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.     

Impact of land surface roughness on downslope windstorm modelling in the Arctic

The article considers the reasons for the underestimation of the wind speed by the WRF-ARW model when simulating downslope windstorms in the Russian Arctic. Simulation results for the Tiksi windstorm, for which sensitivity tests were carried out, appeared to be weakly dependent on the initial and boundary conditions, topography resolution, and boundary layer parameterization. Wind speed underestimation was mostly related to improper land use and the highly overestimated roughness length, which are used in the model. Reduction of the roughness length in accordance with the observations leads not only to a quantitative change in the wind speed in the boundary layer, but to qualitative changes in the dynamics of the flow. Wind underestimation in simulations with the overestimated roughness was caused by the jet stream unrealistically jumping over the lee slope and wake formation in the station area, while jet stream stayed near the surface and propagated to the station area in simulations with the modified roughness length. Modification of land use and roughness length in Tiksi and other regions where downslope windstorms are observed (Novaya Zemlya, Pevek, Wrangel Island) led to a decrease in wind speed modelling error by more than 2.5 times.     

陆面过程模式的敏感性试验

本文对文献[1]中提出的陆面过程模式(简称LPM)进行了下列敏感性试验:1)植被的覆盖度,2)土壤湿润程度,3)不同植被类型(半荒漠、草原、混交林、森林和作物地五种)和4)不同气候带(半干旱、半湿润和湿润带三类)。试验结果与相应的观测和气候状况进行了比较,表明了模式对上述参数或参数组变化的敏感程度。模拟的不同植被和气候带的温湿状况和能量平衡关系是合理的。因此可以用于气候模拟的研究。     

A meteorological analysis of ozone episodes using HYSPLIT model and surface data

Ozone episodes (> 100 ppbv) were observed frequently in Jinan, an urban site located between the highly polluted Yangtze Delta and Beijing–Tianjin region in East China. In this study, the ozone episodes observed in 2004 were analysed using the Hybrid Single-particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and surface meteorological data, as well as Air Pollution Index (API). The meteorological conditions of episode days and non-episode days were compared and examined, and categorization of 6 groups of backward trajectories was performed. The results show that, most episodes were caused by local photochemical production (e.g., induced by sufficient sunshine duration and high temperature) and pollutant accumulation (e.g., induced by little rainfall and low wind speed), and transport of pollutants from the highly polluted regions could significantly influence the air quality at the site, especially from Yangtze Delta region. In addition, three typical ozone episodes were analysed using HYSPLIT model to infer any long-distance transport and surface meteorological data to infer the local ozone production potential. At last, the functions and inadequacies about the usage of HYSPLIT model combined with surface meteorological data for the analysis of photochemical pollution were discussed.     

An investigation of the sensitivity of a land surface model to climate change using a reduced form model

 In an illustration of a model evaluation methodology, a multivariate reduced form model is developed to evaluate the sensitivity of a land surface model to changes in atmospheric forcing. The reduced form model is constructed in terms of a set of ten integrative response metrics, including the timing of spring snow melt, sensible and latent heat fluxes in summer, and soil temperature. The responses are evaluated as a function of a selected set of six atmospheric forcing perturbations which are varied simultaneously, and hence each may be thought of as a six-dimensional response surface. The sensitivities of the land surface model are interdependent and in some cases illustrate a physically plausible feedback process. The important predictors of land surface response in a changing climate are the atmospheric temperature and downwelling longwave radiation. Scenarios characterized by warming and drying produce a large relative response compared to warm, moist scenarios. The insensitivity of the model to increases in precipitation and atmospheric humidity is expected to change in applications to coupled models, since these parameters are also strongly implicated, through the representation of clouds, in the simulation of both longwave and shortwave radiation. Received: 27 March 2000 / Accepted: 11 September 2000     

A study of the performance of a land surface process model (LSPM)

In this paper, a reliable Land-Surface Process Model (LSPM), which is a new version of the LPM of Ji and Hu (1989), is described. The LSPM has been validated with experimental data measured at two stations in the Po Valley (Northern Italy).     

