the role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the...

38
A closer look at skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy balance Anne Verhoef Department of Geography & Environmental Science, University of Reading, UK Acknowledgements: G.P. Balsamo, A. Beljaars, C. Bernhofer, M.Best, F. Beyrich, F. Bosveld, S. Boussetta, R. Essery, C. Heret, U. Rummel, R.Stockli, P.L. Vidale, UoR land surface group members

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Page 1: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

A closer look at skin layer heat transfer in the

surface energy balance

Anne Verhoef

Department of Geography & Environmental Science, University of Reading, UK

Acknowledgements: G.P. Balsamo, A. Beljaars, C. Bernhofer, M.Best, F. Beyrich, F. Bosveld, S. Boussetta, R. Essery, C. Heret, U. Rummel, R.Stockli, P.L. Vidale, UoR land surface group members

Page 2: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

The skin represents the vegetation layer, the top layer of the bare soil, or the top layer of the snow pack, has no heat capacity and therefore responds ‘instantaneously’ to changes in e.g. radiative forcing.

A skin temperature Tsk forms the interface between the soil and the atmosphere. The skin conductivity, Λsk, provides the thermal connection between the skin level and the soil or snow deck.

Energy balance in ECMWF TESSEL scheme

Depth of soil layers: 0.07, 0.21, 0.72 and 1.89 m

TESSEL: Tiled ECMWF Scheme for Surface Exchanges over Land

T1

T3

T2

Tsk

Ta

ra

T4

Gsk

Day Night

Lsk

Page 3: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

TESSEL Lsk for different surface types

Page 4: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

The surface represents the vegetation layer, the top layer of the bare soil, or the top layer of the snow pack, and has a heat capacity

• A surface temperature, T* , forms the interface between the soil and the atmosphere.

Energy balance in JULES scheme

Depth of soil layers: 0.10, 0.25, 0.65 and 2.0 m

JULES: Joint Environment Land Simulator

• Thermal inertia is associated with the surface mass which is coupled to the underlying soil. T1

T3

T2

T*

Ta

ra

T4

G

Day Night

Page 5: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

‘Skin layer heat flux’ in JULES scheme

Depth of soil layers: 0.10, 0.25, 0.65 and 2.0 m

T1

T3

T2

T*

Ta

ra

T4

G

Day Night

The vegetation fraction is coupled to the soil using 1. radiative exchange and 2. atmospheric turbulence, whereas the soil is coupled through 3. conduction. These three terms are given by:

Page 6: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Vidale & Stockli (2004)

Canopy storage & within-canopy transfer

Nocturnal mixing in a Boreas aspen forest subcanopy

Canopy storage is occasionally considered in land

surface models, but not in TESSEL (no capacity for

skin layer). In Jules the vegetation has a capacity

Within-canopy transfer is not explicitly

considered in TESSEL, but approximated in JULES

Page 7: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Research questions

Study measured Gsk

How does Gsk vary diurnally/seasonally?

Compare measured and modelled Gsk

What processes/parameters affect Gsk?

Realistic values of Lsk for different surface types?

Is the approach developed by TESSEL/JULES

adequate?

Should Lsk really be assumed constant throughout

the day for most surfaces?

What about canopy storage and within-canopy transfer?

T1

Lsk

Lsoil

Tsk

T2 lsoil

Gsk

Gsoil

Page 8: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Multi-year, half-hourly datasets used to study Gsk and Lsk

Falkenberg

Tharandt

Lindenberg Cabauw

Location Falkenberg Lindenberg Tharandt Cabauw

Surface type Grass Needleleaf forest Needleleaf forest Grass

Latitude 52° 10' N 52°18' N 50°58' N 51°97' N

Longitude 14° 07' E 13°95' E 13°34'E 4°93' E

Country Germany Germany Germany Netherlands

Elevation [m a.s.l.]: 73 42 380 -1

Topography fairly flat fairly flat gently sloped flat Vegetation height (m) < 0.20 18 26 0.1

