Coupling of a biogeochemical model with a simultaneous heat and water model and its evaluation at an alpine meadow site

Alpine meadow covers most of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau where frozen soil is widely distributed. In order to correctly simulate the carbon, water and energy flux of an alpine meadow site at Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, a widely used carbon cycle model Biome-BGC and a cold region land surface model SHAW were coupled. The outputs of the coupled model were validated with the observed carbon fluxes (Gross Primary Productivity, Net Ecosystem Exchange, Ecosystem Respiration), energy fluxes (Latent heat flux, Sensible heat flux), water flux (Evapotranspiration), soil moisture and soil temperature at A’rou site which is located on the east edge of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The results indicate that the coupled model can correctly predict the interactions between alpine meadow ecosystem and atmosphere.