Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974-
Other Authors: Dara Entekhabi.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50450
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author De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974-
author2 Dara Entekhabi.
author_facet Dara Entekhabi.
De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974-
author_sort De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974-
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998.
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spelling mit-1721.1/504502022-01-31T16:21:48Z Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974- Dara Entekhabi. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Technology and Policy Program Civil and Environmental Engineering Technology and Policy Program Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Technology and Policy Program, 1998. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-141). The availability of water at or near the surface determines the way incident radiative energy is partitioned at the ground surface. The goal of this thesis is to determine if better hydrological representation in the MIT Integrated Global System Model will improve its climate prediction capability. This thesis compares the performances of the hydrological modules in the MIT Climate Model and the Natural Emissions Model (NEM) with the off-line National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Land Surface Model (LSM version 1.0) for Ecological, Hydrological, and Atmospheric Studies. The models are forced with the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project (ISLSCP) Field Experiment (FIFE) data, and outputs are validated using FIFE Intensive Field Campaigns measurements. Validation and analyses include comparisons between daily and diurnal model outputs and FIFE measurements, and evaluations of diurnal root mean square errors (RMSE). All three models simulate FIFE conditions well. The NEM is particularly good at tracing the diurnal trend of most diagnostic parameters; but the large and numerous fluctuations in this model's outputs result in large diurnal RMSEs as well. Many of the errors in this model are due to deficient representation of soil moisture movement in its shallow soil column. The deep lower soil layer in the hydrological module in the Climate Model over-drains the thin upper soil layer; the dryness of the upper layer adversely affects energy partition at the land-atmosphere boundary. The NCAR LSM avoids many of the problems encountered with the other two modules and simulates FIFE conditions best; the doubled computational requirement is its main drawback. Hence, comprehensive hydrological representation in climate models will improve climate prediction capacity by providing consistent and more accurate hydrological inputs to all submodels by Radhika N. de Silva. S.M. 2010-01-07T20:40:51Z 2010-01-07T20:40:51Z 1998 1998 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50450 42026331 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 146 leaves application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Civil and Environmental Engineering
Technology and Policy Program
De Silva, Radhika N. (Radhika Neelakshi), 1974-
Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title_full Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title_fullStr Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title_full_unstemmed Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title_short Intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the MIT Integrated Global System Model for analysis of climate issues
title_sort intercomparison of soil hydrology modules in the mit integrated global system model for analysis of climate issues
topic Civil and Environmental Engineering
Technology and Policy Program
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/50450
work_keys_str_mv AT desilvaradhikanradhikaneelakshi1974 intercomparisonofsoilhydrologymodulesinthemitintegratedglobalsystemmodelforanalysisofclimateissues