A Study on Contribution of the Advective Heat Flux to the Energy Closure near the Land Surface in the Zoige Alpine Wetland

Author(s):  
Jun Wen ◽  
Xuancheng Lu ◽  
Yue Yang ◽  
Hui Tian ◽  
Wenhui Liu ◽  
...  

<p>The energy non-closure near the land surface has been a key topic in the land surface processes research.  The energy closure rate is still not high even after considering heat storage and photosynthesis energy consumption, while the contribution of advective energy to the closure rate needs to be considered further under the non-uniform underlying surface. In this paper, the advective energy caused by thermal heterogeneity of underlying surface is calculated by using the energy budget data collected from the Flower-Lake observation site in the Zoige Alpine Wetland in 2017, and the contribution of thermal advection to energy closure near the ground is estimated. The result shows: In summer of 2017, the maximum value of the advective heat flux was 23.8w/m2 at the Zoige alpine wetland. When the contribution of advective heat flux is introduced into the energy balance equation, the energy closure rate increases from 72.0% to 79.4%. With considering the contribution of horizontal heat transfer, it has a certain effect on improving energy closure rate for the flat terrain and thermal inhomogeneous underlying surface. The near surface thermal inhomogeneity leads to the accumulation of heat, which is the basic reason for the heat advection to affect the energy closure rate, and also an important reason for the difference between the wetland characteristics of water and heat exchange of the wetland with the other regions.</p><p><strong>Key </strong><strong>words</strong><strong>:</strong>Alpine wetland; eddy correlation; advective heat flux; energy closure rate; inhomogeneous land surface</p>

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1705-1714 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Zabel ◽  
W. Mauser

Abstract. Most land surface hydrological models (LSHMs) consider land surface processes (e.g. soil–plant–atmosphere interactions, lateral water flows, snow and ice) in a spatially detailed manner. The atmosphere is considered as exogenous driver, neglecting feedbacks between the land surface and the atmosphere. On the other hand, regional climate models (RCMs) generally simulate land surface processes through coarse descriptions and spatial scales but include land–atmosphere interactions. What is the impact of the differently applied model physics and spatial resolution of LSHMs on the performance of RCMs? What feedback effects are induced by different land surface models? This study analyses the impact of replacing the land surface module (LSM) within an RCM with a high resolution LSHM. A 2-way coupling approach was applied using the LSHM PROMET (1 × 1 km2) and the atmospheric part of the RCM MM5 (45 × 45 km2). The scaling interface SCALMET is used for down- and upscaling the linear and non-linear fluxes between the model scales. The change in the atmospheric response by MM5 using the LSHM is analysed, and its quality is compared to observations of temperature and precipitation for a 4 yr period from 1996 to 1999 for the Upper Danube catchment. By substituting the Noah-LSM with PROMET, simulated non-bias-corrected near-surface air temperature improves for annual, monthly and daily courses when compared to measurements from 277 meteorological weather stations within the Upper Danube catchment. The mean annual bias was improved from −0.85 to −0.13 K. In particular, the improved afternoon heating from May to September is caused by increased sensible heat flux and decreased latent heat flux as well as more incoming solar radiation in the fully coupled PROMET/MM5 in comparison to the NOAH/MM5 simulation. Triggered by the LSM replacement, precipitation overall is reduced; however simulated precipitation amounts are still of high uncertainty, both spatially and temporally. The distribution of precipitation follows the coarse topography representation in MM5, resulting in a spatial shift of maximum precipitation northwards of the Alps. Consequently, simulation of river runoff inherits precipitation biases from MM5. However, by comparing the water balance, the bias of annual average runoff was improved from 21.2% (NOAH/MM5) to 4.4% (PROMET/MM5) when compared to measurements at the outlet gauge of the Upper Danube watershed in Achleiten.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 3435-3462 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Brunsell ◽  
M. C. Anderson

Abstract. A more thorough understanding of the multi-scale spatial structure of land surface heterogeneity will enhance understanding of the relationships and feedbacks between land surface conditions, mass and energy exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere, and regional meteorological and climatological conditions. The objectives of this study were to (1) quantify which spatial scales are dominant in determining the evapotranspiration flux between the surface and the atmosphere and (2) to quantify how different spatial scales of atmospheric and surface processes interact for different stages of the phenological cycle. We used the ALEXI/DisALEXI model for three days (DOY 181, 229 and 245) in 2002 over the Ft. Peck Ameriflux site to estimate the latent heat flux from Landsat, MODIS and GOES satellites. We then applied a multiresolution information theory methodology to quantify these interactions across different spatial scales and compared the dynamics across the different sensors and different periods. We note several important results: (1) spatial scaling characteristics vary with day, but are usually consistent for a given sensor, but (2) different sensors give different scalings, and (3) the different sensors exhibit different scaling relationships with driving variables such as fractional vegetation and near surface soil moisture. In addition, we note that while the dominant length scale of the vegetation index remains relatively constant across the dates, but the contribution of the vegetation index to the derived latent heat flux varies with time. We also note that length scales determined from MODIS are consistently larger than those determined from Landsat. These results aid in identifying the dominant cross-scale nature of local to regional biosphere-atmosphere interactions.


