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This thesis research consists of two separate studies. The first study presents the assessment and representation of the effects of soil macropores on the soil hydraulic properties in land surface models for more accurate simulations of soil moisture and surface hydrology. Hydraulic properties determine the soil water content and its transport in the soil. They are provided in most current climate models as empirical formulas by functions of the soil texture. Such is not realistic if the soil contains a substantial amount of macropores. A two-mode soil pore size distribution is incorporated into a land surface model and tested using an observational dataset at a tropical forest site with aggregated soils. The result showed that the existence of macropores greatly affects the estimation of hydraulic properties. Their influence can be included in land models by adding a second function to the pore-size distribution. A practical hydraulic scheme with macropore considerations was proposed given that the existing schemes are not applicable for large-scale simulations. The developed scheme was based on the physical attributes of the water in soil capillary pores and the statistics of several global soil databases. The preliminary test showed that it captures part of soil macropore hydraulic features without sacrificing the estimation accuracy of hydraulic properties of water in soil matrix. The second study presents the development of an integrated land/ecosystem model by combining the advanced features of a biophysically based land model, the Community Land Model, and an ecosystem biochemical model. The results from tests of the integrated model at four forest sites showed that the model reasonably captures the seasonal and interannual dynamics of leaf area index and leaf nitrogen control on carbon assimilation across different environments. With being coupled to an atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM), the integrated model showed a strong ability to simulate terrestrial ecosystem carbon fluxes together with heat and water fluxes. Its simulated land surface physical variables are reasonable in both geographic distribution and temporal variation with considering the interactive vegetation parameters.

abstract: Land surface fluxes of energy and mass developed over heterogeneous mountain landscapes are fundamental to atmospheric processes. However, due to their high complexity and the lack of spatial observations, land surface processes and land-atmosphere interactions are not fully understood in mountain regions. This thesis investigates land surface processes and their impact on convective precipitation by conducting numerical modeling experiments at multiple scales over the North American Monsoon (NAM) region. Specifically, the following scientific questions are addressed: (1) how do land surface conditions evolve during the monsoon season, and what are their main controls?, (2) how do the diurnal cycles of surface energy fluxes vary during the monsoon season for the major ecosystems?, and (3) what are the impacts of surface soil moisture and vegetation condition on convective precipitation? Hydrologic simulation using the TIN-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator (tRIBS) is firstly carried out to examine the seasonal evolution of land surface conditions. Results reveal that the spatial heterogeneity of land surface temperature and soil moisture increases dramatically with the onset of monsoon, which is related to seasonal changes in topographic and vegetation controls. Similar results are found at regional basin scale using the uncoupled WRF-Hydro model. Meanwhile, the diurnal cycles of surface energy fluxes show large variation between the major ecosystems. Differences in both the peak magnitude and peak timing of plant transpiration induce mesoscale heterogeneity in land surface conditions. Lastly, this dissertation examines the upscale effect of land surface heterogeneity on atmospheric condition through fully-coupled WRF-Hydro simulations. A series of process-based experiments were conducted to identify the pathways of soil moisture-rainfall feedback mechanism over the NAM region. While modeling experiments confirm the existence of positive soil moisture/vegetation-rainfall feedback, their exact pathways are slightly different. Interactions between soil moisture, vegetation cover, and rainfall through a series of land surface and atmospheric boundary layer processes highlight the strong land-atmosphere coupling in the NAM region, and have important implications on convective rainfall prediction. Overall, this dissertation advances the study of complex land surface processes over the NAM region, and made important contributions in linking complex hydrologic, ecologic and atmospheric processes through numerical modeling. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil and Environmental Engineering 2016