A box model of the Arctic natural variability

We consider a box model of the Arctic system to examine its natural variability pertaining to the decadal Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the multidecadal Low-Frequency Oscillation (LFO). We distinguish the hierarchical order of the winter over the summer open-areas with only the former perturbing the sea-level pressure to effect coupled balances. From such balances, we discern two feedback loops on the winter open-area: a positive ice-flux feedback that elevates its overall variance and a negative buoyancy feedback that suppresses its low-frequency variance to render a decadal AO peak when subjected to white atmospheric noise. This negative buoyancy feedback may also reproduce observed phasing among LFO signals forced by the AMV (Atlantic Multidecadal Variability), thus resolving some outstanding questions. For the summer open-area, its variance is induced mainly by the winter forcings and insensitive to the base state. Its decadal signal merely reflects the preconditioning winter open-area, but its LFO variance is induced additionally and in comparable measure by the winter SAT (surface air temperature) through the latter’s effect on the melt duration and the first-year ice thickness. As such, the summer open-area signal is dominantly multidecadal, which moreover is several times its winter counterpart, consistent with the observed disparity. Although the model is extremely crude, its explicit solution allows quantitative comparison with observations and the generally positive outcome suggests that the model has isolated the essential physics of the Arctic natural variability of our concern.     

Soil temperature response in Korea to a changing climate using a land surface model

The land surface processes play an important role in weather and climate systems through its regulation of radiation, heat, water and momentum fluxes. Soil temperature (ST) is one of the most important parameters in the land surface processes; however, there are few extensive measurements of ST with a long time series in the world. According to the CLImatology of Parameters at the Surface (CLIPS) methodology, the output of a trusted Soil-Vegetation- Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) scheme can be utilized instead of observations to investigate the regional climate of interest. In this study, ST in South Korea is estimated in a view of future climate using the output from a trusted SVAT scheme — the University of TOrino model of land Process Interaction with Atmosphere (UTOPIA), which is driven by a regional climate model. Here characteristic changes in ST are analyzed under the IPCC A2 future climate for 2046-2055 and 2091-2100, and are compared with those under the reference climate for 1996-2005. The UTOPIA results were validated using the observed ST in the reference climate, and the model proved to produce reasonable ST in South Korea. The UTOPIA simulations indicate that ST increases due to environmental change, especially in air temperature (AT), in the future climate. The increment of ST is proportional to that of AT except for winter. In wintertime, the ST variations are different from region to region mainly due to variations in snow cover, which keeps ST from significant changes by the climate change.     

Sub-grid scale precipitation in ALCMs: re-assessing the land surface sensitivity using a single column model

The sensitivity of a land surface scheme to the distribution of precipitation within a general circulation model's grid element is investigated. Earlier experiments which showed considerable sensitivity of the runoff and evaporation simulation to the distribution of precipitation are repeated in the light of other results which show no sensitivity of evaporation to the distribution of precipitation. Results show that while the earlier results over-estimated the sensitivity of the surface hydrology to the precipitation distribution, the general conclusion that the system is sensitive is supported. It is found that changing the distribution of precipitation from falling over 100% of the grid square to falling over 10% leads to a reduction in evaporation from 1578 mm y^–1 to 1195 mm y ^–1 while runoff increases from 278 mm y^–1 to 602 mm y^–1. The sensitivity is explained in terms of evaporation being dominated by available energy when precipitation falls over nearly the entire grid square, but by moisture availability (mainly intercepted water) when it falls over little of the grid square. These results also indicate that earlier work using stand-alone forcing to drive land surface schemes off-line, and to investigate the sensitivity of land surface codes to various parameters, leads to results which are non-repeatable in single column simulations.     

