Simulation of freeze-thaw cycles in a general circulation model land surface scheme

1998 ◽  
Vol 103 (D10) ◽  
pp. 11303-11312 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Slater ◽  
A. J. Pitman ◽  
C. E. Desborough
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation Model ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Land Surface Scheme ◽  
Freeze Thaw ◽  
Surface Scheme

scholarly journals Modelling root water uptake in a complex land surface scheme coupled to a GCM

1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 239-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. de Rosnay ◽  
J. Polcher
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Water Uptake ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Root Water Uptake ◽  
Soil Water Storage ◽  
Land Surface Scheme ◽  
Surface Scheme

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to improve the representation of root water uptake in the land surface scheme SECHIBA coupled to the LMD General Circulation Model (GCM). Root water uptake mainly results from the interaction between soil moisture and root profiles. Firstly, one aspect of the soil hydrology in SECHIBA is changed: it is shown that increasing the soil water storage capacity leads to a reduction in the frequency of soil water drought, but enhances the mean evapotranspiration. Secondly, the representation of the soil-vegetation interaction is improved by allowing a different root profile for each type of vegetation. The interaction between sub-grid scale variabilities in soil moisture and vegetation is also studied. The approach consists of allocating a separate soil water column to each vegetation type, thereby 'tiling' the grid square. However, the possibility of choosing the degree of soil moisture spatial heterogeneity is retained. These enhancements of the land surface system are compared within a number of GCM experiments.

scholarly journals The CSIRO Mk3L climate system model version 1.0 – Part 1: Description and evaluation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 483-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Phipps ◽  
L. D. Rotstayn ◽  
H. B. Gordon ◽  
J. L. Roberts ◽  
A. C. Hirst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
General Circulation Model ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Climate System ◽  
System Model ◽  
Desktop Computer ◽  
Climate System Model

Abstract. The CSIRO Mk3L climate system model is a coupled general circulation model, designed primarily for millennial-scale climate simulations and palaeoclimate research. Mk3L includes components which describe the atmosphere, ocean, sea ice and land surface, and combines computational efficiency with a stable and realistic control climatology. This paper describes the model physics and software, analyses the control climatology, and evaluates the ability of the model to simulate the modern climate. Mk3L incorporates a spectral atmospheric general circulation model, a z-coordinate ocean general circulation model, a dynamic-thermodynamic sea ice model and a land surface scheme with static vegetation. The source code is highly portable, and has no dependence upon proprietary software. The model distribution is freely available to the research community. A 1000-yr climate simulation can be completed in around one-and-a-half months on a typical desktop computer, with greater throughput being possible on high-performance computing facilities. Mk3L produces realistic simulations of the larger-scale features of the modern climate, although with some biases on the regional scale. The model also produces reasonable representations of the leading modes of internal climate variability in both the tropics and extratropics. The control state of the model exhibits a high degree of stability, with only a weak cooling trend on millennial timescales. Ongoing development work aims to improve the model climatology and transform Mk3L into a comprehensive earth system model.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document