Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations
International audience One known bias in current Earth system models (ESMs) is the underestimation of global mean soil carbon (C) transit time (τ soil ), which quantifies the age of the C atoms at the time they leave the soil. However, it remains unclear where such underestimations are located globa...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
HAL CCSD
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/file/bg-16-917-2019.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 |
id |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03721883v1 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftinsu:oai:HAL:insu-03721883v1 2024-04-28T08:40:56+00:00 Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations Wang, Jing Xia, Jianyang Zhou, Xuhui Huang, Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Yuanyuan Jiang, Lifen Xu, Xia Liang, Junyi Wang, Ying-Ping Cheng, Xiaoli Luo, Yiqi Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)) Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) 2019 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/file/bg-16-917-2019.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 en eng HAL CCSD European Geosciences Union info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/file/bg-16-917-2019.pdf BIBCODE: 2019BGeo.16.917W doi:10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1726-4170 EISSN: 1726-4189 Biogeosciences https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 Biogeosciences, 2019, 16, pp.917-926. ⟨10.5194/bg-16-917-2019⟩ [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2019 ftinsu https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 2024-04-05T00:32:43Z International audience One known bias in current Earth system models (ESMs) is the underestimation of global mean soil carbon (C) transit time (τ soil ), which quantifies the age of the C atoms at the time they leave the soil. However, it remains unclear where such underestimations are located globally. Here, we constructed a global database of measured τ soil across 187 sites to evaluate results from 12 ESMs. The observations showed that the estimated τ soil was dramatically shorter from the soil incubation studies in the laboratory environment (median = 4 years; interquartile range = 1 to 25 years) than that derived from field in situ measurements (31; 5 to 84 years) with shifts in stable isotopic C ( 13 C) or the stock-over-flux approach. In comparison with the field observations, the multi-model ensemble simulated a shorter median (19 years) and a smaller spatial variation (6 to 29 years) of τ soil across the same site locations. We then found a significant and negative linear correlation between the in situ measured τ soil and mean annual air temperature. The underestimations of modeled τ soil are mainly located in cold and dry biomes, especially tundra and desert. Furthermore, we showed that one ESM (i.e., CESM) has improved its τ soil estimate by incorporation of the soil vertical profile. These findings indicate that the spatial variation of τ soil is a useful benchmark for ESMs, and we recommend more observations and modeling efforts on soil C dynamics in regions limited by temperature and moisture. Article in Journal/Newspaper Tundra Institut national des sciences de l'Univers: HAL-INSU Biogeosciences 16 4 917 926 |
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] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
spellingShingle |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences Wang, Jing Xia, Jianyang Zhou, Xuhui Huang, Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Yuanyuan Jiang, Lifen Xu, Xia Liang, Junyi Wang, Ying-Ping Cheng, Xiaoli Luo, Yiqi Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
topic_facet |
[SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics] [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences |
description |
International audience One known bias in current Earth system models (ESMs) is the underestimation of global mean soil carbon (C) transit time (τ soil ), which quantifies the age of the C atoms at the time they leave the soil. However, it remains unclear where such underestimations are located globally. Here, we constructed a global database of measured τ soil across 187 sites to evaluate results from 12 ESMs. The observations showed that the estimated τ soil was dramatically shorter from the soil incubation studies in the laboratory environment (median = 4 years; interquartile range = 1 to 25 years) than that derived from field in situ measurements (31; 5 to 84 years) with shifts in stable isotopic C ( 13 C) or the stock-over-flux approach. In comparison with the field observations, the multi-model ensemble simulated a shorter median (19 years) and a smaller spatial variation (6 to 29 years) of τ soil across the same site locations. We then found a significant and negative linear correlation between the in situ measured τ soil and mean annual air temperature. The underestimations of modeled τ soil are mainly located in cold and dry biomes, especially tundra and desert. Furthermore, we showed that one ESM (i.e., CESM) has improved its τ soil estimate by incorporation of the soil vertical profile. These findings indicate that the spatial variation of τ soil is a useful benchmark for ESMs, and we recommend more observations and modeling efforts on soil C dynamics in regions limited by temperature and moisture. |
author2 |
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE) Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)) Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wang, Jing Xia, Jianyang Zhou, Xuhui Huang, Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Yuanyuan Jiang, Lifen Xu, Xia Liang, Junyi Wang, Ying-Ping Cheng, Xiaoli Luo, Yiqi |
author_facet |
Wang, Jing Xia, Jianyang Zhou, Xuhui Huang, Kun Zhou, Jian Huang, Yuanyuan Jiang, Lifen Xu, Xia Liang, Junyi Wang, Ying-Ping Cheng, Xiaoli Luo, Yiqi |
author_sort |
Wang, Jing |
title |
Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
title_short |
Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
title_full |
Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by Earth system models using observations |
title_sort |
evaluating the simulated mean soil carbon transit times by earth system models using observations |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/file/bg-16-917-2019.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 |
genre |
Tundra |
genre_facet |
Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 1726-4170 EISSN: 1726-4189 Biogeosciences https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 Biogeosciences, 2019, 16, pp.917-926. ⟨10.5194/bg-16-917-2019⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883 https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/document https://insu.hal.science/insu-03721883/file/bg-16-917-2019.pdf BIBCODE: 2019BGeo.16.917W doi:10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-917-2019 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
917 |
op_container_end_page |
926 |
_version_ |
1797571390969217024 |