Surface energy balance complexity in GCM land surface models. Part II: coupled simulations

 Global coupled simulations with the Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre climate model and the CHAmeleon Surface Model (CHASM) are used to examine how four general extensions to the representation of the basic land surface energy balance affect simulated land-atmosphere interface variables: evaporation, precipitation, skin temperature and air temperature. The impacts of including separate surface energy balance calculations for: vegetated and non-vegetated portions of the land surface; an explicit parametrisation of canopy resistance; explicit bare ground evaporation; and explicit canopy interception are isolated and quantified. The hypothesis that these aspects of surface energy balance parametrisation do not contain substantial information at the monthly time scale (and are therefore not important to consider in a land surface model) is shown to be false. Considerable sensitivity to each of the four general surface energy balance extensions is identified in average pointwise monthly changes for important land-atmosphere interface variables. Average pointwise changes in monthly precipitation and land evaporation are equal to about 40 and 31–37% of the global-average precipitation and land evaporation respectively. Average pointwise changes for land surface skin temperature and lowest model layer air temperature are about 2 and 0.9 K respectively. The average pointwise change and average pointwise biases are statistically significant at 95% in all cases. Substantial changes to zonally average variables are also identified. We demonstrate how the globally averaged surface resistance parameter can vary from 150 to 25 s/m depending on which aspects of the surface energy balance are treated implicitly. We also show that if interception is treated implicitly, the effective surface resistance must vary geographically in order to capture the behaviour of a model which treats this process explicitly. The implication of these results for the design of land surface models is discussed. Received: 8 July 1999 / Accepted: 1 September 2000     

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.     

植被冠层截留对地表水分和能量平衡影响的数值模拟

利用NCAR_CLM4.0模式,通过有无植被冠层截留的试验对比分析,讨论了植被冠层截留对全球陆面水分和能量平衡产生的潜在影响.结果表明:就全球水分平衡而言,不考虑植被冠层截留时,全球平均土壤总含水量、表面径流和次表面径流增加,蒸散发减少.空间分布特征表明,低纬地区各水分平衡分量全年维持较高的差值分布,并随季节变化沿赤道南北振荡;北半球中高纬高值区有春季扩张、夏季极盛、秋冬季撤退的趋势.冠层截留消失后冠层蒸发的消失是蒸散发减弱的主要原因.对于能量平衡而言,不考虑冠层截留时,全球感热通量增加,冠层感热的增加明显大于地面感热的减少;潜热减少.此外,不同植被类型对不考虑冠层截留后产生的响应存在明显差异.     

Validation of parametrisations for the meridional energy and moisture transport used in simple climate models

Parametrisations of meridional energy and moisture transport used in zonally averaged climate models are validated using reanalysis data and results from a doubling CO₂-experiment from a general circulation model. Global meridional fluxes of moisture and sensible heat are calculated by integrating surface and top-of-the-atmosphere vertical fluxes from one pole to the other. The parametrisations include an eddy-diffusion term, representing down-gradient transport of specific humidity and temperature due to the transient atmospheric eddies at mid- and high latitudes, and simple representations of the mean meridional circulation. Qualitative and quantitative agreement between the increased hydrological cycle in the 2×CO₂-run from the GCM and the parametrisation is found. The performance for the sensible heat flux shows larger differences to the GCM results, particularly at low latitudes. Seasonal variations of the moisture and sensible heat transport are well captured by parametrisations including the influence of the mean meridional circulation. Interannual variability cannot be simulated. An examination of the parametrisations on different spatial scales suggests that they should not be used for small scales. Furthermore, two closures for the zonal distribution of precipitation were examined. They are used in zonally averaged atmosphere models coupled to an ocean model with different ocean basins at one latitudinal belt. An assessment of both the reanalysis data and the GCM results shows that both closures exhibit very similar behaviour and are valid in the long-term mean and seasonal cycle. Interannual variability is not captured well. They become invalid for spatial scales smaller than 10^∘. Received: 30 November 1998 / Accepted: 4 July 1999     

