An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1
Lakes can influence regional climate, yet most general circulation models have, at best, simple and largely untested representations of lakes. We developed the Lake, Ice, Snow, and Sediment Simulator(LISSS) for inclusion in the land-surface component (CLM4) of an earth system model (CESM1). The exis...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2012-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.agu.org/journals/ms/ms1202/2011MS000072/ |
| _version_ | 1828485225041100800 |
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| author | Zachary Subin William J. Riley Dmitrii Mironov |
| author_facet | Zachary Subin William J. Riley Dmitrii Mironov |
| author_sort | Zachary Subin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lakes can influence regional climate, yet most general circulation models have, at best, simple and largely untested representations of lakes. We developed the Lake, Ice, Snow, and Sediment Simulator(LISSS) for inclusion in the land-surface component (CLM4) of an earth system model (CESM1). The existing CLM4 lake modelperformed poorly at all sites tested; for temperate lakes, summer surface water temperature predictions were 10–25uC lower than observations. CLM4-LISSS modifies the existing model by including (1) a treatment of snow; (2) freezing, melting, and ice physics; (3) a sediment thermal submodel; (4) spatially variable prescribed lakedepth; (5) improved parameterizations of lake surface properties; (6) increased mixing under ice and in deep lakes; and (7) correction of previous errors. We evaluated the lake model predictions of water temperature and surface fluxes at three small temperate and boreal lakes where extensive observational data was available. We alsoevaluated the predicted water temperature and/or ice and snow thicknesses for ten other lakes where less comprehensive forcing observations were available. CLM4-LISSS performed very well compared to observations for shallow to medium-depth small lakes. For large, deep lakes, the under-prediction of mixing was improved by increasing the lake eddy diffusivity by a factor of 10, consistent with previouspublished analyses. Surface temperature and surface flux predictions were improved when the aerodynamic roughness lengths were calculated as a function of friction velocity, rather than using a constant value of 1 mm or greater. We evaluated the sensitivity of surface energy fluxes to modeled lake processes and parameters. Largechanges in monthly-averaged surface fluxes (up to 30 W m22) were found when excluding snow insulation or phase change physics and when varying the opacity, depth, albedo of melting lake ice, and mixing strength across ranges commonly found in real lakes. Typical variation among model parameterization choices can therefore cause persistent local surface flux changes much larger than expected changes in greenhouse forcing. We conclude that CLM4-LISSS adequately simulates lake water temperature and surface energy fluxes, with errors comparable in magnitude to those resulting from uncertainty in global lake properties, and is suitable for inclusion inglobal and regional climate studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:09:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a3d9bbdb94c642788e24fdc0676d3e0e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1942-2466 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T09:09:11Z |
| publishDate | 2012-02-01 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-a3d9bbdb94c642788e24fdc0676d3e0e2022-12-22T01:13:33ZengAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems1942-24662012-02-0142M0200127An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1Zachary SubinWilliam J. RileyDmitrii MironovLakes can influence regional climate, yet most general circulation models have, at best, simple and largely untested representations of lakes. We developed the Lake, Ice, Snow, and Sediment Simulator(LISSS) for inclusion in the land-surface component (CLM4) of an earth system model (CESM1). The existing CLM4 lake modelperformed poorly at all sites tested; for temperate lakes, summer surface water temperature predictions were 10–25uC lower than observations. CLM4-LISSS modifies the existing model by including (1) a treatment of snow; (2) freezing, melting, and ice physics; (3) a sediment thermal submodel; (4) spatially variable prescribed lakedepth; (5) improved parameterizations of lake surface properties; (6) increased mixing under ice and in deep lakes; and (7) correction of previous errors. We evaluated the lake model predictions of water temperature and surface fluxes at three small temperate and boreal lakes where extensive observational data was available. We alsoevaluated the predicted water temperature and/or ice and snow thicknesses for ten other lakes where less comprehensive forcing observations were available. CLM4-LISSS performed very well compared to observations for shallow to medium-depth small lakes. For large, deep lakes, the under-prediction of mixing was improved by increasing the lake eddy diffusivity by a factor of 10, consistent with previouspublished analyses. Surface temperature and surface flux predictions were improved when the aerodynamic roughness lengths were calculated as a function of friction velocity, rather than using a constant value of 1 mm or greater. We evaluated the sensitivity of surface energy fluxes to modeled lake processes and parameters. Largechanges in monthly-averaged surface fluxes (up to 30 W m22) were found when excluding snow insulation or phase change physics and when varying the opacity, depth, albedo of melting lake ice, and mixing strength across ranges commonly found in real lakes. Typical variation among model parameterization choices can therefore cause persistent local surface flux changes much larger than expected changes in greenhouse forcing. We conclude that CLM4-LISSS adequately simulates lake water temperature and surface energy fluxes, with errors comparable in magnitude to those resulting from uncertainty in global lake properties, and is suitable for inclusion inglobal and regional climate studies.http://www.agu.org/journals/ms/ms1202/2011MS000072/climate modelinglake modeling |
| spellingShingle | Zachary Subin William J. Riley Dmitrii Mironov An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems climate modeling lake modeling |
| title | An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 |
| title_full | An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 |
| title_fullStr | An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 |
| title_full_unstemmed | An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 |
| title_short | An improved lake model for climate simulations: Model structure, evaluation, and sensitivity analyses in CESM1 |
| title_sort | improved lake model for climate simulations model structure evaluation and sensitivity analyses in cesm1 |
| topic | climate modeling lake modeling |
| url | http://www.agu.org/journals/ms/ms1202/2011MS000072/ |
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