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Title: Development and evaluation of a variably saturated flow model in the global E3SM Land Model (ELM) version 1.0

Abstract

Abstract. Improving global-scale model representations of near-surface soil moistureand groundwater hydrology is important for accurately simulating terrestrialprocesses and predicting climate change effects on water resources. Mostexisting land surface models, including the default E3SM Land Model (ELMv0),which we modify here, routinely employ different formulations for watertransport in the vadose and phreatic zones. Clark et al. (2015) identified avariably saturated Richards equation flow model as an important capabilityfor improving simulation of coupled soil moisture and shallow groundwaterdynamics. In this work, we developed the Variably Saturated Flow Model (VSFM)in ELMv1 to unify the treatment of soil hydrologic processes in theunsaturated and saturated zones. VSFM was tested on three benchmark problemsand results were evaluated against observations and an existing benchmarkmodel (PFLOTRAN). The ELMv1-VSFM's subsurface drainage parameter,fd, was calibrated to match an observationallyconstrained andspatially explicit global water table depth (WTD) product. Optimalspatially explicit fd values were obtained for 79% of global1.9°×2.5° grid cells, while the remaining 21%of global grid cells had predicted WTD deeper than theobservationally constrained estimate. Comparison with predictions using thedefault fd value demonstrated that calibration significantlyimproved predictions, primarily by allowing much deeper WTDs. Modelevaluation using the International Land Model Benchmarking package (ILAMB)showed that improvements in WTD predictions did not degrade model skill foranymore » other metrics. We evaluated the computational performance of the VSFMmodel and found that the model is about 30% more expensive than thedefault ELMv0 with an optimal processor layout. The modular software designof VSFM not only provides flexibility to configure the model for a range ofproblem setups but also allows for building the model independently of the ELMcode, thus enabling straightforward testing of the model's physics againstother models.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1477125
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1563965; OSTI ID: 1570287
Report Number(s):
SAND-2019-11430J
Journal ID: ISSN 1991-9603
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231; AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Geoscientific Model Development (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Geoscientific Model Development (Online) Journal Volume: 11 Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1991-9603
Publisher:
Copernicus Publications, EGU
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES

Citation Formats

Bisht, Gautam, Riley, William J., Hammond, Glenn E., and Lorenzetti, David M. Development and evaluation of a variably saturated flow model in the global E3SM Land Model (ELM) version 1.0. Germany: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.5194/gmd-11-4085-2018.
Bisht, Gautam, Riley, William J., Hammond, Glenn E., & Lorenzetti, David M. Development and evaluation of a variably saturated flow model in the global E3SM Land Model (ELM) version 1.0. Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4085-2018
Bisht, Gautam, Riley, William J., Hammond, Glenn E., and Lorenzetti, David M. Thu . "Development and evaluation of a variably saturated flow model in the global E3SM Land Model (ELM) version 1.0". Germany. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4085-2018.
@article{osti_1477125,
title = {Development and evaluation of a variably saturated flow model in the global E3SM Land Model (ELM) version 1.0},
author = {Bisht, Gautam and Riley, William J. and Hammond, Glenn E. and Lorenzetti, David M.},
abstractNote = {Abstract. Improving global-scale model representations of near-surface soil moistureand groundwater hydrology is important for accurately simulating terrestrialprocesses and predicting climate change effects on water resources. Mostexisting land surface models, including the default E3SM Land Model (ELMv0),which we modify here, routinely employ different formulations for watertransport in the vadose and phreatic zones. Clark et al. (2015) identified avariably saturated Richards equation flow model as an important capabilityfor improving simulation of coupled soil moisture and shallow groundwaterdynamics. In this work, we developed the Variably Saturated Flow Model (VSFM)in ELMv1 to unify the treatment of soil hydrologic processes in theunsaturated and saturated zones. VSFM was tested on three benchmark problemsand results were evaluated against observations and an existing benchmarkmodel (PFLOTRAN). The ELMv1-VSFM's subsurface drainage parameter,fd, was calibrated to match an observationallyconstrained andspatially explicit global water table depth (WTD) product. Optimalspatially explicit fd values were obtained for 79% of global1.9°×2.5° grid cells, while the remaining 21%of global grid cells had predicted WTD deeper than theobservationally constrained estimate. Comparison with predictions using thedefault fd value demonstrated that calibration significantlyimproved predictions, primarily by allowing much deeper WTDs. Modelevaluation using the International Land Model Benchmarking package (ILAMB)showed that improvements in WTD predictions did not degrade model skill forany other metrics. We evaluated the computational performance of the VSFMmodel and found that the model is about 30% more expensive than thedefault ELMv0 with an optimal processor layout. The modular software designof VSFM not only provides flexibility to configure the model for a range ofproblem setups but also allows for building the model independently of the ELMcode, thus enabling straightforward testing of the model's physics againstother models.},
doi = {10.5194/gmd-11-4085-2018},
journal = {Geoscientific Model Development (Online)},
number = 10,
volume = 11,
place = {Germany},
year = {Thu Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Thu Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4085-2018

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 21 works
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Comparison of VSFM simulated pressure profile (blue line) against data (red square) reported in Celia et al. (1990) at time= 24 h for infiltration in a dry soil column; Initial pressure condition is shown by green line.

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