A model of the ground surface temperature for micrometeorological analysis

Micrometeorological models at various scales require ground surface temperature, which may not always be measured in sufficient spatial or temporal detail. There is thus a need for a model that can calculate the surface temperature using only widely available weather data, thermal properties of the ground, and surface properties. The vegetated/permeable surface energy balance (VP-SEB) model introduced here requires no a priori knowledge of soil temperature or moisture at any depth. It combines a two-layer characterization of the soil column following the heat conservation law with a sinusoidal function to estimate deep soil temperature, and a simplified procedure for calculating moisture content. A physically based solution is used for each of the energy balance components allowing VP-SEB to be highly portable. VP-SEB was tested using field data measuring bare loess desert soil in dry weather and following rain events. Modeled hourly surface temperature correlated well with the measured data (r ² = 0.95 for a whole year), with a root-mean-square error of 2.77 K. The model was used to generate input for a pedestrian thermal comfort study using the Index of Thermal Stress (ITS). The simulation shows that the thermal stress on a pedestrian standing in the sun on a fully paved surface, which may be over 500 W on a warm summer day, may be as much as 100 W lower on a grass surface exposed to the same meteorological conditions.     

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.     

Improving the vegetation dynamic simulation in a land surface model by using a statistical-dynamic canopy interception scheme

Canopy interception of incident precipitation, as a critical component of a forest＇s water budget, can affect the amount of water available to the soil, and ultimately vegetation distribution and function. In this paper, a statistical-dynamic approach based on leaf area index and statistical canopy interception is used to parameterize the canopy interception process. The statistical-dynamic canopy interception scheme is implemented into the Community Land Model with dynamic global vegetation model （CLM-DGVM） to improve its dynamic vegetation simulation. The simulation for continental China by the land surface model with the new canopy interception scheme shows that the new one reasonably represents the precipitation intercepted by the canopy. Moreover, the new scheme enhances the water availability in the root zone for vegetation growth, especially in the densely vegetated and semi-arid areas, and improves the model＇s performance of potential vegetation simulation.     

陆面过程中冠层四流辐射传输模式的模拟性能检验

利用实际观测资料检验新发展的植被冠层四流辐射传输模式的模拟性能.将浙江大学田间观测数据用于模式试验,其结果表明:在可见光波段,因叶片散射率值较小,四流模式和二流模式模拟结果差别不大,模拟的冠层反照率都接近观测值.这表明在可见光波段,二流模式已经能够较好模拟芯层反照率,四流模式能够提高的精度范围有限;在近红外波段,因叶片散射率值较大,两个模式模拟结果差别较明显,四流模式模拟的冠层反照率相对二流模式的模拟结果更接近观测值.利用第2次雪模式比较计划SNOWMIP资料和改进的10层陆面模式BATS进行耦合试验,将四流模式以及二流模式均耦合到该陆面模式中,其目的是为考察四流模式对陆面模式模拟地表反射太刚短波辐射通量的影响.耦合后得到的结果与SNOWMIP中加拿大BERMS草地站和森林站的观测资料进行了对比.对比结果表明,采用网流模式、二流模式、BATS原辐射传输模式后,耦合四流模式的陆面模式模拟地表反射太阳短波辐射通量最接近观测值.说明采用四流模式能够改善陆面模式对地表反射太阳短波辐射通啦的模拟.     

Variability in global land surface energy budgets during 1987–1988 simulated by an off-line land surface model

