to capture changes in variability. Overall, our results imply that the level of complexity used by most climate models to represent the surface energy balance is appropriate and does not contribute significant uncertainty in the simulation of changes resulting from increasing CO₂. Our results only relate to surface energy balance complexity, and major uncertainties remain in how to model the surface hydrology and changes in the physiology, structural characteristics and distribution of vegetation. Future developments of land surface models should therefore focus on improving the representation of these processes.     

高寒草甸生态系统陆地生物圈模式研究及应用

改进了适合于高寒草甸生态系统的陆地生物圈模式，分析了模式中温度变化与水分运动分层的物理原因，说明了气候状况对地表面能量交换的影响，给出了净辐射和蒸散量新的计算方法，提出了有限差分计算中具有二阶精度的Euler隐式格式，介绍了中国科学院海北高寒草甸生态站的气候概况和野外观测情况。最后利用本模式对高寒草甸生态站地区的土壤－－植被－－大气间水热交换过程进行了数值模拟，模拟值与实测值吻合较好。     

An annual cycle of vegetation in a GCM. Part II: global impacts on climate and hydrology

The Met Office Hadley Centre Unified Model (HadAM3) with the tiled version of the Met Office Surface Exchange Scheme (MOSES2) land surface scheme is used to assess the impact of a comprehensive imposed vegetation annual cycle on global climate and hydrology. Two 25-year numerical experiments are completed: the first with structural vegetation characteristics (Leaf Area Index, LAI, canopy height, canopy water capacity, canopy heat capacity, albedo) held at annual mean values, the second with realistic seasonally varying vegetation characteristics. It is found that the seasonalities of latent heat flux and surface temperature are widely affected. The difference in latent heat flux between experiments is proportional to the difference in LAI. Summer growing season surface temperatures are between 1 and 4 K lower in the phenology experiment over a majority of grid points with a significant vegetation annual cycle. During winter, midlatitude surface temperatures are also cooler due to brighter surface albedo over low LAI surfaces whereas during the dry season in the tropics, characterized by dormant vegetation, surface temperatures are slightly warmer due to reduced transpiration. Precipitation is not as systematically affected as surface temperature by a vegetation annual cycle, but enhanced growing season precipitation rates are seen in regions where the latent heat flux (evaporation) difference is large. Differences between experiments in evapotranspiration, soil moisture storage, the timing of soil thaw, and canopy interception generate regional perturbations to surface and sub-surface runoff annual cycles in the model.     

Towards closing the vertical water balance in Canadian atmospheric models: Coupling of the land surface scheme class with the distributed hydrological model watflood

Abstract

Second generation land surface schemes are the subject of much development activity among atmospheric modellers. This work is aimed at, among other things, improving the representation of the soil water balance in order to simulate, more properly, exchanges with the atmosphere and to permit the use of model output to generate streamflow for model validation. The Canadian development program is centred on CLASS, the Canadian Land Surface Scheme, developed at Environment Canada. This paper focuses on the improvement of hydrology in CLASS. This was accomplished by designing a two‐way interface to WATFLOOD, a distributed hydrologic model developed at the University of Waterloo. The two models share many features, which facilitated the coupling procedure.

The interface retains the three‐layer vertical moisture budget representation in CLASS but adds three horizontal runoff possibilities. Runoff from the surface water follows Manning's equation for overland flow. Interflow is generated from the near‐surface soil layer using a parametrization of Richard's equation and base flow is produced by Darcian flow from the bottom of layer 3. An approximation of the internal topography of grid elements is used to supply horizontal gradients for the runoff components.

Tests are in progress in four Canadian study areas. Initial results are presented for the summer of 1993 for the Saugeen River in southwestern Ontario. The new scheme produces realistic hydrographs, whereas the old scheme did not. Bare ground evaporation is reduced by about 17% as a consequence of reduced water availability in layer 1. Evapotranspiration is not affected because the rooting depth extends into layer 3, in which soil moisture does not change appreciably with the new scheme. These results suggest that the new scheme improves the representation of streamflow in WATFLOOD/CLASS and of the soil moisture budget in CLASS. Work is in progress to validate this result over basins, such as the BOREAS study watersheds, where both runoff and evapotranspiration measurements are available.     

