The ERA5-Land soil temperature bias in permafrost regions

• Published in: The Cryosphere
• Main Authors: Cao, B. (Bin), Gruber, S. (Stephan), Zheng, D. (Donghai), Li, X. (Xin)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Canada; Active layer thickness; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: https://ir.library.carleton.ca/pub/27959; https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-2581-2020

ERA5-Land (ERA5L) is a reanalysis product derived by running the land component of ERA5 at increased resolution. This study evaluates ERA5L soil temperature in permafrost regions based on observations and published permafrost products. We find that ERA5L overestimates soil temperature in northern Canada and Alaska but underestimates it in mid-low latitudes, leading to an average bias of -0.08 ĝ C. The warm bias of ERA5L soil is stronger in winter than in other seasons. As calculated from its soil temperature, ERA5L overestimates active-layer thickness and underestimates near-surface ( <1.89<