LAI (m2 m

-2) < 2 4 7.2 < 2

Dominant species grass Pine Norway spruce grass

Understorey N/A N/A Wavy hair grass N/A

Climate Marine /continental Mar. /cont. Mediterranean/ Maritime (P=563) (P=563) montane (P=820) (P=793)

Reference height (m) 2.4 30.0 42 1.5/5

Length of dataset 2003-2009 2003-2009 1998-2003 2003-2009

Page 9: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Falkenberg versus Cabauw grass: top-down Gsk

Cabauw Falkenberg

Time (hour) Time (hour)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Rn,* up to 400 W m-2

Grass Grass

Page 10: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Falkenberg versus Cabauw grass: Lsk

Cabauw Falkenberg

Time (hour) Time (hour)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Time (hours)

La

mb

da

_sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

La

mb

da_

sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Time (hours)

La

mb

da

_sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

La

mb

da_

sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Page 11: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Lindenberg versus Tharandt forest: Gsk

Tharandt Lindenberg

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Gsk (

W m

−2

) July

August

September

October

November

December

Time (hour) Time (hour)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−50

0

50

100

150

Gsk (

W m

−2

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Forest Forest

Page 12: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Lindenberg versus Tharandt forest: Lsk

Tharandt Lindenberg

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Time (hours)

La

mb

da

_sk (

W m

−2

K−

1)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Lam

bda

_sk (

W m

−2

K−

1)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

Time (hours)

La

mb

da

_sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

15

20

25

La

mb

da_

sk (

W m

−2 K−

1)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Time (hour) Time (hour)

Page 13: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Components of in-situ, bottom-up Gsk

JH and JE are the sensible and latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height, zr, above the canopy. JB is the heat storage flux in the above-ground biomass and JP is the rate of energy storage by photosynthesis

(bottom-up)

Page 14: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Falkenberg (grass)

Monthly averaged diurnal course Gsoil (grass)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−40

−20

0

20

40

60

80

Time (hours)

Gso

il (W

m−

2)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−40

−20

0

20

40

60

80

Gsoil

(W m

−2

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Time (hour)

T1

Lsk

Tsk

T2 lsoil

Gsk

Gsoil

Page 15: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

• JA and JE are the sensible and latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height

• JB is the heat storage flux in the above-ground biomass

• JP is the rate of energy storage by photosynthesis.

Role of canopy storage

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−20

0

20

40

Time (hours)

Gsk b

ott

om−

up (

W m

−2

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−20

0

20

40

Gsk b

ott

om−

up (

W m

−2

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Time (hour)

Tharandt

Page 16: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GsoilForest Gsoil + JB + JA + JEForest Gsoil + 1.5*JB + JA + JE

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GsoilGrass Gsoil + JB + JA + JEForest Grass

Bottom up versus top-down values of Gsk

• (Top-down):

• (Bottom-up) =

• JB requires estimates of canopy biomass (large uncertainties)

• Years 2003-2008 • AMJJAS

Lindenberg/Falkenberg

Page 17: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Modelled components of Gsk: JULES

C = 43

Page 18: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GJulesForest GJules + JBForest GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 25

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GJulesForest GJules + JBForest GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 50

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GJulesForest GJules + JBForest GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 100

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GJulesForest GJules + JBForest GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 200

Forest C = 25

Forest C = 50

Forest C = 100

Forest C = 200

JULES JULES

JULES JULES

Page 19: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GJulesGrass GJules + JBGrass GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 25

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GJulesGrass GJules + JBGrass GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 50

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GJulesGrass GJules + JBGrass GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 100

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GJulesGrass GJules + JBGrass GJules + JB + JA + JE

Racan_const = 200

Grass C = 25

Grass C = 50

Grass C = 100

Grass C = 200

JULES JULES

JULES JULES

Page 20: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gsk (

W m

−2)

Forest GskForest GECMWF5Forest GECMWF5 + 1.5*JBForest GECMWF5 + 1.5*JB + JA + JE

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)G

sk (

W m

−2)