SENSITIVITY TESTS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN LAND SURFACE PHYSICAL PROCESS AND ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER

In this paper,an interactive model between land surface physical process and atmosphereboundary layer is established,and is used to simulate the features of soil environmental physics,surface heat fluxes,evaporation from soil and evapotranspiration from vegetation and structures ofatmosphere boundary layer over grassland underlying.The sensitivity experiments are engaged inprimary physics parameters.The results show that this model can obtain reasonable simulation fordiurnal variations of heat balance,soil volumetric water content,resistance of vegetationevaporation,flux of surface moisture,and profiles of turbulent exchange coefficient,turbulentmomentum,potential temperature,and specific humidity.The model developed can be used tostudy the interaction between land surface processes and atmospheric boundary layer in cityregions,and can also be used in the simulation of regional climate incorporating a mesoscalemodel.     

SENSITIVITY TESTS OF INTERACTION BETWEEN LAND SURFACE PHYSICAL PROCESS AND ATMOSPHERIC BOUNDARY LAYER*

In this paper,an interactive model between land surface physical process and atmosphere boundary layer is established,and is used to simulate the features of soil environmental physics,surface heat fluxes,evaporation from soil and evapotranspiration from vegetation and structures of atmosphere boundary layer over grassland underlying.The sensitivity experiments are engaged in primary physics parameters.The results show that this model can obtain reasonable simulation for diurnal variations of heat balance,soil volumetric water content,resistance of vegetation evaporation,flux of surface moisture,and profiles of turbulent exchange coefficient,turbulent momentum,potential temperature,and specific humidity.The model developed can be used to study the interaction between land surface processes and atmospheric boundary layer in city regions,and can also be used in the simulation of regional climate incorporating a mesoscale model.     

Parameterization of snow-free land surface albedo as a function of vegetation phenology based on MODIS data and applied in climate modelling

The aim of this study was to develop an advanced parameterization of the snow-free land surface albedo for climate modelling describing the temporal variation of surface albedo as a function of vegetation phenology on a monthly time scale. To estimate the effect of vegetation phenology on snow-free land surface albedo, remotely sensed data products from the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board the NASA Terra platform measured during 2001 to 2004 are used. The snow-free surface albedo variability is determined by the optical contrast between the vegetation canopy and the underlying soil surface. The MODIS products of the white-sky albedo for total shortwave broad bands and the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) are analysed to separate the vegetation canopy albedo from the underlying soil albedo. Global maps of pure soil albedo and pure vegetation albedo are derived on a 0.5° regular latitude/longitude grid, re-sampling the high-resolution information from remote sensing-measured pixel level to the model grid scale and filling up gaps from the satellite data. These global maps show that in the northern and mid-latitudes soils are mostly darker than vegetation, whereas in the lower latitudes, especially in semi-deserts, soil albedo is mostly higher than vegetation albedo. The separated soil and vegetation albedo can be applied to compute the annual surface albedo cycle from monthly varying leaf area index. This parameterization is especially designed for the land surface scheme of the regional climate model REMO and the global climate model ECHAM5, but can easily be integrated into the land surface schemes of other regional and global climate models.     

陆面过程和大气边界层相互作用敏感性实验

文中建立了一个研究陆面物理过程与大气边界层相互作用的模式。模拟了草原下垫面的土壤 环境物理、地面热量通量、蒸发、蒸散及大气边界层结构特征。并对主要的环境物理参数进 行了敏感性实验。结果表明，本模式能合理地模拟地表热量平衡、土壤体积含水量、植被蒸 发阻抗、地表水汽通量日变化和湍流交换系数、湍流动能、位温和比湿廓线等。该模式还可 进一步应用于研究城市陆面物理过程与大气边界层相互作用机制，及与中尺度大气模式耦合用于区域气候的研究。     