2007 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 210-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Shuttleworth

Abstract. In the spirit of the Special Issue of HESS to which it contributes, this paper documents the origin and development of the science of natural evaporation from land surfaces over the last 30–35 years, since the symposium A View from the Watershed was held to commemorate the opening of the new Institute of Hydrology (IH) building in 1973. Important subsequent technical progress includes the ability to measure routinely the diurnal cycle of near-surface meteorological variables using automatic weather stations, and of surface energy and momentum exchanges using automated implementations of the Bowen Ratio/Energy Budget technique and the Eddy Correlation technique, along with the capability to estimate the "fetch" for which these measurements apply. These improvements have been complemented by new methods to measure the separate components of evaporation, including: the interception process using randomly relocated below-canopy gauges, transpiration fluxes from individual leaves/shoots using porometers and from plants/plant components using stem-flow gauges and soil evaporation using micro-lysimeters and soil moisture depletion methods. In recent years progress has been made in making theory-based area-average estimates of evaporation using scintillometers, and model-based area-average estimates by assembling many streams of relevant data into Land Data Assimilation Systems. Theoretical progress has been made in extending near-surface turbulence theory to accommodate the effect of the "excess" boundary layer resistance to leaf-to-air transfer of energy and mass fluxes relative to that for momentum, and to allow for observed shortcoming in stability factors in the transition layer immediately above vegetation. Controversy regarding the relative merits of multi-layer model and "big leaf" representations of whole-canopy exchanges has been resolved in favour of the latter approach. Important gaps in the theory of canopy-atmosphere interactions have been filled, including recognising the need, separately, to represent dry-canopy and wet-canopy evaporation in models and the capability to describe wet-to-dry canopy transitions as well as the ability to describe sparse vegetation canopies which only partly cover the underlying soil. There is progress in methods of estimating crop water requirements, but an important recommendation of this paper is that this progress should continue by introducing use of an effective stomatal resistance rather than crop factors. The paper draws attention to relevant theoretical insight on this issue. Progress in theoretical understanding of evaporation processes has been used in the creation of numerous Land Surface Parameterisations (LSPs), the models used to represent land-surface interaction in climate and weather forecast models, and there have been important advances in describing the behaviour of plant stomata in LSPs. A major investment over the last 25 years in conducting Large-Scale Field Experiments, the better to measure, understand and model coupled land-surface/atmosphere interactions, has resulted in improvements in the capabilities of global climate models and the ability of mesoscale meteorological models to describe the enhanced circulation resulting from different forms of land-surface heterogeneity. Progress in understanding why early equations for potential evapotranspiration can be adequate in certain conditions is reviewed. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 7369-7382 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mallick ◽  
A. Jarvis ◽  
G. Wohlfahrt ◽  
G. Kiely ◽  
T. Hirano ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper introduces a relatively simple method for recovering global fields of latent heat flux. The method focuses on specifying Bowen ratio estimates through exploiting air temperature and vapour pressure measurements obtained from infrared soundings of the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) sensor onboard NASA's Aqua platform. Through combining these Bowen ratio retrievals with satellite surface net available energy data, we have specified estimates of global noontime surface latent heat flux at the 1°×1° scale. These estimates were provisionally evaluated against data from 30 terrestrial tower flux sites covering a broad spectrum of biomes. Taking monthly average 13:30 data for 2003, this revealed promising agreement between the satellite and tower measurements of latent heat flux, with a pooled root-mean-square deviation of 79 W m−2, and no significant bias. However, this success partly arose as a product of the underspecification of the AIRS Bowen ratio compensating for the underspecification of the AIRS net available energy, suggesting further refinement of the approach is required. The error analysis suggested that the landscape level variability in enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface temperature contributed significantly to the statistical metric of the predicted latent heat fluxes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 856-876 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Boyle