半干旱区陆面模式参数对水分循环的敏感性研究

植被覆盖对陆气之间物质和能量交换过程具有极其重要的影响,但植被覆盖对于交换过程的影响因子很多,关系复杂.作者研究了各种植被因子对陆气之间水分循环的作用和相对重要性.首先通过单点NO-AH模式对吉林通榆农田下垫面2004年土壤和边界层各物理量进行模拟,并与观测结果比较和评价,肯定了单点NOAH模式模拟能力.使用这一模式进行敏感试验,将与植被有关的参数分别在其取值范围取较大与较小值,比较水分循环各物理量如土壤湿度、土壤蒸发、植被蒸腾等的变化情况.试验表明在各参数中植被气孔阻抗、根系深度、土壤湿度初值和反照率对水分循环的影响较大,而叶面积指数、粗糙度和冠层阻抗则影响较小.     

Calculations of river-runoff in the GISS GGM: impact of a new land-surface parameterization and runoff routing model on the hydrology of the Amazon River

This study examines the impact of a new land-surface parameterization and a river routing scheme on the hydrology of the Amazon basin, as depicted by the NASA/Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) global climate model (GCM). The more physically realistic land surface scheme introduces a vegetation canopy resistance and a six-layer soil system. The new routing scheme allows runoff to travel from a river's headwater to its mouth according to topography and other channel characteristics and improves the timing of the peak flow. River runoff is examined near the mouth of the Amazon and for all of its sub-basins. With the new land-surface parameterization, river run-off increases significantly and is consistent with that observed in most basins and at the mouth. The representation of the river hydrology in small basins is not as satisfactory as in larger basins. One positive impact of the new land-surface parameterization is that it produces more realistic evaporation over the Amazon basin, which was too high in the previous version of the GCM. The realistic depiction of evaporation also affects the thermal regime in the lower atmosphere in the Amazon. In fact, the lower evaporation in some portions of the basin reduces the cloudiness, increases the solar radiation reaching the ground, increases the net radiation at the surface, and warms the surface as compared to observations. Further GCM improvement is needed to obtain a better representation of rainfall processes.     

The impact of implementing the bare essentials of surface transfer land surface scheme into the BMRC GCM

This study describes the first order impacts of incorporating a complex land-surface scheme, the bare essentials of surface transfer (BEST), into the Australian Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre (BMRC) global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). Land seasonal climatologies averaged over the last six years of integrations after equilibrium from the GCM with BEST and without BEST (the control) are compared. The modeled results are evaluated with comprehensive sources of data, including the layer-cloud climatologies from the international satellite cloud climatology project (ISCCP) data from 1983 to 1991 and the surface-observed global data of Warren et al., a five-year climatology of surface albedo estimated from earth radiation budget experiment (ERBE) top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) radiatioe fluxes, global grid point datasets of precipitation, and the climatological analyses of surface evaporation and albedo. Emphasis is placed on the surface evaluation of simulations of landsurface conditions such as surface roughness, surface albedo and the surface wetness factor, and on their effects on surface evaporation, precipitation, layer-cloud and surface temperature. The improvements due to the inclusion of BEST are: a realistic geographical distribution of surface roughness, a decrease in surface albedo over areas with seasonal snow cover, and an increase in surface albedo over snow-free land. The simulated reduction in surface evaporation due, in part, to the biophysical control of vegetation, is also consistent with the previous studies. Since the control climate has a dry bias, the overall simulations from the GCM with BEST are degraded, except for significant improvements for the northern winter hemisphere because of the realistic vegetation-masking effects. The implications of our results for synergistic developments of other aspects of model parameterization schemes such as boundary layer dynamics, clouds, convection and rainfall are discussed.     