Modelling of the OASIS Energy Flux Measurements Using Two Canopy Concepts

Two land surface schemes, SCAM and CSIRO9, were used to model the measured energy fluxes during the OASIS (Observations At Several Interacting Scales) field program. The measurements were taken at six sites along a 100 km rainfall gradient. Two types of simulations were conducted: (1) offline simulations forced with measured atmospheric input data at each of the six sites, and (2) regional simulations with the two land surface schemes coupled to the regional climate model DARLAM.The two land surface schemes employ two different canopy modelling concepts: in SCAM the vegetation is conceptually above the ground surface, while CSIRO9 employs the more commonly used `horizontally tiled' approach in which the vegetation cover is modelled by conceptually placing it beside bare ground. Both schemes utilize the same below-ground components (soil hydrological and thermal models) to reduce the comparison to canopy processes only. However, the ground heat flux, soil evaporation and evapotranspiration are parameterised by the two canopy treatments somewhat differently.Both canopy concepts reproduce the measured energy fluxes. SCAM has a slightly higher root-mean standard error in the model-measurement comparison for the ground heat flux. The mean surface radiative temperature simulated by SCAM is approximately 1K lower than in the CSIRO9 simulations. However, the soil and vegetation temperatures (which contribute to the radiative temperature) varied more in the CSIRO9 simulations. These larger variations are due to the absence of a representation of the aerodynamic interactions between vegetation and ground.     

An annual cycle of vegetation in a GCM. Part I: implementation and impact on evaporation

The sensitivity of evaporation to a prescribed vegetation annual cycle is examined globally in the Met Office Hadley Centre Unified Model (HadAM3) which incorporates the Met Office Surface Exchange Scheme (MOSES2) as the land surface scheme. A vegetation annual cycle for each plant functional type in each grid box is derived based on satellite estimates of Leaf Area Index (LAI) obtained from the nine-year International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project II dataset. The prescribed model vegetation seasonality consists of annual cycles of a number of structural vegetation characteristics including LAI as well as canopy height, surface roughness, canopy water capacity, and canopy heat capacity, which themselves are based on empirical relationships with LAI. An annual cycle of surface albedo, which in the model is a function of soil albedo, surface soil moisture, and LAI, is also modelled and agrees reasonably with observed estimates of the surface albedo annual cycle. Two 25-year numerical experiments are completed and compared: the first with vegetation characteristics held at annual mean values, the second with prescribed realistic seasonally varying vegetation. Initial analysis uncovered an unrealistically weak relationship between evaporation and vegetation state that is primarily due to the insensitivity of evapotranspiration to LAI. This weak relationship is strengthened by the adjustment of two MOSES2 parameters that together improve the models LAI-surface conductance relationship by comparison with observed and theoretical estimates. The extinction coefficient for photosynthetically active radiation, k _par , is adjusted downwards from 0.5 to 0.3, thereby enhancing the LAI-canopy conductance relationship. A canopy shading extinction coefficient, k _sh , that controls what fraction of the soil surface beneath a canopy is directly exposed to the overlying atmosphere is increased from 0.5 to 1.0, which effectively reduces soil evaporation under a dense canopy. When the experiments are repeated with the adjusted parameters, the relationship between evaporation and vegetation state is strengthened and is more spatially consistent. At nearly all locations, the annual cycle of evaporation is enhanced in the seasonally varying vegetation experiment. Evaporation is stronger during the peak of the growing season and, in the tropics, reduced transpiration during the dry season when LAI is small leads to significantly lower total evaporation.     

Sensitivity of high-resolution Arctic regional climate model projections to different implementations of land surface processes

This paper discusses the effects of vegetation cover and soil parameters on the climate change projections of a regional climate model over the Arctic domain. Different setups of the land surface model of the regional climate model HIRHAM were realized to analyze differences in the atmospheric circulation caused by (1) the incorporation of freezing/thawing of soil moisture, (2) the consideration of top organic soil horizons typical for the Arctic and (3) a vegetation shift due to a changing climate. The largest direct thermal effect in 2 m air temperature was found for the vegetation shift, which ranged between −1.5 K and 3 K. The inclusion of a freeze/thaw scheme for soil moisture shows equally large sensitivities in spring over cool areas with high soil moisture content. Although the sensitivity signal in 2 m air temperature for the experiments differs in amplitude, all experiments show changes in mean sea level pressure (mslp) and geopotential height (z) throughout the troposphere of similar magnitude (mslp: −2 hPa to 1.5 hPa, z: −15 gpm to 5 gpm). This points to the importance of dynamical feedbacks within the atmosphere-land system. Land and soil processes have a distinct remote influence on large scale atmospheric circulation patterns in addition to their direct, regional effects. The assessment of induced uncertainties due to the changed implementations of land surface processes discussed in this study demonstrates the need to take all those processes for future Arctic climate projections into account, and demonstrates a clear need to include similar implementations in regional and global climate models.     

