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Numerical simulation based on two-directional freeze and thaw algorithm for thermal diffusion model

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Abstract

Freeze-thaw processes significantly modulate hydraulic and thermal characteristics of soil. The changes in the frost and thaw fronts (FTFs) affect the water and energy cycles between the land surface and the atmosphere. Thus, the frozen soil comprising permafrost and seasonally frozen soil has important effects on the land surface hydrology in cold regions. In this study, a two-directional freeze and thaw algorithm is incorporated into a thermal diffusion equation for simulating FTFs. A local adaptive variable-grid method is used to discretize the model. Sensitivity tests demonstrate that the method is stable and FTFs can be tracked continuously. The FTFs and soil temperature at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau D66 site are simulated hourly from September 1, 1997 to September 22, 1998. The results show that the incorporated model performs much better in the soil temperature simulation than the original thermal diffusion equation, showing potential applications of the method in land-surface process modeling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Junqiang Gao & Zhenghui Xie

  2. School of Mathematics and Physics, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Junqiang Gao & Zhendong Luo

  3. School of Applied Science, Beijing Information and Science Technology University, Beijing, 100192, China

    Aiwen Wang

Authors
  1. Junqiang Gao
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  2. Zhenghui Xie
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  3. Aiwen Wang
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  4. Zhendong Luo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhenghui Xie.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41575096 and 91125016) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDA05110102)

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Gao, J., Xie, Z., Wang, A. et al. Numerical simulation based on two-directional freeze and thaw algorithm for thermal diffusion model. Appl. Math. Mech.-Engl. Ed. 37, 1467–1478 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-016-2106-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-016-2106-8

Keywords

Chinese Library Classification

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification

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