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A High‐Resolution Land Model With Groundwater Lateral Flow, Water Use, and Soil Freeze‐Thaw Front Dynamics and its Applications in an Endorheic Basin
Author(s) -
Xie Zhenghui,
Liu Shuang,
Zeng Yujin,
Gao Junqiang,
Qin Peihua,
Jia Binghao,
Xie Jinbo,
Liu Bin,
Li Ruichao,
Wang Yan,
Wang Longhuan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2018jd028369
Subject(s) - permafrost , evapotranspiration , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , groundwater , sensible heat , surface water , latent heat , groundwater flow , atmosphere (unit) , subsurface flow , atmospheric sciences , geology , aquifer , meteorology , ecology , geography , oceanography , geotechnical engineering , environmental engineering , biology
Human water regulation, groundwater lateral flow, and the movement of frost and thaw fronts (FTFs) affect soil water and thermal processes, as well as energy and water exchanges between the land surface and atmosphere. Reasonable representation of these processes in land surface models is very important to improving the understanding of land‐atmosphere interactions. In this study, mathematical descriptions of groundwater lateral flow, human water regulation, and FTFs were synchronously incorporated into a high‐resolution community land model, which is then named the Land Surface Model for Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS‐LSM). With a series of atmospheric forcings and high‐resolution land surface data from the Heihe Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (HiWATER) program, numerical simulations of the period 1981–2013 using CAS‐LSM with 1‐km resolution were conducted for an endorheic basin, the Heihe River Basin in China. Compared with observations, CAS‐LSM reproduced the distributions of groundwater, evapotranspiration, and permafrost reasonably and well matched the temporal changes in ground temperature, heat fluxes, and FTFs. Results illuminate the temporal and spatial characteristics of frozen soil and the changes in the land‐atmosphere exchange of carbon, water, and energy. The permafrost and seasonally frozen soil were distinguished. In the seasonally frozen areas, the maximum soil frost depth increased by 0.65 mm/year within natural areas and decreased by 2.12 mm/year in human‐dominated areas. The active layer thickness increased 8.63 mm/year for permafrost. In the permafrost zone evapotranspiration and latent heat flux increased, and the sensible heat flux declined. In the human‐dominated areas water use raised the latent heat flux and reduced the sensible heat flux, net ecosystem exchange, and streamflow recharging to the eco‐fragile region in the lower reaches. Results suggested that the land surface model CAS‐LSM is a potential tool for studying land surface processes, especially in cold and arid regions experiencing human interventions.