Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS
The Arctic is warming rapidly, especially in winter, which is causing large-scale reductions in snow cover. Snow is one of the main controls on soil thermodynamics, and changes in its thickness and extent affect both permafrost thaw and soil biogeochemistry. Since soil respiration during the cold se...
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Copernicus GmbH
2021
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Online Access: | https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 |
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ftulundlup:oai:lup.lub.lu.se:9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 2023-05-15T14:51:54+02:00 Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS Pongracz, Alexandra Wårlind, David Miller, Paul A. Parmentier, Frans Jan W. 2021-10-26 https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 eng eng Copernicus GmbH https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 scopus:85118242935 Biogeosciences; 18(20), pp 5767-5787 (2021) ISSN: 1726-4170 Physical Geography contributiontojournal/article info:eu-repo/semantics/article text 2021 ftulundlup https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 2023-02-01T23:38:49Z The Arctic is warming rapidly, especially in winter, which is causing large-scale reductions in snow cover. Snow is one of the main controls on soil thermodynamics, and changes in its thickness and extent affect both permafrost thaw and soil biogeochemistry. Since soil respiration during the cold season potentially offsets carbon uptake during the growing season, it is essential to achieve a realistic simulation of the effect of snow cover on soil conditions to more accurately project the direction of arctic carbon-climate feedbacks under continued winter warming. The Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS) dynamic vegetation model has used - up until now - a single layer snow scheme, which underestimated the insulation effect of snow, leading to a cold bias in soil temperature. To address this shortcoming, we developed and integrated a dynamic, multi-layer snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS. The new snow scheme performs well in simulating the insulation of snow at hundreds of locations across Russia compared to observations. We show that improving this single physical factor enhanced simulations of permafrost extent compared to an advanced permafrost product, where the overestimation of permafrost cover decreased from 10% to 5% using the new snow scheme. Besides soil thermodynamics, the new snow scheme resulted in a doubled winter respiration and an overall higher vegetation carbon content. This study highlights the importance of a correct representation of snow in ecosystem models to project biogeochemical processes that govern climate feedbacks. The new dynamic snow scheme is an essential improvement in the simulation of cold season processes, which reduces the uncertainty of model projections. These developments contribute to a more realistic simulation of arctic carbon-climate feedbacks. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic permafrost Lund University Publications (LUP) Arctic Biogeosciences 18 20 5767 5787 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Lund University Publications (LUP) |
op_collection_id |
ftulundlup |
language |
English |
topic |
Physical Geography |
spellingShingle |
Physical Geography Pongracz, Alexandra Wårlind, David Miller, Paul A. Parmentier, Frans Jan W. Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
topic_facet |
Physical Geography |
description |
The Arctic is warming rapidly, especially in winter, which is causing large-scale reductions in snow cover. Snow is one of the main controls on soil thermodynamics, and changes in its thickness and extent affect both permafrost thaw and soil biogeochemistry. Since soil respiration during the cold season potentially offsets carbon uptake during the growing season, it is essential to achieve a realistic simulation of the effect of snow cover on soil conditions to more accurately project the direction of arctic carbon-climate feedbacks under continued winter warming. The Lund-Potsdam-Jena General Ecosystem Simulator (LPJ-GUESS) dynamic vegetation model has used - up until now - a single layer snow scheme, which underestimated the insulation effect of snow, leading to a cold bias in soil temperature. To address this shortcoming, we developed and integrated a dynamic, multi-layer snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS. The new snow scheme performs well in simulating the insulation of snow at hundreds of locations across Russia compared to observations. We show that improving this single physical factor enhanced simulations of permafrost extent compared to an advanced permafrost product, where the overestimation of permafrost cover decreased from 10% to 5% using the new snow scheme. Besides soil thermodynamics, the new snow scheme resulted in a doubled winter respiration and an overall higher vegetation carbon content. This study highlights the importance of a correct representation of snow in ecosystem models to project biogeochemical processes that govern climate feedbacks. The new dynamic snow scheme is an essential improvement in the simulation of cold season processes, which reduces the uncertainty of model projections. These developments contribute to a more realistic simulation of arctic carbon-climate feedbacks. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pongracz, Alexandra Wårlind, David Miller, Paul A. Parmentier, Frans Jan W. |
author_facet |
Pongracz, Alexandra Wårlind, David Miller, Paul A. Parmentier, Frans Jan W. |
author_sort |
Pongracz, Alexandra |
title |
Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
title_short |
Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
title_full |
Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
title_fullStr |
Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
title_full_unstemmed |
Model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in LPJ-GUESS |
title_sort |
model simulations of arctic biogeochemistry and permafrost extent are highly sensitive to the implemented snow scheme in lpj-guess |
publisher |
Copernicus GmbH |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic permafrost |
op_source |
Biogeosciences; 18(20), pp 5767-5787 (2021) ISSN: 1726-4170 |
op_relation |
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9e9bb945-e933-4958-98bb-98852d1c2938 http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 scopus:85118242935 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-5767-2021 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
20 |
container_start_page |
5767 |
op_container_end_page |
5787 |
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1766323034927398912 |