Simulation of Soil Temperature Dynamics with Models Using Different Concepts

This paper presents two soil temperature models with empirical and mechanistic concepts. At the test site (calcaric arenosol), meteorological parameters as well as soil moisture content and temperature at 5 different depths were measured in an experiment with 8 parcels realizing the combinations of the fertilized, nonfertilized, irrigated, nonirrigated treatments in two replicates. Leaf area dynamics was also monitored. Soil temperature was calculated with the original and a modified version of CERES as well as with the HYDRUS-1D model. The simulated soil temperature values were compared to the observed ones. The vegetation reduced both the average soil temperature and its diurnal amplitude; therefore, considering the leaf area dynamics is important in modeling. The models underestimated the actual soil temperature and overestimated the temperature oscillation within the winter period. All models failed to account for the insulation effect of snow cover. The modified CERES provided explicitly more accurate soil temperature values than the original one. Though HYDRUS-1D provided more accurate soil temperature estimations, its superiority to CERES is not unequivocal as it requires more detailed inputs.