Local climates simulated by two generations of Canadian GCM land surface schemes

Abstract

The performance of two Canadian land surface schemes of widely differing complexity is compared and contrasted in a pair of year‐long simulations using the GCM developed at Atmospheric Environment Service, Canada. The old land surface model incorporates the force‐restore method for soil temperatures and the bucket approximation for soil moisture; the new model, CLASS (Canadian Land Surface Scheme) features three soil layers, an explicitly modelled snow layer, a thermally separate vegetation canopy, and physically‐based calculations of heat and moisture transfers between all of the land surface components and the atmosphere.

It was reported in previous papers that compared with observations, the old scheme tends to generate a climate which is characterized by anomalously high precipitation rates and cold temperatures over land. In this paper, by reference to field measurements and to the energy fluxes and temperatures generated by the two models at local scales, the hypotheses earlier postulated as to the underlying reasons for this are validated. The main factor contributing to the climate anomalies observed with the old scheme is found to be its generation of excessive evaporation rates; this is caused by the fact that the evaporation rate is never directly energy‐limited, the fact that the scaling of the evaporation rale with decreasing soil moisture content underestimates the effect of vegetation stomatal resistance, and the fact that the evaporation rate over bare soil depends not on the surface soil moisture, but on the moisture content of whole modelled soil column. The cold surface temperatures are additionally attributed to systematic errors incurred by the forward‐stepping temperature scheme, and to the fact that soils subjected to subzero temperature forcing in the winter are modelling as freezing completely. Finally, the inability of the old scheme to simulate partially frozen soils means that it proves unable to handle either shallow frost penetration at temperature latitudes, or the development of an active layer in permafrost.     

Urban surface modeling and the meso-scale impact of cities

Summary New developments of the international community in modeling the urban canopy surface energy balance are presented and classified into five main categories: (i) models statistically fit to observations, (ii) and (iii) modified vegetation schemes with or without drag terms in the canopy, and (iv) and (v), new urban canopy schemes, that present both horizontal and vertical surfaces, again with or without a drag approach. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of model are explained. In general, the more the physics are correctly simulated, the more complex are the urban phenomenon that can be addressed, on the other hand however, the more consuming of computer-time and difficult to couple with atmospheric models the scheme becomes. Present use of these new models in meso-scale atmospheric models show their ability to reproduce the phenomenon of the urban heat island (UHI) and some of its consequences – urban breezes, storm initiation, interaction with sea-breeze. Their use opens up new perspectives, for example in the mitigation of the UHI, or assessment of the role of air-conditioning systems or the impact of urban dynamics on air pollution. However, there is need to validate further the different urban models available. In particular it is necessary to compare model output with urban surface energy balance measurements. An intercomparison exercise involving these urban schemes is suggested as an efficient way to assess and improve these models.     

Pine forest microclimate simulation using different diffusivities

Proper understanding of, e.g., evaporation from a forest requires an understanding of its microclimate. A well established, steady-state model was used to simulate microclimate and evaporation of a sparse pine forest in central Sweden. Model input included profiles of turbulent diffusivity, boundary-layer resistance, stomatal resistance, wind speed, net and global radiation and needle area density. Momentum balance, energy balance and exponentially decreasing diffusivities were used to study the sensitivity of the evaporation rates and of the temperature and humidity profiles. Model output proved to be unreliable when measured temperature and humidity at the bottom of the stand were used instead of a measured ground heat flux as the lower boundary condition. Energy balance diffusivity was usually larger than momentum balance diffusivity at the canopy top but decreased rapidly to a minimum at approximately the height where the momentum balance diffusivity had its maximum. Energy balance diffusivity commonly showed a secondary maximum below the height of the maximum needle area density. Profiles of Richardson number showed that thermal effects became important just below the canopy top. Bluff-body effects distinguished the energy balance from the momentum balance diffusivity and both were subject to shelter effects. Total evaporation was not very sensitive to the choice of diffusivity when soil heat flux was given as the lower boundary condition.     

