Improving Spatial Patterns Prior to Land Surface Data Assimilation via Model Calibration Using SMAP Surface Soil Moisture Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhong Zhou ◽  
Zhiyong Wu ◽  
Wade T. Crow ◽  
Jianzhi Dong ◽  
Hai He
2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (7) ◽  
pp. 2863-2888
Author(s):  
Liao-Fan Lin ◽  
Zhaoxia Pu

Abstract Strongly coupled land–atmosphere data assimilation has not yet been implemented into operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) systems. Up to now, upper-air measurements have been assimilated mainly in atmospheric analyses, while land and near-surface data have been assimilated mainly into land surface models. Thus, this study aims to explore the benefits of assimilating atmospheric and land surface observations within the framework of strongly coupled data assimilation. Specifically, we added soil moisture as a control state within the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF)-based Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) and conducted a series of numerical experiments through the assimilation of 2-m temperature/humidity and in situ surface soil moisture data along with conventional atmospheric measurements such as radiosondes into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model with the Noah land surface model. The verification against in situ measurements and analyses show that compared to the assimilation of conventional data, adding soil moisture as a control state and assimilating 2-m humidity can bring additional benefits to analyses and forecasts. The impact of assimilating 2-m temperature (surface soil moisture) data is positive mainly on the temperature (soil moisture) analyses but on average marginal for other variables. On average, below 750 hPa, verification against the NCEP analysis indicates that the respective RMSE reduction in the forecasts of temperature and humidity is 5% and 2% for assimilating conventional data; 10% and 5% for including soil moisture as a control state; and 16% and 11% for simultaneously adding soil moisture as a control state and assimilating 2-m humidity data.


2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wade T. Crow ◽  
Emiel Van Loon

Abstract Data assimilation approaches require some type of state forecast error covariance information in order to optimally merge model predictions with observations. The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) dynamically derives such information through a Monte Carlo approach and the introduction of random noise in model states, fluxes, and/or forcing data. However, in land data assimilation, relatively little guidance exists concerning strategies for selecting the appropriate magnitude and/or type of introduced model noise. In addition, little is known about the sensitivity of filter prediction accuracy to (potentially) inappropriate assumptions concerning the source and magnitude of modeling error. Using a series of synthetic identical twin experiments, this analysis explores the consequences of making incorrect assumptions concerning the source and magnitude of model error on the efficiency of assimilating surface soil moisture observations to constrain deeper root-zone soil moisture predictions made by a land surface model. Results suggest that inappropriate model error assumptions can lead to circumstances in which the assimilation of surface soil moisture observations actually degrades the performance of a land surface model (relative to open-loop assimilations that lack a data assimilation component). Prospects for diagnosing such circumstances and adaptively correcting the culpable model error assumptions using filter innovations are discussed. The dual assimilation of both runoff (from streamflow) and surface soil moisture observations appears to offer a more robust assimilation framework where incorrect model error assumptions are more readily diagnosed via filter innovations.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 2015-2033 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Fairbairn ◽  
Alina Lavinia Barbu ◽  
Adrien Napoly ◽  
Clément Albergel ◽  
Jean-François Mahfouf ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study evaluates the impact of assimilating surface soil moisture (SSM) and leaf area index (LAI) observations into a land surface model using the SAFRAN–ISBA–MODCOU (SIM) hydrological suite. SIM consists of three stages: (1) an atmospheric reanalysis (SAFRAN) over France, which forces (2) the three-layer ISBA land surface model, which then provides drainage and runoff inputs to (3) the MODCOU hydro-geological model. The drainage and runoff outputs from ISBA are validated by comparing the simulated river discharge from MODCOU with over 500 river-gauge observations over France and with a subset of stations with low-anthropogenic influence, over several years. This study makes use of the A-gs version of ISBA that allows for physiological processes. The atmospheric forcing for the ISBA-A-gs model underestimates direct shortwave and long-wave radiation by approximately 5 % averaged over France. The ISBA-A-gs model also substantially underestimates the grassland LAI compared with satellite retrievals during winter dormancy. These differences result in an underestimation (overestimation) of evapotranspiration (drainage and runoff). The excess runoff flowing into the rivers and aquifers contributes to an overestimation of the SIM river discharge. Two experiments attempted to resolve these problems: (i) a correction of the minimum LAI model parameter for grasslands and (ii) a bias-correction of the model radiative forcing. Two data assimilation experiments were also performed, which are designed to correct random errors in the initial conditions: (iii) the assimilation of LAI observations and (iv) the assimilation of SSM and LAI observations. The data assimilation for (iii) and (iv) was done with a simplified extended Kalman filter (SEKF), which uses finite differences in the observation operator Jacobians to relate the observations to the model variables. Experiments (i) and (ii) improved the median SIM Nash scores by about 9 % and 18 % respectively. Experiment (iii) reduced the LAI phase errors in ISBA-A-gs but had little impact on the discharge Nash efficiency of SIM. In contrast, experiment (iv) resulted in spurious increases in drainage and runoff, which degraded the median discharge Nash efficiency by about 7 %. The poor performance of the SEKF originates from the observation operator Jacobians. These Jacobians are dampened when the soil is saturated and when the vegetation is dormant, which leads to positive biases in drainage and/or runoff and to insufficient corrections during winter, respectively. Possible ways to improve the model are discussed, including a new multi-layer diffusion model and a more realistic response of photosynthesis to temperature in mountainous regions. The data assimilation should be advanced by accounting for model and forcing uncertainties.


