The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations
A climate model must include an accurate surface physics scheme in order to examine the interactions between the land and atmosphere. Given an increase in the surface radiative forcing, the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy plays an important role in determining the energy budget a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62597 |
| _version_ | 1811093753701597184 |
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| author | Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. |
| author_sort | Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) |
| collection | MIT |
| description | A climate model must include an accurate surface physics scheme in order to examine the interactions between the land and atmosphere. Given an increase in the surface radiative forcing, the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy plays an important role in determining the energy budget and has a significant impact on the response of surface temperature.
The Penman–Monteith equation is used to construct a theoretical framework for evaluating the climatology of evapotranspiration and the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy. Regional Climate Model version 3 coupled to Integrated Biosphere Simulator (RegCM3–IBIS); RegCM3 with its native land surface model, Biosphere–Atmosphere Transfer Scheme 1e (RegCM3–BATS1e); and Flux Network (FLUXNET) micrometeorological tower observations are compared and contrasted using the developed methodology.
RegCM3–IBIS and RegCM3–BATS1e simulate the observed sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy reasonably well during the summer on average; however, there are significant variations in the monthly values. Additional information provided by the physically based Penman–Monteith framework is employed for identifying deficiencies and guiding improvements in models, allowing calibration of both the climatology of evapotranspiration and the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:49:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/62597 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:49:46Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/625972022-09-29T16:26:04Z The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. A climate model must include an accurate surface physics scheme in order to examine the interactions between the land and atmosphere. Given an increase in the surface radiative forcing, the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy plays an important role in determining the energy budget and has a significant impact on the response of surface temperature. The Penman–Monteith equation is used to construct a theoretical framework for evaluating the climatology of evapotranspiration and the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy. Regional Climate Model version 3 coupled to Integrated Biosphere Simulator (RegCM3–IBIS); RegCM3 with its native land surface model, Biosphere–Atmosphere Transfer Scheme 1e (RegCM3–BATS1e); and Flux Network (FLUXNET) micrometeorological tower observations are compared and contrasted using the developed methodology. RegCM3–IBIS and RegCM3–BATS1e simulate the observed sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy reasonably well during the summer on average; however, there are significant variations in the monthly values. Additional information provided by the physically based Penman–Monteith framework is employed for identifying deficiencies and guiding improvements in models, allowing calibration of both the climatology of evapotranspiration and the sensitivity of latent heat flux to available energy. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award EAR-04500341) Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability 2011-05-06T20:00:27Z 2011-05-06T20:00:27Z 2010-05 2009-03 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0894-8755 1520-0442 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62597 Winter, Jonathan M., Elfatih A. B. Eltahir. "The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations." Journal of Climate, (2010) 23, 2345–2356.© 2010 American Meteorological Society. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009jcli3158.1 Journal of Climate Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Winter, Jonathan (Jonathan Mark) Eltahir, Elfatih A. B. The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title | The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title_full | The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title_fullStr | The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title_short | The Sensitivity of Latent Heat Flux to Changes in the Radiative Forcing: A Framework for Comparing Models and Observations |
| title_sort | sensitivity of latent heat flux to changes in the radiative forcing a framework for comparing models and observations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62597 |
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