Abstract ID: 350

Simultaneous Modeling of Rainforest Behavior in the Field and in Biosphere2: Research Proposal

Minimum temperature, water availability, and available energy are the limiting factors associated with each ecosystem. In the Amazon during the wet season, available energy is the primary limiting factor since cloud formation reduces the incoming radiation reaching the surface. In the dry season, water is expected to play a more important role. However, recent studies suggest that the photosynthesis in fact increases during the dry season and water stress is not effectively observed. Arguably this is because tree roots can still extract deep water from the soil while energy is more plentiful (less convective activity and cloud formation). This feature has been observed at a wide range of scales but is currently poorly understood and modeled. Land Surface Parameterization (LSP) schemes seek to represent the exchange of energy and mass between the biosphere and atmosphere. Recently, there have been efforts to improve the soil physics component and the crude representation of the influence of roots of LSPs. With such a simple representation, water stress is often simulated in the dry season which is inconsistent with observation. The focus of this research will be on using the simultaneous availability of data from the LBA project and data gathered in Biosphere2 to better define and address this and other weaknesses in current LSPs. The goal is to create versions of LSPs that provide the currently missing modeling link between laboratory-scale and the basin-scale. Biosphere 2 provides a unique controlled laboratory for carrying out experiments to investigate rainforest biome behavior in response to imposed stresses. This proposal will seek to exploit this controlled environment to investigate physiological response in conditions not easily obtained in the real world, while at the same time using real world field data to ensure that any modification to LSP model structure remains consistent with observed natural behavior.

Session:  Carbon - The LBA Model-Intercomparison Project.

Presentation Type:  Poster