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Validation and comparison of two soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer models for tropical Africa

Akkermans, T. ; Lauwaet, D. ; Demuzere, M. ; Vogel, G. ; Nouvellon, Y. ; Ardö, Jonas LU orcid ; Caquet, B. ; De Grandcourt, A. ; Merbold, L. and Kutsch, W. , et al. (2012) In Journal of Geophysical Research 117. p.02013-02013
Abstract
This study aims to compare and validate two soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) schemes: TERRA-ML and the Community Land Model (CLM). Both SVAT schemes are run in standalone mode (decoupled from an atmospheric model) and forced with meteorological in-situ measurements obtained at several tropical African sites. Model performance is quantified by comparing simulated sensible and latent heat fluxes with eddy-covariance measurements. Our analysis indicates that the Community Land Model corresponds more closely to the micrometeorological observations, reflecting the advantages of the higher model complexity and physical realism. Deficiencies in TERRA-ML are addressed and its performance is improved: (1) adjusting input data (root depth)... (More)
This study aims to compare and validate two soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) schemes: TERRA-ML and the Community Land Model (CLM). Both SVAT schemes are run in standalone mode (decoupled from an atmospheric model) and forced with meteorological in-situ measurements obtained at several tropical African sites. Model performance is quantified by comparing simulated sensible and latent heat fluxes with eddy-covariance measurements. Our analysis indicates that the Community Land Model corresponds more closely to the micrometeorological observations, reflecting the advantages of the higher model complexity and physical realism. Deficiencies in TERRA-ML are addressed and its performance is improved: (1) adjusting input data (root depth) to region-specific values (tropical evergreen forest) resolves dry-season underestimation of evapotranspiration; (2) adjusting the leaf area index and albedo (depending on hard-coded model constants) resolves overestimations of both latent and sensible heat fluxes; and (3) an unrealistic flux partitioning caused by overestimated superficial water contents is reduced by adjusting the hydraulic conductivity parameterization. CLM is by default more versatile in its global application on different vegetation types and climates. On the other hand, with its lower degree of complexity, TERRA-ML is much less computationally demanding, which leads to faster calculation times in a coupled climate simulation. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Geophysical Research
volume
117
pages
02013 - 02013
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000304007200001
  • scopus:84861116463
ISSN
2156-2202
DOI
10.1029/2011JG001802
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dc67e4a7-c8b9-407e-ab0f-5a9608b91062 (old id 2812985)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:52:47
date last changed
2022-01-25 17:35:55
@article{dc67e4a7-c8b9-407e-ab0f-5a9608b91062,
  abstract     = {{This study aims to compare and validate two soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer (SVAT) schemes: TERRA-ML and the Community Land Model (CLM). Both SVAT schemes are run in standalone mode (decoupled from an atmospheric model) and forced with meteorological in-situ measurements obtained at several tropical African sites. Model performance is quantified by comparing simulated sensible and latent heat fluxes with eddy-covariance measurements. Our analysis indicates that the Community Land Model corresponds more closely to the micrometeorological observations, reflecting the advantages of the higher model complexity and physical realism. Deficiencies in TERRA-ML are addressed and its performance is improved: (1) adjusting input data (root depth) to region-specific values (tropical evergreen forest) resolves dry-season underestimation of evapotranspiration; (2) adjusting the leaf area index and albedo (depending on hard-coded model constants) resolves overestimations of both latent and sensible heat fluxes; and (3) an unrealistic flux partitioning caused by overestimated superficial water contents is reduced by adjusting the hydraulic conductivity parameterization. CLM is by default more versatile in its global application on different vegetation types and climates. On the other hand, with its lower degree of complexity, TERRA-ML is much less computationally demanding, which leads to faster calculation times in a coupled climate simulation.}},
  author       = {{Akkermans, T. and Lauwaet, D. and Demuzere, M. and Vogel, G. and Nouvellon, Y. and Ardö, Jonas and Caquet, B. and De Grandcourt, A. and Merbold, L. and Kutsch, W. and Van Lipzig, N.}},
  issn         = {{2156-2202}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{02013--02013}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Journal of Geophysical Research}},
  title        = {{Validation and comparison of two soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer models for tropical Africa}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001802}},
  doi          = {{10.1029/2011JG001802}},
  volume       = {{117}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}