Impact of the convection-wind-evaporation feedback on surface climate simulation in general circulation models

The wind-evaporation-convection feedback in the tropics is demonstrated to strongly affect the mean state of surface climate in atmospheric general circulation models. The feedback is shown to be very effective in channeling perturbations from one component of the climate system to other components, e.g., from evaporation to surface wind and from atmospheric convective activity to evaporation. It also provides an effective channel to pass on atmospheric perturbations in the middle and upper troposphere to the surface. As an illustration, it is shown that surface evaporation over tropical oceans is connected with cloud absorption of shortwave radiation through this feedback. Insufficient shortwave cloud absorption, causing excessive shortwave radiation at the surface as is common in most of the climate models, leads to excessive evaporation. Quantitatively, sensitivity of evaporation to short-wave cloud absorption, when averaged over the whole tropics, can be described by an approximate balance of variations in atmospheric radiative cooling and latent heating. This balance is achieved by the impact of radiation on convection, and then on the surface wind and evaporation. This mechanism calls for the need to include atmospheric processes far beyond the surface for improvements of the quality of surface climate simulation.     

An Inverse Method for Determining Source Characteristics for Emergency Response Applications

Turbulence above and within canopies has characteristics distinct from that over rough surfaces. The vertical transport of momentum and scalars is dominated by coherent structures whose origin is now thought to be the result of the unstable inflexion in the profile of the mean wind speed established by the application of canopy drag. This distinctive property leads to the failure of the standard Monin–Obukhov flux–profile relationships over homogeneous canopies, relationships that are assumed in many surface exchange schemes within numerical weather prediction and general circulation models. A modification of the flux–profile relationships is presented that incorporates the effects of the canopy turbulence. The subsequent impacts on the evolution of the surface energy balance and boundary-layer state are investigated within a simple numerical model for the evolution of the boundary layer and canopy state. By comparing cases with and without the modification it is shown that canopy-generated turbulence can lead, not only to the alteration of the flux–profile relationships above the canopy, but also to a different evolution of the surface energy balance and differences in near-surface conditions that would be significant in numerical weather prediction. More fundamentally, the modifications to the flux–profile relationships imply that parameters such as the roughness length and displacement height for canopies should not be considered as invariant properties, but rather as properties that depend on the flow and hence vary systematically with the diabatic stability of the boundary layer.     

Bulk parameterization for a vegetated surface and its application to a simulation of nocturnal drainage flow

Two simple models are presented for describing the surface energy budget above vegetated surfaces. One is the traditional single-source model that includes only one energy budget equation for the entire canopy-soil system, and the other is the double-source model that includes separate energy budget equations for the vegetation canopy and the underlying soil surface. In both models, the bulk transfer coefficients needed to solve the energy budget equations are parameterized as functions of leaf area index, leaf transfer coefficients, and soil surface roughnesses to obtain the best fit to values calculated by a standard multilayer-canopy model. The validity of these models was tested by comparing their performance with that of the multilayer-canopy model for simulation of the surface energy balance and nocturnal drainage flow above vegetation. Results show that the double-source model gives reliable estimations for all cases ranging from sparse to dense vegetation covers; the single-source model is only applicable to dense, fully-covered vegetation. It is also shown that sparse vegetation weakens nocturnal drainage flow, since it isolates the cool underlying soil surface from the atmosphere above the canopy. This phenomenon cannot be described by a traditional single-source model incorporated commonly in many atmospheric models; however, the double-source model adequately describes this process.     

