Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 116,
G02019,
25 PP., 2011
doi:10.1029/2010JG001511
RAMI4PILPS: An intercomparison of formulations for the partitioning of solar radiation in land surface models
- Models-to-reference biases vary with illumination and background conditions
- Mean bias estimated at 4.1 W/m2 for 1-D cases and 13.9 W/m2 for 3-D cases
- Model divergences affect estimation of GPP and shortwave radiative forcing
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, DG Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, DG Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
Temporarily at Earth Observation Directorate, ESA-ESRIN, Frascati, Italy
Institute for Environment and Sustainability, DG Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy
School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK
VITO, Flemish Institute for Technological Research Integrated Environmental Studies, Mol, Belgium
Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Estonia
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama, Japan
Remote Sensing Section, Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo, Norway
Department of Geography, Hunter College, New York, New York, USA
A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia
Department of Bioclimatology, Buesgen-Institute, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany
College of Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn, UK
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Department of Geography, Hunter College, New York, New York, USA
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Remotely sensed, multiannual data sets of shortwave radiative surface fluxes are now available for assimilation into land surface schemes (LSSs) of climate and/or numerical weather prediction models. The RAMI4PILPS suite of virtual experiments assesses the accuracy and consistency of the radiative transfer formulations that provide the magnitudes of absorbed, reflected, and transmitted shortwave radiative fluxes in LSSs. RAMI4PILPS evaluates models under perfectly controlled experimental conditions in order to eliminate uncertainties arising from an incomplete or erroneous knowledge of the structural, spectral and illumination related canopy characteristics typical for model comparison with in situ observations. More specifically, the shortwave radiation is separated into a visible and near-infrared spectral region, and the quality of the simulated radiative fluxes is evaluated by direct comparison with a 3-D Monte Carlo reference model identified during the third phase of the Radiation transfer Model Intercomparison (RAMI) exercise. The RAMI4PILPS setup thus allows to focus in particular on the numerical accuracy of shortwave radiative transfer formulations and to pinpoint to areas where future model improvements should concentrate. The impact of increasing degrees of structural and spectral subgrid variability on the simulated fluxes is documented and the relevance of any thus emerging biases with respect to gross primary production estimates and shortwave radiative forcings due to snow and fire events are investigated.
Received 6 August 2010; accepted 10 February 2011; published 26 May 2011.
Citation: (2011), RAMI4PILPS: An intercomparison of formulations for the partitioning of solar radiation in land surface models, J. Geophys. Res., 116, G02019, doi:10.1029/2010JG001511.
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