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The role of root distribution for climate simulation over land
Author(s) -
Zeng Xubin,
Dai YongJiu,
Dickinson Robert E.,
Shaikh Muhammad
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900216
Subject(s) - biosphere , environmental science , biosphere model , atmosphere (unit) , vegetation (pathology) , latent heat , climate model , atmospheric sciences , climatology , distribution (mathematics) , root (linguistics) , climate change , ecology , meteorology , geology , geography , mathematics , biology , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , medicine , pathology
A comprehensive global root database is used to derive vertical root distribution and rooting depth for various vegetation categories in one of the most widely‐used land models; i.e., the Biosphere—Atmosphere Transfer Scheme (BATS). Using a variety of observational datasets, observed root distribution is found to significantly improves the offline simulation of surface water and energy balance. Global climate modeling further demonstrates that observed root distribution primarily affects latent heat flux and soil wetness over tropical and midlatitude land, respectively.