Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site
International audience Abstract. Climate change projections still suffer from a limited representation of the permafrost–carbon feedback. Predicting the response of permafrost temperature to climate change requires accurate simulations of Arctic snow and soil properties. This study assesses the capa...
Published in: | Geoscientific Model Development |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/file/gmd-10-3461-2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 |
id |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03326445v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU |
op_collection_id |
ftinsu |
language |
English |
topic |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] Barrere, Mathieu Domine, Florent Decharme, Bertrand Morin, Samuel Vionnet, Vincent Lafaysse, Matthieu Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] |
description |
International audience Abstract. Climate change projections still suffer from a limited representation of the permafrost–carbon feedback. Predicting the response of permafrost temperature to climate change requires accurate simulations of Arctic snow and soil properties. This study assesses the capacity of the coupled land surface and snow models ISBA-Crocus and ISBA-ES to simulate snow and soil properties at Bylot Island, a high Arctic site. Field measurements complemented with ERA-Interim reanalyses were used to drive the models and to evaluate simulation outputs. Snow height, density, temperature, thermal conductivity and thermal insulance are examined to determine the critical variables involved in the soil and snow thermal regime. Simulated soil properties are compared to measurements of thermal conductivity, temperature and water content. The simulated snow density profiles are unrealistic, which is most likely caused by the lack of representation in snow models of the upward water vapor fluxes generated by the strong temperature gradients within the snowpack. The resulting vertical profiles of thermal conductivity are inverted compared to observations, with high simulated values at the bottom of the snowpack. Still, ISBA-Crocus manages to successfully simulate the soil temperature in winter. Results are satisfactory in summer, but the temperature of the top soil could be better reproduced by adequately representing surface organic layers, i.e., mosses and litter, and in particular their water retention capacity. Transition periods (soil freezing and thawing) are the least well reproduced because the high basal snow thermal conductivity induces an excessively rapid heat transfer between the soil and the snow in simulations. Hence, global climate models should carefully consider Arctic snow thermal properties, and especially the thermal conductivity of the basal snow layer, to perform accurate predictions of the permafrost evolution under climate change. |
author2 |
Takuvik Joint International Laboratory ULAVAL-CNRS Université Laval Québec (ULaval)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS) Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barrere, Mathieu Domine, Florent Decharme, Bertrand Morin, Samuel Vionnet, Vincent Lafaysse, Matthieu |
author_facet |
Barrere, Mathieu Domine, Florent Decharme, Bertrand Morin, Samuel Vionnet, Vincent Lafaysse, Matthieu |
author_sort |
Barrere, Mathieu |
title |
Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
title_short |
Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
title_full |
Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site |
title_sort |
evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in surfexv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high arctic site |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/file/gmd-10-3461-2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 |
genre |
Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost |
op_source |
ISSN: 1991-962X Geoscientific Model Development Discussions https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 Geoscientific Model Development Discussions, 2017, 10 (9), pp.3461-3479. ⟨10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/file/gmd-10-3461-2017.pdf doi:10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 |
container_title |
Geoscientific Model Development |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
3461 |
op_container_end_page |
3479 |
_version_ |
1797577093282791424 |
spelling |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03326445v1 2024-04-28T08:08:13+00:00 Evaluating the performance of coupled snow–soil models in SURFEXv8 to simulate the permafrost thermal regime at a high Arctic site Barrere, Mathieu Domine, Florent Decharme, Bertrand Morin, Samuel Vionnet, Vincent Lafaysse, Matthieu Takuvik Joint International Laboratory ULAVAL-CNRS Université Laval Québec (ULaval)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS) Centre national de recherches météorologiques (CNRM) Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement (IGE) Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Grenoble Alpes 2016-2019 (UGA 2016-2019 ) 2017 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/file/gmd-10-3461-2017.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 en eng HAL CCSD Copernicus Publ info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445/file/gmd-10-3461-2017.pdf doi:10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1991-962X Geoscientific Model Development Discussions https://insu.hal.science/insu-03326445 Geoscientific Model Development Discussions, 2017, 10 (9), pp.3461-3479. ⟨10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2017 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3461-2017 2024-04-05T00:36:33Z International audience Abstract. Climate change projections still suffer from a limited representation of the permafrost–carbon feedback. Predicting the response of permafrost temperature to climate change requires accurate simulations of Arctic snow and soil properties. This study assesses the capacity of the coupled land surface and snow models ISBA-Crocus and ISBA-ES to simulate snow and soil properties at Bylot Island, a high Arctic site. Field measurements complemented with ERA-Interim reanalyses were used to drive the models and to evaluate simulation outputs. Snow height, density, temperature, thermal conductivity and thermal insulance are examined to determine the critical variables involved in the soil and snow thermal regime. Simulated soil properties are compared to measurements of thermal conductivity, temperature and water content. The simulated snow density profiles are unrealistic, which is most likely caused by the lack of representation in snow models of the upward water vapor fluxes generated by the strong temperature gradients within the snowpack. The resulting vertical profiles of thermal conductivity are inverted compared to observations, with high simulated values at the bottom of the snowpack. Still, ISBA-Crocus manages to successfully simulate the soil temperature in winter. Results are satisfactory in summer, but the temperature of the top soil could be better reproduced by adequately representing surface organic layers, i.e., mosses and litter, and in particular their water retention capacity. Transition periods (soil freezing and thawing) are the least well reproduced because the high basal snow thermal conductivity induces an excessively rapid heat transfer between the soil and the snow in simulations. Hence, global climate models should carefully consider Arctic snow thermal properties, and especially the thermal conductivity of the basal snow layer, to perform accurate predictions of the permafrost evolution under climate change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Bylot Island Climate change permafrost Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Geoscientific Model Development 10 9 3461 3479 |