<p>The boreal forests represent 8 % of all forested areas on the earth and have a significant role in the control of greenhouse gases and an impact on global climate change. The main objective of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how evaporation and heat-flux processes in the boreal forest zone are affecting the regional and global climate.</p><p>A meteorological mesoscale model with an advanced land-surface parameterization has been utilized to study aggregation of fluxes of water vapour and heat. The model has been compared against four other methods for flux estimation in a southern boreal landscape. The results show that the mesoscale model is successfully reproducing 24-hour averages of fractionally weighted mast measurements of sensible and latent heat flux.</p><p>The model was also evaluated against in-situ observations of surface fluxes and other meteorological variables. The results reveal that a correct initialization of soil moisture is crucial to simulate a realistic partitioning of the sensible and latent heat fluxes. Significant differences in surface fluxes and friction velocities between two apparently similar forest sites indicate the need for careful assessment of areal representativity when comparing mesoscale model results with in-situ observations.</p><p>A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation of high-latitude sparse forests was implemented and tested in the model that significantly improved the simulation of high wintertime midday sensible heat fluxes. A scheme for heat storage in vegetation was also implemented which improved the results, but the scheme needs further evaluation for high latitude forests.</p><p>Two commonly used strategies for the description of land-surface heterogeneity, the effective parameter approach and the mosaic approach, were tested in the mesoscale model against airborne observations of sensible and latent heat fluxes. The results show that the mosaic approach produces better results especially when small lakes are present in model grid-squares.</p> / <p>Norra halvklotets barrskogsbälte representerar 8 % av all skogsbeklädd mark på jorden och har stor betydelse för kontrollen av växthusgaser och påverkan på globala klimatförändringar. Syftet med denna avhandling är att öka förståelsen av hur avdunstning och värmeflöden i den boreala skogszonen påverkar klimatet regionalt och globalt.</p><p>En meteorologisk mesoskalemodell med en avancerad landyteparameterisering har använts för att studera aggregering av avdunstning och värmeflöden. Modellen jämfördes med fyra andra metoder för uppskattning av värmeflöden i den boreala skogszonens södra delar. Resultaten visade att mesoskalemodellen reproducerar 24-timmarsmedelvärden av sensibelt och latent värmeflöde från areellt viktade mastmätningar med bra resultat.</p><p>Modellen utvärderades även mot markbaserade mätningar av sensibelt och latent värme och andra meteorologiska variabler. Resultaten visar att en korrekt initialisering av markvatteninnehållet är avgörande för att simulera en realistisk uppdelning av de sensibla och latenta värmeflödena. Markanta skillnader i markyteflöden och friktionshastigheter mellan två liknande skogsmätstationer påvisar nödvändigheten av en noggrann bedömning av den areella representativiteten när man jämför resultat från mesoskalemodellen med markbaserade mätningar.</p><p>En parameterisering för absorption av solstrålning i glesa skogsbestånd på höga breddgrader infördes och testades i modellen vilket markant förbättrade simuleringen av de höga sensibla värmeflöden som observerats vid middagstid på vintern. Ett uttryck för att beskriva värmelagring i vegetationen infördes också vilket förbättrade resultaten, men uttrycket behöver vidare utvärdering för skogsbestånd på höga breddgrader.</p><p>Två ofta använda strategier för att beskriva markytans heterogenitet, effektiva parametermetoden och mosaikmetoden, testades i mesoskalemodellen mot flygburna observationer av sensibla och latenta värmeflöden. Resultaten visar att mosaikmetoden ger bättre resultat särskilt när mindre sjöar förekommer i modellrutorna.</p>

The boreal forests represent 8 % of all forested areas on the earth and have a significant role in the control of greenhouse gases and an impact on global climate change. The main objective of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how evaporation and heat-flux processes in the boreal forest zone are affecting the regional and global climate. A meteorological mesoscale model with an advanced land-surface parameterization has been utilized to study aggregation of fluxes of water vapour and heat. The model has been compared against four other methods for flux estimation in a southern boreal landscape. The results show that the mesoscale model is successfully reproducing 24-hour averages of fractionally weighted mast measurements of sensible and latent heat flux. The model was also evaluated against in-situ observations of surface fluxes and other meteorological variables. The results reveal that a correct initialization of soil moisture is crucial to simulate a realistic partitioning of the sensible and latent heat fluxes. Significant differences in surface fluxes and friction velocities between two apparently similar forest sites indicate the need for careful assessment of areal representativity when comparing mesoscale model results with in-situ observations. A parameterization for the absorption of solar radiation of high-latitude sparse forests was implemented and tested in the model that significantly improved the simulation of high wintertime midday sensible heat fluxes. A scheme for heat storage in vegetation was also implemented which improved the results, but the scheme needs further evaluation for high latitude forests. Two commonly used strategies for the description of land-surface heterogeneity, the effective parameter approach and the mosaic approach, were tested in the mesoscale model against airborne observations of sensible and latent heat fluxes. The results show that the mosaic approach produces better results especially when small lakes are present in model grid-squares. / Norra halvklotets barrskogsbälte representerar 8 % av all skogsbeklädd mark på jorden och har stor betydelse för kontrollen av växthusgaser och påverkan på globala klimatförändringar. Syftet med denna avhandling är att öka förståelsen av hur avdunstning och värmeflöden i den boreala skogszonen påverkar klimatet regionalt och globalt. En meteorologisk mesoskalemodell med en avancerad landyteparameterisering har använts för att studera aggregering av avdunstning och värmeflöden. Modellen jämfördes med fyra andra metoder för uppskattning av värmeflöden i den boreala skogszonens södra delar. Resultaten visade att mesoskalemodellen reproducerar 24-timmarsmedelvärden av sensibelt och latent värmeflöde från areellt viktade mastmätningar med bra resultat. Modellen utvärderades även mot markbaserade mätningar av sensibelt och latent värme och andra meteorologiska variabler. Resultaten visar att en korrekt initialisering av markvatteninnehållet är avgörande för att simulera en realistisk uppdelning av de sensibla och latenta värmeflödena. Markanta skillnader i markyteflöden och friktionshastigheter mellan två liknande skogsmätstationer påvisar nödvändigheten av en noggrann bedömning av den areella representativiteten när man jämför resultat från mesoskalemodellen med markbaserade mätningar. En parameterisering för absorption av solstrålning i glesa skogsbestånd på höga breddgrader infördes och testades i modellen vilket markant förbättrade simuleringen av de höga sensibla värmeflöden som observerats vid middagstid på vintern. Ett uttryck för att beskriva värmelagring i vegetationen infördes också vilket förbättrade resultaten, men uttrycket behöver vidare utvärdering för skogsbestånd på höga breddgrader. Två ofta använda strategier för att beskriva markytans heterogenitet, effektiva parametermetoden och mosaikmetoden, testades i mesoskalemodellen mot flygburna observationer av sensibla och latenta värmeflöden. Resultaten visar att mosaikmetoden ger bättre resultat särskilt när mindre sjöar förekommer i modellrutorna.