Grass GskGrass GECMWF5Grass GECMWF5 + JBGrass GECMWF5 + JB + JA + JE

Grass Forest

• ECMWF equation (red) overestimates for forest & underestimates for grass • Lsk is incorrect • Taking heat storage into account improves timing, but not amplitude • Standard G_JULES (with C=50) for grass performs better than G_ECMWF

ECMWF

ECMWF

Lsk= 10

Lsk= 20

Lsk= 15

Gsk_ECMWF

Page 21: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Forest Grass

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gbott

om

up

corr

ecte

d (

W m

−2

)

Forest GskForest Gbottomup1Forest Gbottomup15Forest Gbottomup1corForest Gbottomup15cor

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

0200

250

Time (hours)

Gbott

om

up

corr

ecte

d (

W m

−2

)

GskGsoil + JB + JA + JEGsoil + JB + JA + JE + GJULESaero + GJULESrad

Bottom-up plus radiation and aerodynamic term of Gsk_JULES

Page 22: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Conclusions so far

• Gsk varies diurnally and seasonally

• Gsk takes up a large part of Rn (around 25%), even for a grass surface

• Lsk varies diurnally and seasonally and is a function of ustar/stability

• Counter-gradient in-canopy transfer causes negative Lsk values

• Models do quite well, but a simple Lsk is not enough • JULES does better, but in-canopy aerodynamic transfer could be

improved via e.g. a two-layer model.

Page 23: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

23

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

θ / θsat

The

rmal

Co

nd

uct

ivit

y (W

m-1

K-1

)

Sand

Falkenberg

Loamy sand

Sandy clay loam

Sandy clay

Sandy loam

Loam

Clay loam

Light clay

Silty loam

Silty clay loam

Silty clay

lsoil = (lsat -ldry)Ke +ldry

The soil thermal conductivity, λsoil, depends on the soil-water

content following Peters-Lidard et al. (1998) (see also Farouki,

1986; Johansen, 1975)

Theory behind lsoil

Standard soils: Cosby et al. (1986).

Page 24: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

1292 1294 1296 1298 1300 1302 1304

01

020

30

40

50

DOY

Tsk (

de

gC

)

●●

●●●●●●●●●● ●

●●●●● ●

●●●

Forest Tsk

Grass Tsk

Forest T 5cm

Grass T 5cm

Page 25: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

1295 1300 1305 1310

−1

0−

50

51

01

52

0

DOY

Tsk−

T1

●●

●●●●

●●●●

● ●

●●●●●

●●●

●● ● ● ●

Forest

Grass

Page 26: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

1292 1294 1296 1298 1300 1302 1304

−10

00

100

200

300

DOY

Gsk (

Wm−

2)

●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●●●● ● ●●●●

Forest

Grass

216 218 220 222 224

−10

00

100

200

300

DOY

Gsk (

Wm−

2)

● ● ●

Forest

Grass

185 190 195 200 205

−10

00

100

200

300

DOY

Gsk (

Wm−

2)

●●● ●●●● ●●●●●●● ●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●● ● ●●● ●● ● ● ●●●●●●●●

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ● ●

●● ●●●●●●●●●●●●●● ●●●

Forest

Grass

Page 27: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

1292 1293 1294 1295 1296 1297 1298

−10

00

10

02

00

30

0

DOY

Gsk a

nd G

Ju

les

GJULESvegrad

GJULESvegaero

GJULESsoil

GJULES

Gsk

GECMWF

Forest

Page 28: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

185 190 195 200 205

−10

00

10

02

00

30

0

DOY

Gsk a

nd G

Ju

les

GJULESvegrad

GJULESvegaero

GJULESsoil

GJULES

Gsk

GECMWF

Forest

Page 29: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

216 218 220 222 224 226

−10

00

10

02

00

30

0

DOY

Gsk a

nd G

Ju

les

GJULESvegrad

GJULESvegaero

GJULESsoil

GJULES

Gsk

GECMWF

Forest

Page 30: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Recent work on Lindenberg/Falkenberg