Abstract This paper describes results from two field programs that support development of a wave-following surface contact multisensor float (MSF) designed to simultaneously measure net surface heat flux, net solar irradiance, and water temperature. The results reported herein compare measurements from a second-generation design (circa 1998) against directly measured radiative fluxes as well as turbulent fluxes derived using both eddy correlation and bulk aerodynamic methods. The reference flux data are collected using instrumented towers, buoys, and research vessels. Comparisons show that MSF net surface fluxes and net solar irradiance are in generally good agreement with values that are measured or derived using standard instruments and methods, having root-mean-square differences less than approximately 15%. MSF near-surface bulk water temperature measurement shows good agreement with similar measurements from a drifting buoy. MSF measurement of water surface temperature is not definitively determined, although results suggest it may be a good measure of skin temperature at night. MSF flux measurement occurs from within the aqueous conductive sublayer and so does not use turbulence models or parameterizations. At this time, results are most reliable in low wind conditions (2 m s−1 ≤ U10 ≤ 7 m s−1) and relatively calm seas. In higher winds and more active seas, the imperfect surface drifting and wave-following characteristics of the second-generation system limit its performance. More fundamentally, perturbation to the aqueous conductive sublayer and modification of near-surface turbulence structure by the MSF may also limit flux measurement accuracy under certain conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1663-1683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Hermoso de Mendoza ◽  
Hugo Beltrami ◽  
Andrew H. MacDougall ◽  
Jean-Claude Mareschal

Abstract. Earth system models (ESMs) use bottom boundaries for their land surface model (LSM) components which are shallower than the depth reached by surface temperature changes in the centennial timescale associated with recent climate change. Shallow bottom boundaries reflect energy to the surface, which along with the lack of geothermal heat flux in current land surface models, alter the surface energy balance and therefore affect some feedback processes between the ground surface and the atmosphere, such as permafrost and soil carbon stability. To evaluate these impacts, we modified the subsurface model in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) by setting a non-zero crustal heat flux bottom boundary condition uniformly across the model and by increasing the depth of the lower boundary from 42.1 to 342.1 m. The modified and original land models were run during the period 1901–2005 under the historical forcing and between 2005 and 2300 under forcings for two future scenarios of moderate (Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5; RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5) emissions. Increasing the thickness of the subsurface by 300 m increases the heat stored in the subsurface by 72 ZJ (1 ZJ = 1021 J) by the year 2300 for the RCP4.5 scenario and 201 ZJ for the RCP8.5 scenario (respective increases of 260 % and 217 % relative to the shallow model), reduces the loss of near-surface permafrost area in the Northern Hemisphere between 1901 and 2300 by 1.6 %–1.9 %, reduces the loss of intermediate-depth permafrost area (above 42.1 m depth) by a factor of 3–5.5 and reduces the loss of soil carbon by 1.6 %–3.6 %. Each increase of 20 mW m−2 of the crustal heat flux increases the temperature at 3.8 m (the soil–bedrock interface) by 0.04±0.01 K. This decreases near-surface permafrost area slightly (0.3 %–0.8 %) and produces local differences in initial stable size of the soil carbon pool across the permafrost region, which reduces the loss of soil carbon across the region by as much as 1.1 %–5.6 % for the two scenarios. Reducing subsurface thickness from 42.1 to 3.8 m, used by many LSMs, produces a larger effect than increasing it to 342.1 m, because 3.8 m is not enough to damp the annual signal and the subsurface closely follows the air temperature. We determine the optimal subsurface thickness to be 100 m for a 100-year simulation and 200 m for a simulation of 400 years. We recommend short-term simulations to use a subsurface of at least 40 m, to avoid the perturbation of seasonal temperature propagation.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Hermoso de Mendoza ◽  
Hugo Beltrami ◽  
Andrew H. MacDougall ◽  
Jean-Claude Mareschal

Abstract. Earth System Models (ESMs) use bottom boundaries for their land surface model components which are shallower than the depth reached by surface temperature changes in the centennial time scale associated with recent climate change. Shallow bottom boundaries reflect energy to the surface, which along with the lack of geothermal heat flux in current land surface models, alter the surface energy balance and therefore affect some feedback processes between the ground surface and the atmosphere, such as permafrost and soil carbon stability. To evaluate these impacts, we modified the subsurface model in the Community Land Model version 4.5 (CLM4.5) by setting a non-zero crustal heat flux bottom boundary condition and by increasing the depth of the lower boundary by 300 m. The modified and original land models were run during the period 1901–2005 under the historical forcing and between 2005–2300 under two future scenarios of moderate (RCP 4.5) and high (RCP 8.5) emissions. Increasing the thickness of the subsurface by 300 m increases the heat stored in the subsurface by 72 ZJ (1 ZJ = 1021 J) by year 2300 for the RCP 4.5 scenario and 201 ZJ for the RCP 8.5 scenario (respective increases of 260 % and 217 % relative to the shallow model), reduces the loss of near-surface permafrost between 1901 and 2300 by 1.6 %–1.9 %, and reduces the loss of soil carbon by 1.6 %–3.6 %. Each increase of 0.02 W m−2 of the crustal heat flux increases the temperature at the soil-bedrock frontier by 0.4 ± 0.01 K, which decreases near-surface permafrost area slightly (0.3–0.8 %), but reduces the loss of soil carbon by as much as 1.1 %–5.6 % for the two scenarios.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Junxia Jiang ◽  
Xiaoqing Gao ◽  
Bolong Chen