Sensitivity study and validation of a land surface parameterization using the HAPEX-MOBILHY data set

A simple parameterization of land surface processes, amenable to the structure of a two-layer soil model, including a representation of the vegetation, has been designed for use in meteorological models. Prior to implementation in a mesoscale model, it is necessary to check the components and to verify the good working order of the parameterization as a whole. The aims of this paper then are: (i) evaluation and a sensitivity study of the various components of the model, specifying the needed accuracy for the parameters; (ii) micrometeorological validation of the model against the HAPEX-MOBILHY data set.First, we present the basic scheme. The focus is on the parameterization of surface resistance, and especially on its relationship with soil moisture.A sensitivity study is then performed through a set of one-dimensional simulations which allow a full interaction between the ground and the atmosphere. Above bare ground, it is shown that both soil texture and initial moisture greatly influence the outcome of the simulation. Latent heat flux ranges from that associated with potential evaporation through a switch-like behavior to that of dry soil. Next, the effects of transpiring vegetation canopies on the physical processes involved and the surface energy balance are examined. The sensitivity of the latent heat flux to changes in the soil and canopy parameters is emphazised; the major influence of the initial mean soil moisture and of the vegetation cover is pointed out. Finally, the evolution of the boundary layer in response to various surface conditions is studied.A validation of the land surface scheme is conducted through daily cycles during cloudless days. Simulated turbulent fluxes are successfully compared to micrometeorological measurements over a maize field at different growth stages. Over a pine forest, the correct simulation of the turbulent fluxes is obtained with an adequate parameterization of the surface resistance accounting for the atmospheric moisture deficit.     

植被覆盖异常变化影响陆面状况的数值模拟

利用NCAR最新的公用陆面模式CLM3．0，通过数值模拟初步研究了植被叶面积指数（LAI，leafareaindex）异常变化对陆面状况的可能影响，结果表明，植被LAI的异常变化能够引起地表能量平衡、地表水循环等陆面状况的异常。（1）植被LAI的异常变化主要影响太阳辐射在植被与地表之间的分配，以及地表的感热、潜热通量。植被LAI增大，能够引起植被吸收的太阳辐射增加，而到达土壤表面的太阳辐射减小，并导致植被的蒸发、蒸腾潜热通量增加，造成地表的蒸发潜热和感热通量不同程度的减小。（2）植被LAI增大时，植被对降水的拦截和植被叶面的蒸发增大，植被的蒸腾作用也明显增强；植被LAI增加会使得热带地区各个季节的土壤表面蒸发、地表径流减小，而土壤湿度有所增加；LAI增加造成中高纬度地区土壤蒸发的减少主要出现在夏季；LAI增加还能够引起中高纬地区冬、春积雪深度不同程度的增加，造成春末、夏初地表径流的增加。（3）植被LAI增加能够使得叶面和土壤温度有所下降，但植被LAI的变化对叶面、土壤温度的影响相对较小。     

Climate sensitivity to wetlands and wetland vegetation in mid-Holocene North Africa

 Wetland regions are important components of the local climate, with their own characteristic surface energy and moisture budgets. Realistic representation of wetlands, including the important vegetation component, may therefore be necessary for more accurate simulations of climate and climate change. However, many land-atmosphere coupled models either ignore wetlands or treat wetlands as bare, water-saturated soil, neglecting the vegetation present within wetland environments. This study investigates the possible response of the mid-Holocene climate of North Africa to changes in orbital forcing, both with and without the presence of wetlands. The location of these wetlands is guided by analysis of paleovegetation and wetland distribution. In this study, the wetland regime in the land surface component of a climate model was modified to incorporate vegetation. Field measurements have shown that vegetation affects water loss associated with evaporation (including transpiration) within a wetland area. Comparisons between non-vegetated wetland and vegetated wetland revealed an increase in local albedo that produced an associated decrease in net radiation, evaporation and precipitation in the vicinity of the wetlands regions. Based on an analysis of the model surface water balance, the calculated area of mid-Holocene wetland coverage for North Africa closely matches the observed. For the North African region as a whole, the effects of adding vegetation to the wetland produced relatively small changes in climate, but local recycling of water may have served to help maintain paleo wetland communities. Received: 16 March 1999 / Accepted: 17 May 2000     