Grass

216 218 220 222 224 226

−10

0−

50

050

100

15

020

0

DOY

Gsk a

nd G

Ju

les

GJULESvegrad

GJULESvegaero

GJULESsoil

GJULES

Gsk

Page 31: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Some authors (Van der Wiel et al.; Steeneveld et al.) use the term bulk conductance

of the mulch/stagnant air layer within the vegetation

lm the conductance in W m-1 K-1 (although conductivity would be a better term),

and dm is the thickness of the mulch/stagnant air layer (in m). Values for the bulk conductance between 2 and 7 W m-1 K-1 are reported

(Duynkerke, 1991; Van de Wiel et al., 2003); however, in none of the papers is dm

explicitly taken into account.

Bulk conductance of the mulch/stagnant air layer within the vegetation

15 OCTOBER 2003 2515V A N D E W I E L E T A L .

FIG. 8. As in Fig. 1, but with the horizontal axis in terms of /h2u*

(6-h averages) instead of (effective) pressure gradient.

From now on, an axis as in Fig. 8 will be used. Adoptingthe assumptions above, the effective pressure gradientis estimated from the data by using 6-h-averaged valuesof the surface stress and of the boundary layer height(see section 4e).

It is, however, realized that many real SBLs do notshow classical behavior. For example, Mahrt and Vick-ers (2002) show a number of CASES-99 nights wherefluxes temporarily increase with height (upside-downboundary layers) before they decrease higher up. Also,SBL are often nonstationary by many causes, as withinertial oscillations. This means that Eq. (2) can, at best,only provide a crude approximation of the effectivepressure gradient, limiting the generality of Fig. 8 (seediscussion).

2) THE ISOTHERMAL NET RADIATION

A second key parameter determining the radiativeforcing on the SBL system as defined in VdW(a,b) isthe so-called isothermal net radiation (Monteith 1981;Holtslag and De Bruin 1988). The isothermal net ra-diation is defined as the net radiation that would occurif the near-surface layer were isothermal. This definitionbecomes clear by noting the linearized longwave radi-ation budget for the surface in the model (a small cor-rection term is neglected):

4 3Q [ ( )T N60] 4 T (T T ).net s a ref ref a S

(3)

This equation is derived by linearization of the originalbudget equation near a reference temperature Tref [seeVdW(a)]:

4 4Q T N60 T .net a a s S (4)

By writing the net radiation equation as Eq. (3), it isclear that it can be divided in two parts: a part containingindependent external parameters a, s, and cloud coverN (octa); and a part containing system variables Ta (airtemperature) and TS (surface temperature). The first part

of (3) is defined as the isothermal net radiation Qi, be-cause it equals the net radiation Qnet if Ta TS. For ourdataset, Qi is estimated from Qi Qnet 4 (Ta

3T ref

TS), with Ta measured at 10 m, as in Table 1.

c. Local system parameters

An important parameter determining the vegetation–soil interaction is the so-called bulk conductance of themulch/stagnant air layer within the vegetation[VdW(a)]. This bulk conductance is denoted with m/

m W m 2 K 1, where m is the conductance (in W m 1

K 1), and m is the thickness of the mulch/stagnant airlayer (in meters). It determines the heat flux through thevegetation layer, given a temperature difference betweenthe vegetation top (radiation temperature TS) and thesoil surface (TM):

G ( / )(T T ).m m M S (5)

For dense vegetation the bulk conductance can beeasily determined by measuring G in combination withthe radiation temperature of the vegetation TS and thetopsoil temperature TM. In CASES-99, the surface wascovered with dry, open prairie grass, so that bare soilwas visible between the grass. Thus, the infrared camera(at 1.5 m), measures a composite of the vegetation toptemperature TS and the topsoil temperature TM. If, forsimplicity, we assume s 1 for both vegetation andbare soil, this can be approximated as

4 4 4T A T (1 A) T ,IRT S M (6)

with A[ ], the fraction of vegetation cover. Regardingthe approximation above, it is noted that the use of aslightly different power law (i.e., powers of 4.5 insteadof 4) is probably more appropriate in the window region,although the results are very similar (within 1.5% errorin TM TS), that is, small compared to the uncertaintiesin the estimation of the vegetation fraction.