With the rapid deployment of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) plants, the impact of PV plants on the environment is a new concern of the scientific and social communities. The exchange of sensible and latent heat energy and mass between land and air in PV plants is crucial to understanding its impact. It is known that the near surface turbulence characteristics rule the exchange. Therefore, it is essential for understanding the impact to study the characteristics of near surface turbulence. However, it is not well recognized. Turbulent fluxes and strength characteristics for the PV plant and the adjacent reference site in the Xinjiang Gobi area were investigated in this study. Various surface layer parameters including friction velocity, stability parameter, momentum flux, and turbulent flux were calculated using eddy correlation system. Results indicate that compared to the reference site, near the surface boundary layer was more unstable during the daytime due to the stronger convection heating, while it was more stable at night in the PV plant. In the PV plant, Iu was weakened and Iv was strengthened during the daytime, and Iu and Iv were all weakened at night, while Iw was strengthened across the whole day. The significant difference between Iu and Iv in the PV plant indicated that the horizontally turbulence strengths were affected by the plant layout. The turbulent kinetic energy of the PV plant was lower than the reference site and the momentum in the PV plant was higher than the reference site, especially during the daytime. Compared to the reference site, the PV plant had a higher sensible heat flux and less latent heat flux. The turbulent components of wind followed the 1/3 power law in the unstable conditions and stable conditions in the PV plant and the reference site.


2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (8) ◽  
pp. 2147-2165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Bertoldi ◽  
William P. Kustas ◽  
John D. Albertson

Abstract This paper investigates the spatial relationships between surface fluxes and near-surface atmospheric properties (AP), and the potential errors in flux estimation due to homogeneous atmospheric inputs over heterogeneous landscapes. A large-eddy simulation (LES) model is coupled to a surface energy balance scheme with remotely sensed surface temperature Ts as a key boundary condition. Simulations were performed for different agricultural regions having major contrasts in Ts, canopy cover, and surface roughness z0 between vegetated/irrigated and bare soil areas. If AP from a single weather station in a nonrepresentative location within the landscape are applied uniformly over the domain, significant differences in surface flux estimation with respect to the LES output are observed. The spatial correlations of AP with the fluxes, the land cover properties, and surface states were examined and the spatial scaling of these fields is analyzed using a two-dimensional wavelet technique. The results indicate a significant local correlation of the spatial distributions of the air temperature Ta with the sensible heat flux H, the specific humidity q with the latent heat flux LE, and the wind speed U with z0. These relationships can be described by a general linear form, suggesting that a simple regression relation may be applicable for most agricultural landscapes to estimate spatially variable AP fields. A simple yet practical method is proposed using remotely sensed observations and the land surface scheme, based on general linear expressions derived between Ta and H, q and LE, and U and z0. The method is shown to reproduce the main spatial patterns of AP and to reduce potential errors in local and regionally averaged heat flux estimation. This approach is recommended when only local weather station observations are available.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 3409
Author(s):  
Suosuo Li ◽  
Yuanpu Liu ◽  
Yongjie Pan ◽  
Zhe Li ◽  
Shihua Lyu

Land-surface characteristics (LSCs) and land-soil moisture conditions can modulate energy partition at the land surface, impact near-surface atmosphere conditions, and further affect land–atmosphere interactions. This study investigates the effect of land-surface-characteristic parameters (LSCPs) including albedo, leaf-area index (LAI), and soil moisture (SM) on hot weather by in East China using the numerical model. Simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model were conducted for a hot weather event with a high spatial resolution of 1 km in domain 3 by using ERA-Interim forcing fields on 20 July 2017 until 16:00 UTC on 25 July 2017. The satellite-based albedo and LAI, and assimilation-based soil-moisture data of high temporal–spatial resolution, which are more accurate to match fine weather forecasts and high-resolution simulations, were used to update the default LSCPs. A control simulation with the default LSCPs (WRF_CTL), a main sensitivity simulation with the updated LSCP albedo, LAI and SM (WRF_CHAR), and a series of other sensitivity simulations with one or two updated LSCPs were performed. Results show that WRF_CTL could reproduce the spatial distribution of hot weather, but overestimated air temperature (Ta) and maximal air temperature (Tamax) with a warming bias of 1.05 and 1.32 °C, respectively. However, the WRF_CHAR simulation reduced the warming bias, and improved the simulated Ta and Tamax with reducing relative biases of 33.08% and 29.24%, respectively. Compared to the WRF_CTL, WRF_CHAR presented a negative sensible heat-flux difference, positive latent heat flux, and net radiation difference of the area average. LSCPs modulated the partition of available land-surface energy and then changed the air temperature. On the basis of statistical-correlation analysis, the soil moisture of the top 10 cm is the main factor to improve warming bias on hot weather in East China.


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