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Land Atmosphere Interactions

Predicting the impacts of land-surface processes on regional weather, climate, and hydrology

In this relatively new research and application area, our objectives are to understand, through theoretical and observational studies, the complex interactions (including biophysical, hydrological, and biogeochemical interactions) between the land-surface and the atmosphere at micro- and meso-scales.

The ultimate goal is to integrate such knowledge into numerical mesoscale weather prediction and regional climate models in order to improve prediction of the impacts of land-surface processes on regional weather, climate, and hydrology. To achieve these objectives, a number of research and application studies are conducted.

Partners

  • China Meteorological Administration (CMA)
  • Climate Forecast System (CFS)
  • Climate Test Bed
  • Institute of Urban Meteorology (IUM)

  • National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)

  • University of Texas at Austin

Observation Data Sets

  • IHOP (Soil Moisture, Soil Temperature, and Vegetation Observation Network)

    IHOP
    IHOP

    The boundary-layer portion of the International H2O Experiment (IHOP_2002) supports its overall goal to improve convective precipitation prediction through better use and representation of water vapor in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models through estimating surface water vapor and sensible heat fluxes, characterizing the influence of surface properties on boundary-layer heterogeneity, and understanding the role that these play in the initiation and evolution of convective precipitation systems. Data collection and analysis were designed to provide benchmarks to enable improvements in the representation of land-surface and boundary-layer processes in NWP models. more

Community Models

Representative Projects

  • Improve High-Resolution Forecasts for Cities: Improved high-resolution forecasts for cities with enhanced land-surface, boundary-layer, and radiation physics parameterization.
  • NOAA Climate Forecast System: Improved the Climate Forecast System (CFS) skill by enhancing the representation of soil-hydrology-vegetation interactions using the new community Noah-MP (Multiple-Parameterization) land surface model (LSM)
  • Tibetan Plateau: Built deeper understanding and reduced uncertainties in the community Noah-MP land model simulations over the complex terrain of the Tibetan plateau.

Contact

Fei Chen

Senior Scientist/Deputy Director HAP

email