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Evaluating runoff simulations from the Community Land Model 4.0 using observations from flux towers and a mountainous watershed

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 116:Article No. D24120
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016276· OSTI ID:1032682
Previous studies using the Community Land Model (CLM) focused on simulating landatmosphere interactions and water balance at continental to global scales, with limited attention paid to its capability for hydrologic simulations at watershed or regional scales. This study evaluates the performance of CLM 4.0 (CLM4) for hydrologic simulations, and explores possible directions of improvement. Specifically, it is found that CLM4 tends to produce unrealistically large temporal variation of runoff for applications at a mountainous catchment in the Northwest United States where subsurface runoff is dominant, as well as at a few flux tower sites. We show that runoff simulations from CLM4 can be improved by: (1) increasing spatial resolution of the land surface representations; (2) calibrating parameter values; (3) replacing the subsurface formulation with a more general nonlinear function; (4) implementing the runoff generation schemes from the Variability Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. This study also highlights the importance of evaluating both the energy and water fluxes application of land surface models across multiple scales.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1032682
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-79456
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 116:Article No. D24120, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. D. (Atmospheres), 116:Article No. D24120 Vol. 116
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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