Assessment of Roughness Length Schemes Implemented within the Noah Land Surface Model for High-Altitude Regions

• Published in: Journal of hydrometeorology 2014-06, Vol.15 (3), p.921-937
• Main Authors: Zheng, Donghai, van der Velde, Rogier, Su, Zhongbo, Booij, Martijn J., Hoekstra, Arjen Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coefficients; Grassland soils; Heat flux; Parameterization; Rainy seasons; Soil air; Soil temperature; Soil water; Surface temperature; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1525-755X; 1525-7541
• DOI: 10.1175/JHM-D-13-0102.1

Current land surface models still have difficulties with producing reliable surface heat fluxes and skin temperature (T sfc) estimates for high-altitude regions, which may be addressed via adequate parameterization of the roughness lengths for momentum(z 0m) and heat (z 0H) transfer. In this study, the performance of variousz 0handz 0mschemes developed for the Noah land surface model is assessed for a high-altitude site (3430 m) on the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Based on the in situ surface heat fluxes and profile measurements of wind and temperature, monthly variations ofz 0mand diurnal variations ofZ 0hare derived through application of the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory. These derived values together with the measured heat fluxes are utilized to assess the performance of thosez 0mandz 0hschemes for different seasons. The analyses show that thez 0mdynamics are related to vegetation dynamics and soil water freeze–thaw state, which are reproduced satisfactorily with currentz 0mschemes. Further, it is demonstrated that the heat flux simulations are very sensitive to the diurnal variations ofz 0h. The newly developedz 0hschemes all capture, at least over the sparse vegetated surfaces during the winter season, the observed diurnal variability much better than the original one. It should, however, be noted that for the dense vegetated surfaces during the spring and monsoon seasons, not all newly developed schemes perform consistently better than the original one. With the most promising schemes, the Noah simulated sensible heat flux, latent heat flux,T sfc, and soil temperature improved for the monsoon season by about 29%, 79%, 75%, and 81%, respectively. In addition, the impact ofT sfccalculation and energy balance closure associated with measurement uncertainties on the above findings are discussed, and the selection of the appropriatez 0hscheme for applications is addressed.