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Influence of heterogeneous land surfaces on surface energy and mass fluxes

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Summary

Land-surface heterogeneity affects surface energy fluxes. The magnitudes of selected land-surface influences are quantified by comparing observations with model simulations of the FIFE (First ISLSCP Field Experiment) domain. Several plausible heterogeneous and homogeneous initial and boundary conditions are examined, although soilmoisture variability is emphasized. It turns out that simple spatial averages of surface variation produced biased flux values. Simulated maximum latent-heat fluxes were approximately 30 to 40 W m−2 higher, and air temperatures ≃ 0.4 °C lower (at noon), when computations were initialized with spatially averaged soil-moisture and leaf-area-index fields. The planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and turbulent exchanges were lower as well. It additionally was observed that (largely due to the nonlinear relationship between initial soil-moisture availability and the evapotranspiration rate), “real” latent-heat flux can be substantially less than simulated latent-heat flux using models initialized with spatially averaged soil-moisture fields. Differences between “real” and simulated fluxes also vary with the resolution at which “real” soil-moisture heterogeneity is discretized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    J. Song

  2. Center of Climatic Research, Department of Geography, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

    C. J. Willmott & B. Hanson

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  1. J. Song
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  2. C. J. Willmott
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  3. B. Hanson
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Song, J., Willmott, C.J. & Hanson, B. Influence of heterogeneous land surfaces on surface energy and mass fluxes. Theor Appl Climatol 58, 175–188 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00865018

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