For a given vegetation fraction, the actual temperatureof the vegetation top TS can be calculated from the mea-sured values TIRT and TM. Next, the value of G can beplotted as a function of TM TS in order to estimatethe bulk conductance. In Fig. 9, this is applied to theCASES-99 data assuming two different values for thevegetation cover. The plots show surprisingly little scat-ter, given the strong empirical character of Eq. (5) notaccounting for the complicated structure of real vege-tation (leaf distribution/orientation). From Fig. 9, thefollowing estimates for the bulk conductance are made(in W m 2 K 1): m/ m 5 for A 1.0; m/ m 2for A 0.5 [the intermediate case (not shown) gives

m/ m 3.5 using A 0.75]. These ‘‘extremes’’ givea range for the bulk conductance at CASES-99. Forcomparison we note that Duynkerke (1999) found m/

m 3 W m 2 K 1 for short, dense grass at Cabauw,comparable to the values given above.

Another vegetation parameter is the heat capacity C

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Falkenberg versus Cabauw grass: Tsk-T1

Cabauw Falkenberg

Time (hour) Time (hour)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

Time (hours)

Tsk−

T1

(d

eg

C)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

Tsk−

T1

(d

eg

C)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

Time (hours)

Tsk−

T1

(d

eg

C)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−5

0

5

10

Tsk−

T1 (

de

g C

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Page 33: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Lindenberg versus Tharandt forest: Tsk-T1

Tharandt Lindenberg

Time (hour) Time (hour)

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

Time (hours)

Tsk−

T1

(d

eg

C)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

Tsk−

T1 (

de

g C

)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

Time (hours)

Tsk−

T1

(de

g C

)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

−10

−5

0

5

10

Tsk−

T1

(d

eg

C)

July

August

September

October

November

December

Page 34: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

History of Lsk approach

Viterbo & Beljaars (J Climate 8; 1995): a uniform value of 7 W m-2 K-1 (based on

Cabauw grassland)

Van den Hurk & Beljaars (J Applied Meteorology 35; 1996):

• “Empirical effective conductivity for heat transfer through the skin layer

• For completely bare soil, L can be related to a physical soil thermal conductivity

• When a dense vegetation cover is present, the heat flow into the soil and vegetation layer will also be affected by turbulent exchange within the vegetation

• …. value of Lsk includes heat conductivity of the canopy elements, the air within

the canopy layer and the conductivity of the topsoil layer

• Considerably different values may be expected for different types of surfaces

• Use 7 W m-2 K-1 for vegetated part of grid box and 17 W m-2 K-1 for bare soil part”

Page 35: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

What affects ‘skin layer transfer’?

- Season

- Time of day

- Type of vegetation

- Soil moisture content

- (Soil type)

- (Turbulence strength)

- (Wind speed)

Page 36: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Energy balance in ECMWF TESSEL scheme, 2

T1

Lsk

Lsoil

Tsk

T2 lsoil

Page 37: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Skin layer heat flux TESSEL/JULES schemes

TESSEL

T1

Lsk

Lsoil

Tsk

T2 lsoil

Gsk

JULES

Page 38: The role of skin layer heat transfer in the surface energy ... · latent heat storage fluxes in the air column below the flux measurement height • J B is the heat storage flux in

Time (hour)

Soil thermal conductivity, lsoil, for Falkenberg grass

Falkenberg grass:

Lsoil ~ 28-40 W m-2 K-1

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

Time (hours)

La

mb

da_

soil

(W m

−1 K−

1)

January

February

March

April

May

June

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

La

mb

da

_soil

(W m

−1 K−

1)

July

August

September

October

November

December

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.000.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

θ/θsat

ThermalConducvity(Wm

-1K

-1)

Sand

Falkenberg

Loamysand

Sandyclayloam

Sandyclay

Sandyloam

Loam

Clayloam

Lightclay

Siltyloam

Siltyclayloam

Siltyclay