Modelling surface energy fluxes and temperatures in dry and wet bare soils

Abstract

A physically‐based numerical model was developed to estimate the temporal course of the surface energy flux densities and the soil temperatures in dry and wet bare soils. Aerodynamic heat, vapour and momentum transfer theory was used to calculate the sensible and latent heat flux densities at the surface under diabatic and adiabatic conditions. A finite‐difference solution of the differential equation describing one‐dimensional heat transfer was used to calculate the surface soil heat flux density and soil profile temperatures. The surface temperature was determined iteratively by the simultaneous solution of equations describing radiative, heat and momentum transfer at the surface. The model was tested with measurements from energy balance studies conducted on a dry, sandy soil and a wet, silt loam soil, and was found to predict accurately the surface energy fluxes and soil temperatures over three‐day periods under conditions of potential and negligible evaporation. The sensitivity of the model to uncertainties in the aerodynamic roughness lengths for momentum (z₀) and heat (z_T) is reported. Values for z₀ and Z₀/Z_T of 0.5 mm and 3.0, respectively, resulted in the best agreement between modelled and measured values of the fluxes and temperatures for both soils.     

An unsaturated soil water flow problem and its numerical simulation

1.IntroductionUnsaturatedsoilwaterflowisaflowwherewaterisnotfullofsoilhole,whichisanimportantformofflowinporousmedia.Predictionofanunsaturatedflowisprovidedwithsignificanceinmanybranchesofscienceandengineering.Theseincludeatmosphericscience,soilscien...     

Atmosphere-land cover feedbacks alter the response of surface temperature to CO2 forcing in the western United States

In order to test the sensitivity of regional climate to regional-scale atmosphere-land cover feedbacks, we have employed a regional climate model asynchronously coupled to an equilibrium vegetation model, focusing on the western United States as a case study. CO₂-induced atmosphere-land cover feedbacks resulted in statistically significant seasonal temperature changes of up to 3.5°C, with land cover change accounting for up to 60% of the total seasonal response to elevated atmospheric CO₂ levels. In many areas, such as the Great Basin, albedo acted as the primary control on changes in surface temperature. Along the central coast of California, soil moisture effects magnified the temperature response in JJA and SON, with negative surface soil moisture anomalies accompanied by negative evaporation anomalies, decreasing latent heat flux and further increasing surface temperature. Additionally, negative temperature anomalies were calculated at high elevation in California and Oregon in DJF, MAM and SON, indicating that future warming of these sensitive areas could be mitigated by changes in vegetation distribution and an associated muting of winter snow-temperature feedbacks. Precipitation anomalies were almost universally not statistically significant, and very little change in mean seasonal atmospheric circulation occurred in response to atmosphere-land cover feedbacks. Further, the mean regional temperature sensitivity to regional-scale land cover feedbacks did not exceed the large-scale sensitivity calculated elsewhere, indicating that spatial heterogeneity does not introduce non-linearities in the response of regional climate to CO₂-induced atmosphere-land cover feedbacks.     

Coupling the Common Land Model to ECHAM5 Atmospheric General Circulation Model

The ECHAM5 model is coupled with the widely used Common Land Model(CoLM). ECHAM5 is a state-of-theart atmospheric general circulation model incorporated into the integrated weather and climate model of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences(CAMS-CSM). Land surface schemes in ECHAM5 are simple and do not provide an adequate representation of the vegetation canopy and snow/frozen soil processes. Two AMIP(Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project)-type experiments using ECHAM5 and ECHAM5-CoLM are run over 30 yr and the results are compared with reanalysis and observational data. It is found that the pattern of land surface temperature simulated by ECHAM5-CoLM is significantly improved relative to ECHAM5. Specifically, the cold bias over Eurasia is removed and the root-mean-square error is reduced in most regions. The seasonal variation in the zonal mean land surface temperature and the in situ soil temperature at 20-and 80-cm depths are both better simulated by ECHAM5-CoLM. ECHAM5-CoLM produces a more reasonable spatial pattern in the soil moisture content, whereas ECHAM5 predicts much drier soils. The seasonal cycle of soil moisture content from ECHAM5-CoLM is a better match to the observational data in six specific regions. ECHAM5-CoLM reproduces the observed spatial patterns of both sensible and latent heat fluxes. The strong positive bias in precipitation over land is reduced in ECHAM5-CoLM, especially over the southern Tibetan Plateau and middle–lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the summer monsoon rainy season.