Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests
The snowpack has a major influence on the land surface energy budget. Accurate simulation of the snowpack energy and radiation budget is challenging due to, e.g., effects of vegetation and topography, as well as limitations in the theoretical understanding of turbulent transfer in the stable boundar...
Published in: | The Cryosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2024
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 https://doaj.org/article/fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 2024-02-11T10:08:59+01:00 Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests J.-P. Nousu M. Lafaysse G. Mazzotti P. Ala-aho H. Marttila B. Cluzet M. Aurela A. Lohila P. Kolari A. Boone M. Fructus S. Launiainen 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 https://doaj.org/article/fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/231/2024/tc-18-231-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 231-263 (2024) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 2024-01-14T01:37:28Z The snowpack has a major influence on the land surface energy budget. Accurate simulation of the snowpack energy and radiation budget is challenging due to, e.g., effects of vegetation and topography, as well as limitations in the theoretical understanding of turbulent transfer in the stable boundary layer. Studies that evaluate snow, hydrology and land surface models against detailed observations of all surface energy balance components at high latitudes are scarce. In this study, we compared different configurations of the SURFEX land surface model against surface energy flux, snow depth and soil temperature observations from four eddy-covariance stations in Finland. The sites cover two different climate and snow conditions, representing the southern and northern subarctic zones, as well as the contrasting forest and peatland ecosystems typical for the boreal landscape. We tested different turbulent flux parameterizations implemented in the Crocus snowpack model. In addition, we examined common alternative approaches to conceptualize soil and vegetation, and we assessed their performance in simulating surface energy fluxes, snow conditions and soil thermal regime. Our results show that a stability correction function that increases the turbulent exchange under stable atmospheric conditions is imperative to simulate sensible heat fluxes over the peatland snowpacks and that realistic peat soil texture (soil organic content) parameterization greatly improves the soil temperature simulations. For accurate simulations of surface energy fluxes, snow and soil conditions in forests, an explicit vegetation representation is necessary. Moreover, we demonstrate the high sensitivity of surface fluxes to a poorly documented parameter involved in snow cover fraction computation. Although we focused on models within the SURFEX platform, the results have broader implications for choosing suitable turbulent flux parameterization and model structures depending on the potential use cases for high-latitude land surface modeling. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic The Cryosphere Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles The Cryosphere 18 1 231 263 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 J.-P. Nousu M. Lafaysse G. Mazzotti P. Ala-aho H. Marttila B. Cluzet M. Aurela A. Lohila P. Kolari A. Boone M. Fructus S. Launiainen Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The snowpack has a major influence on the land surface energy budget. Accurate simulation of the snowpack energy and radiation budget is challenging due to, e.g., effects of vegetation and topography, as well as limitations in the theoretical understanding of turbulent transfer in the stable boundary layer. Studies that evaluate snow, hydrology and land surface models against detailed observations of all surface energy balance components at high latitudes are scarce. In this study, we compared different configurations of the SURFEX land surface model against surface energy flux, snow depth and soil temperature observations from four eddy-covariance stations in Finland. The sites cover two different climate and snow conditions, representing the southern and northern subarctic zones, as well as the contrasting forest and peatland ecosystems typical for the boreal landscape. We tested different turbulent flux parameterizations implemented in the Crocus snowpack model. In addition, we examined common alternative approaches to conceptualize soil and vegetation, and we assessed their performance in simulating surface energy fluxes, snow conditions and soil thermal regime. Our results show that a stability correction function that increases the turbulent exchange under stable atmospheric conditions is imperative to simulate sensible heat fluxes over the peatland snowpacks and that realistic peat soil texture (soil organic content) parameterization greatly improves the soil temperature simulations. For accurate simulations of surface energy fluxes, snow and soil conditions in forests, an explicit vegetation representation is necessary. Moreover, we demonstrate the high sensitivity of surface fluxes to a poorly documented parameter involved in snow cover fraction computation. Although we focused on models within the SURFEX platform, the results have broader implications for choosing suitable turbulent flux parameterization and model structures depending on the potential use cases for high-latitude land surface modeling. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J.-P. Nousu M. Lafaysse G. Mazzotti P. Ala-aho H. Marttila B. Cluzet M. Aurela A. Lohila P. Kolari A. Boone M. Fructus S. Launiainen |
author_facet |
J.-P. Nousu M. Lafaysse G. Mazzotti P. Ala-aho H. Marttila B. Cluzet M. Aurela A. Lohila P. Kolari A. Boone M. Fructus S. Launiainen |
author_sort |
J.-P. Nousu |
title |
Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
title_short |
Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
title_full |
Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
title_fullStr |
Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
title_sort |
modeling snowpack dynamics and surface energy budget in boreal and subarctic peatlands and forests |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 https://doaj.org/article/fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 |
genre |
Subarctic The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Subarctic The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 18, Pp 231-263 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/231/2024/tc-18-231-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0416 https://doaj.org/toc/1994-0424 doi:10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://doaj.org/article/fb541db90e864fffb5e16476bcaec7a7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-231-2024 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
231 |
op_container_end_page |
263 |
_version_ |
1790608664237703168 |