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joaquín Muñoz Sabater ◽  
Lionel Jarlan ◽  
Jean-Christophe Calvet ◽  
François Bouyssel ◽  
Patricia De Rosnay

Abstract Root-zone soil moisture constitutes an important variable for hydrological and weather forecast models. Microwave radiometers like the L-band instrument on board the European Space Agency’s (ESA) future Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are being designed to provide estimates of near-surface soil moisture (0–5 cm). This quantity is physically related to root-zone soil moisture through diffusion processes, and both surface and root-zone soil layers are commonly simulated by land surface models (LSMs). Observed time series of surface soil moisture may be used to analyze the root-zone soil moisture using data assimilation systems. In this paper, various assimilation techniques derived from Kalman filters (KFs) and variational methods (VAR) are implemented and tested. The objective is to correct the modeled root-zone soil moisture deficiencies of the newest version of the Interaction between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere scheme (ISBA) LSM, using the observations of the surface soil moisture of the Surface Monitoring of the Soil Reservoir Experiment (SMOSREX) over a 4-yr period (2001–04). This time period includes contrasting climatic conditions. Among the different algorithms, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and a simplified one-dimensional variational data assimilation (1DVAR) show the best performances. The lower computational cost of the 1DVAR is an advantage for operational root-zone soil moisture analysis based on remotely sensed surface soil moisture observations at a global scale.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertrand Bonan ◽  
Clément Albergel ◽  
Yongjun Zheng ◽  
Alina Lavinia Barbu ◽  
David Fairbairn ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper introduces an ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) in the context of jointly assimilating observations of surface soil moisture (SSM) and the leaf area index (LAI) in the Land Data Assimilation System LDAS-Monde. By ingesting those satellite-derived products, LDAS-Monde constrains the Interaction between Soil, Biosphere and Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface model (LSM), coupled with the CNRM (Centre National de Recherches Météorologiques) version of the Total Runoff Integrating Pathways (CTRIP) model to improve the reanalysis of land surface variables (LSVs). To evaluate its ability to produce improved LSVs reanalyses, the EnSRF is compared with the simplified extended Kalman filter (SEKF), which has been well studied within the LDAS-Monde framework. The comparison is carried out over the Euro-Mediterranean region at a 0.25∘ spatial resolution between 2008 and 2017. Both data assimilation approaches provide a positive impact on SSM and LAI estimates with respect to the model alone, putting them closer to assimilated observations. The SEKF and the EnSRF have a similar behaviour for LAI showing performance levels that are influenced by the vegetation type. For SSM, EnSRF estimates tend to be closer to observations than SEKF values. The comparison between the two data assimilation approaches is also carried out on unobserved soil moisture in the other layers of soil. Unobserved control variables are updated in the EnSRF through covariances and correlations sampled from the ensemble linking them to observed control variables. In our context, a strong correlation between SSM and soil moisture in deeper soil layers is found, as expected, showing seasonal patterns that vary geographically. Moderate correlation and anti-correlations are also noticed between LAI and soil moisture, varying in space and time. Their absolute value, reaching their maximum in summer and their minimum in winter, tends to be larger for soil moisture in root-zone areas, showing that assimilating LAI can have an influence on soil moisture. Finally an independent evaluation of both assimilation approaches is conducted using satellite estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) and gross primary production (GPP) as well as measures of river discharges from gauging stations. The EnSRF shows a systematic albeit moderate improvement of root mean square differences (RMSDs) and correlations for ET and GPP products, but its main improvement is observed on river discharges with a high positive impact on Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency scores. Compared to the EnSRF, the SEKF displays a more contrasting performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 5151-5186 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Jia ◽  
J. Liu ◽  
Z. Xie

Abstract. Twenty years of in situ soil moisture data from more than 300 stations located in China are used to perform an evaluation of two surface soil moisture datasets: a microwave-based multi-satellite product (ECV-SM) and the land surface model simulation from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5). Both soil moisture products generally show a good agreement with in situ observations. The ECV-SM product has a low bias, with a root mean square difference (RMSD) of 0.075 m3 m-3, but shows a weak correlation with in situ observations (R = 0.41). In contrast, the CLM4.5 simulation, forced by an observation-based atmospheric forcing data, produces better temporal variation of surface soil moisture (R = 0.52), but shows a clear overestimation (bias = 0.05 m3 m-3) and larger RMSD (0.09 m3 m-3), especially in eastern China, caused by inaccurate descriptions of soil characteristics. The ECV-SM product is more likely to be superior in semi-arid regions, mainly because of the accurate retrievals and high observation density, but inferior over areas covered by dense vegetation. Furthermore, it shows a stable to slightly increasing performance in China, except for a decrease during the 2007–2010 blending period. Results from this study can provide comprehensive insight into the performances of the two soil moisture datasets in China, which will be useful for their improvements in merging algorithms or model simulations and for applications in soil moisture data assimilation.


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