Evaluation of a Photosynthesis-Based Canopy Resistance Formulation in the Noah Land-Surface Model

Accurately representing complex land-surface processes balancing complexity and realism remains one challenge that the weather modelling community is facing nowadays. In this study, a photosynthesis-based Gas-exchange Evapotranspiration Model (GEM) is integrated into the Noah land-surface model replacing the traditional Jarvis scheme for estimating the canopy resistance and transpiration. Using 18-month simulations from the High Resolution Land Data Assimilation System (HRLDAS), the impact of the photosynthesis-based approach on the simulated canopy resistance, surface heat fluxes, soil moisture, and soil temperature over different vegetation types is evaluated using data from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) site, Oklahoma Mesonet, 2002 International H₂O Project (IHOP_2002), and three Ameriflux sites. Incorporation of GEM into Noah improves the surface energy fluxes as well as the associated diurnal cycle of soil moisture and soil temperature during both wet and dry periods. An analysis of midday, average canopy resistance shows similar day-to-day trends in the model fields as seen in observed patterns. Bias and standard deviation analyses for soil temperature and surface fluxes show that GEM responds somewhat better than the Jarvis scheme, mainly because the Jarvis approach relies on a parametrised minimum canopy resistance and meteorological variables such as air temperature and incident radiation. The analyses suggest that adding a photosynthesis-based transpiration scheme such as GEM improves the ability of the land-data assimilation system to simulate evaporation and transpiration under a range of soil and vegetation conditions.     

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.     

Sources of systematic errors in the climatology of a regional climate model over Europe

 Two ten-year simulations made with a European regional climate model (RCM) are compared. They are driven by the same observed sea surface temperatures but use different lateral boundary forcing. For one simulation, RCM AMIP, this forcing is obtained from a standard integration of a global general circulation model (GCM AMIP), whereas for the other simulation, RCM ASSIM, it is derived from a time series of operational analyses. The archive of analysis fields (surface pressure plus winds and temperatures on various pressure levels) is not sufficiently comprehensive to provide directly the full set of driving fields required for the RCM (in particular, no moisture fields are present), so these are obtained via a GCM integration, GCM ASSIM, in which the model is continuously relaxed towards the analysis fields using a data assimilation technique. Errors in RCM AMIP can arise either from the internal RCM physics or from errors in the lateral boundary forcing inherited from GCM AMIP. Errors in RCM ASSIM can arise from the internal RCM physics or the boundary moisture forcing but not from the driving circulation. Although previous studies have considered RCM integrations driven either by output from standard GCM integrations or operational analyses, our study is the first to compare parallel integrations of each type. This allows the total systematic error in an RCM integration driven by standard GCM output to be partitioned into components arising from the driving circulation and the internal RCM physics. These components indicate the scope for reducing regional simulation biases by improving either the driving GCM or the RCM itself. The results relate mainly to elements of surface climate likely to be influenced by both the driving circulation and regional physical processes operating in the RCM. For cloud cover, errors are found to arise largely from the internal RCM physics. Values are too low despite a positive relative humidity bias, indicating shortcomings in the parametrisation scheme used to calculate cloud cover. In summer, surface temperature and precipitation errors are also explained principally by regional processes. For example excessive solar heating leads to anomalously high surface temperatures over southern Europe and excessive drying of the soil reduces precipitation in the south eastern sector of the domain. The lateral boundary forcing reduces precipitation in the south eastern sector of the domain. The lateral boundary forcing also exerts some influence, mainly via a tropospheric cold bias which partially offsets the warming over southern Europe and also increases precipitation. In other seasons the lateral boundary forcing and the regional physics both contribute significantly to the errors in surface temperature and precipitation. In winter the boundary forcing (apart from moisture) is responsible for about 60% of the total error variance for temperature and about 40% for precipitation, due to the cold bias and circulation errors such as a southward shift in the storm track. The remaining errors arise from the regional physics, although for precipitation an excessive supply of moisture from the lateral boundaries also contributes. The skill of the mesoscale component of the surface temperature and precipitation distributions exceeds previous estimates, due to more realistic observed climatology. The mesoscale patterns are very similar in the two RCM simulations indicating that errors in the simulation of fine scale detail arise mainly from inadequate representations of local forcings rather than errors in the large-scale circulation. Circulation errors in RCM AMIP (e.g. cold bias, southward shift of storm track) are also present in GCM AMIP, but are largely absent in RCM ASSIM except in summer. This confirms evidence from previous work that the key to reducing most circulation errors in the RCM lies in improving the driving GCM. Regional processes only make a major contribution to circulation errors in summer, when reduced advection from the boundaries allows errors in surface temperature to be transmitted more effectively into the troposphere. Finally, we find evidence of error balances in the GCM which act to minimise biases in important climatological variables. This reflects tuning of the model physics at GCM resolution. In order to achieve simultaneous optimisation of the RCM and GCM at widely differing resolutions it may be necessary to introduce explicit scale dependences into some aspects of the physics. Received: 17 September 1997/Accepted: 10 March 1998     