The International Satellite Land-Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Initiative-I 1-degree 1987–1988 data were used to drive a land surface model (LSM) to simulate global surface energy budgets. Simulated surface heat fluxes show remarkable spatial variability and seem to capture well their annual and interannual variability. A shift of maximum evaporation across the equator is more closely related to the seasonal shifting of precipitation pattern than to surface radiation changes. The NCEP/NCAR reanalysis did not reflect this shift, presumably due to its dominant rainfall maximum in the Southern Hemisphere. To assess the “reliability” of these fields, both Global Soil Wetness Project (GSWP) and reanalysis were verified against observations, at two sites. Monthly mean ISLSCP forcing conditions agree fairly well with observations, but its precipitation is usually lower during spring and summer. Low summer GSWP evaporation may be due to low precipitation and incorrect specification of vegetation and soil conditions. The reanalysis had larger seasonal variability than GSWP and observations, and overestimated summer heat fluxes because of its large rainfall and surface radiation. Despite uncertainty in ISLSCP data, an LSM with a modest treatment of vegetation was able to capture reasonably well the seasonal variations in surface heat fluxes at global scales. With some caution, these types of simulations can be used as “pseudo-observations” to evaluate climate-model simulations and to investigate global energy budgets. For the next phase of ISLSCP data development, higher resolution data, which can reflect local heterogeneity of vegetation and soil characteristics, include more rain gauge data are highly desirable to improve model simulations.     

陆面过程模式研发中的问题

陆面过程研究是充分理解天气/气候/地球系统过程不可或缺的重要主题。本文全面梳理了当前用于数值天气/气候/地球系统模式的陆面过程模式研制的问题,建议了当前陆面过程模式研制中需加强和改进完善的关键内容。特别强调在新一代模式研发中建立包含人类活动的高分辨率全球陆面过程模式;特别强调与其他学科相结合,形成不同行业的预报预测系统或研究方法和工具。建议建设中国的集模式发展、数据分析、模拟方法、高性能计算、数据可视化和应用示范为一体的陆面模拟综合集成平台,为天气/气候/地球系统模式提供陆面过程模式,为开展精细化的全球和区域陆面水文-气象-生态的预报预测提供科技支撑。     

Effect of land cover change and elevation on decadal trend of land surface temperature: a linear model with sum contrast analysis

Theoretical and Applied Climatology - Land surface temperature (LST) is a significant factor in surface energy balance and global climatology studies. Land cover (LC) and elevation are two factors...     

Evaluating the impacts of land use and land cover changes on surface air temperature using the WRF-mosaic approach

如何量化土地利用/覆盖变化(LUCC)对区域气候的影响,是人类活动影响气候变化研究中的一个难点。本文利用卫星遥感反映过去三十年东亚区域土地利用变化数据,基于Mosaic近似考虑土地利用及其变化次网格尺度过程,量化了LUCC对地表辐射收支及气温的影响。过去三十年土地利用/覆盖变化对东亚区域总体呈降温效应(中国东部地区增温效应),LUCC导致的地表反照率变化影响地表辐射收支,中国和东亚区域的辐射强迫分别为-0.56 W m~(-2)和-0.50 W m~(-2)。     

陆面模拟中植被辐射传输参数化方案研究

在冠层二流辐射传输模式基础上新发展了一个描述太阳短波辐射在植被中传输的冠层四流辐射传输模式.冠层四流辐射传输模式是在大气辐射传输理论的基础上得到一组描述短波辐射在植被中传输过程的冠层辐射传输基本方程,引进大气中求解辐射传输方程的四流近似解法,并求得冠层四流辐射传输方程的解析解.方程中各项参量能够反映叶子或冠层特殊的几何和光学特征.冠层向上、向下辐射通量取决于冠层散射相函数、叶子在入射光方向投影面积、单个叶子反射率和透射率、叶面积指数以及直射光入射太阳高度角等.四流模式计算叶子水平倾角时对太阳短波辐射的反照率,与二流模式结果比较可以验证模式的理论推导和建模都是正确的:计算结果的比较,表明四流模式在水平叶角分布时计算的冠层反照率与二流模式结果一致,同时直射光从任何太阳高度角入射的冠层反照率结果也一致,从而证明发展的冠层四流辐射传输模式是成功的.模拟试验中将两种模型同时耦合到同一个陆面过程模式中进行比较试验,结果表明,冠层四流辐射传输模式能够得到更精确的植被反照率,从而使得陆面模式计算的地表吸收的净太阳辐射通量更接近于观测值.