The atmospheric boundary layer — advances in knowledge and application

We summarise major activities and advances in boundary-layer knowledge in the 25 years since 1970, with emphasis on the application of this knowledge to surface and boundary-layer parametrisation schemes in numerical models of the atmosphere. Progress in three areas is discussed: (i) the mesoscale modelling of selected phenomena; (ii) numerical weather prediction; and (iii) climate simulations. Future trends are identified, including the incorporation into models of advanced cloud schemes and interactive canopy schemes, and the nesting of high resolution boundary-layer schemes in global climate models.     

On the sensitivity of global warming experiments to the parametrisation of sub-grid scale ocean mixing

An ocean general circulation model coupled to an energy-moisture balance atmosphere model is used to investigate the sensitivity of global warming experiments to the parametrisation of sub-grid scale ocean mixing. The climate sensitivity of the coupled model using three different parametrisations of sub-grid scale mixing is 3°C for a doubling of CO₂ (6°C for a quadrupling of CO₂). This suggests that the ocean has only a weak feedback on global mean surface air temperature although significant regional differences, notably at high latitudes, exist with different sub-grid scale parametrisations. In the experiment using the Gent and McWilliams parametrisation for mixing associated with mesoscale eddies, an enhancement of the surface response in the Southern Ocean is found. This enhancement is largely due to the existence of more realistic sea-ice in the climatological control integration and the subsequent enhanced ice-albedo feedback upon warming. In accordance with earlier analyses, the Gent and McWilliams scheme decreases the global efficiency of ocean heat uptake. During the transient phase of all experiments, the North Atlantic overturning initially weakened but ultimately recovered, surpassing its former strength. This suggests that in the region around the North Atlantic the ocean acts as a negative feedback on local warming during the transient phase but a positive feedback at equilibrium. During the transient phase of the experiments with a more sophisticated and realistic parametrisation of sub-grid scale mixing, warmed Atlantic water was found to penetrate at depth into the Arctic, consistent with recent observations in the region. Received: 14 October 1998 / Accepted: 27 April 1999     

Evaluating a Model of Evaporation and Transpiration with Observations in a Partially Wet Douglas-Fir Forest

The Penman–Monteith equation is extended to describe evaporation of intercepted rain, transpiration and the interaction between these processes in a single explicit function. This single-layer model simulates the effects of heat exchange, stomatal blocking and changed humidity deficit close to the canopy as a function of canopywater storage. Evaporation depends on the distribution of water over the canopy and the energy exchange between wet and dry parts. Transpiration depends on the dry canopy surface resistance that is described with a Jarvis-type response. The explicit functions obtained for water vapour fluxes facilitate a straightforward identificationof the various processes. Canopy water storage amounts and xylem sapflow were measured simultaneously during drying episodes after rainfall in a dense, partially wet, Douglas-fir forest. Estimates of evaporation and transpiration rates are derived from these observations. The analysis shows that evaporation induced transpirationreduction is mainly caused by energy consumption. Changes in water vapour deficit have a minor effect due to a compensating stomatal reaction. The remaining difference between observed and modelled transpiration reduction can be attributed to partial blocking of stomata by the water layer.