The land surface controls the partitioning of water and energy fluxes and therefore plays a crucial role in the climate system. The coupling between soil moisture and air temperature, in particular, has been shown to affect the severity and occurrence of temperature extremes and heat waves. Here we study soil moisture\uffe2\uff80\uff90temperature coupling in five land surface models, focusing on the terrestrial segment of the coupling in the warm season. All models are run off\uffe2\uff80\uff90line over a common period with identical atmospheric forcing data, in order to allow differences in the results to be attributed to the models' partitioning of energy and water fluxes. Coupling is calculated according to two semiempirical metrics, and results are compared to observational flux tower data. Results show that the locations of the global hot spots of soil moisture\uffe2\uff80\uff90temperature coupling are similar across all models and for both metrics. In agreement with previous studies, these areas are located in transitional climate regimes. The magnitude and local patterns of model coupling, however, can vary considerably. Model coupling fields are compared to tower data, bearing in mind the limitations in the geographical distribution of flux towers and the differences in representative area of models and in situ data. Nevertheless, model coupling correlates in space with the tower\uffe2\uff80\uff90based results (r = 0.5\uffe2\uff80\uff930.7), with the multimodel mean performing similarly to the best\uffe2\uff80\uff90performing model. Intermodel differences are also found in the evaporative fractions and may relate to errors in model parameterizations and ancillary data of soil and vegetation characteristics.
", "keywords": ["ENVIRONMENT SIMULATOR JULES", "FLUXES", "0207 environmental engineering", "02 engineering and technology", "01 natural sciences", "CO2 EXCHANGE", "models", "WATER", "SCALE", "Research Articles", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "land surface", "CARBON-DIOXIDE EXCHANGE", "eartH2Observe", "temperature", "15. Life on land", "DECIDUOUS FOREST", "CLIMATE", "EVAPORATION", "VARIABILITY", "13. Climate action", "Earth and Environmental Sciences", "BALANCE", "land surface models", "SENSIBLE HEAT", "land-atmosphere interactions", "soil moisture"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2017JD027346"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027346"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Geophysical%20Research%3A%20Atmospheres", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1002/2017JD027346", "name": "item", "description": "10.1002/2017JD027346", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1002/2017JD027346"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-02-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.14604", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:18:27Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-02-27", "title": "Effects of mesophyll conductance on vegetation responses to elevated CO 2 concentrations in a land surface model", "description": "AbstractMesophyll conductance (gm) is known to affect plant photosynthesis. However,gmis rarely explicitly considered in land surface models (LSMs), with the consequence that its role in ecosystem and large\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale carbon and water fluxes is poorly understood. In particular, the different magnitudes ofgmacross plant functional types (PFTs) are expected to cause spatially divergent vegetation responses to elevated CO2concentrations. Here, an extensive literature compilation ofgmacross major vegetation types is used to parameterize an empirical model ofgmin the LSM JSBACH and to adjust photosynthetic parameters based on simulatedAn\uffc2\uffa0\uffe2\uff88\uff92\uffc2\uffa0Cicurves. We demonstrate that an explicit representation ofgmchanges the response of photosynthesis to environmental factors, which cannot be entirely compensated by adjusting photosynthetic parameters. These altered responses lead to changes in the photosynthetic sensitivity to atmospheric CO2concentrations which depend both on the magnitude ofgmand the climatic conditions, particularly temperature. We then conducted simulations under ambient and elevated (ambient\uffc2\uffa0+\uffc2\uffa0200\uffc2\uffa0\uffce\uffbcmol/mol) CO2concentrations for contrasting ecosystems and for historical and anticipated future climate conditions (representative concentration pathways; RCPs) globally. Thegm\uffe2\uff80\uff90explicit simulations using the RCP8.5 scenario resulted in significantly higher increases in gross primary productivity (GPP) in high latitudes (+10% to + 25%), intermediate increases in temperate regions (+5% to + 15%), and slightly lower to moderately higher responses in tropical regions (\uffe2\uff88\uff922% to +5%), which summed up to moderate GPP increases globally. Similar patterns were found for transpiration, but with a lower magnitude. Our results suggest that the effect of an explicit representation ofgmis most important for simulated carbon and water fluxes in the boreal zone, where a cold climate coincides with evergreen vegetation.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "550", "Climate", "mesophyll conductance", "photosynthetic CO sensitivity", "01 natural sciences", "land surface modeling", "Carbon Cycle", "03 medical and health sciences", "photosynthetic CO2 sensitivity", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "representative concentration pathways", "Photosynthesis", "Ecosystem", "580", "photosynthesis", "plants", "Temperature", "elevated CO concentrations", "carbon dioxide", "Carbon Dioxide", "Models", " Theoretical", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Primary Research Articles", "13. Climate action", "elevated CO2 concentrations"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.14604"}, {"href": "https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/195677/5/01_Knauer_Effects_of_mesophyll_2019.pdf.jpg"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14604"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/gcb.14604", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.14604", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.14604"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-03-23T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.16394", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:18:28Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-08-17", "title": "Lowering water table reduces carbon sink strength and carbon stocks in northern peatlands", "description": "AbstractPeatlands at high latitudes have accumulated >400\uffe2\uff80\uff89Pg carbon (C) because saturated soil and cold temperatures suppress C decomposition. This substantial amount of C in Arctic and Boreal peatlands is potentially subject to increased decomposition if the water table (WT) decreases due to climate change, including permafrost thaw\uffe2\uff80\uff90related drying. Here, we optimize a version of the Organizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems model (ORCHIDEE\uffe2\uff80\uff90PCH4) using site\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific observations to investigate changes in CO2 and CH4 fluxes as well as C stock responses to an experimentally manipulated decrease of WT at six northern peatlands. The unmanipulated control peatlands, with the WT <20\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm on average (seasonal max up to 45\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm) below the surface, currently act as C sinks in most years (58\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff8934\uffe2\uff80\uff89g C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921; including 6\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff897\uffe2\uff80\uff89g C\uffe2\uff80\uff93CH4 m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921 emission). We found, however, that lowering the WT by 10\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm reduced the CO2 sink by 13\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff8915\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921 and decreased CH4 emission by 4\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff894\uffe2\uff80\uff89g CH4 m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921, thus accumulating less C over 100\uffe2\uff80\uff89years (0.2\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff890.2\uffe2\uff80\uff89kg\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922). Yet, the reduced emission of CH4, which has a larger greenhouse warming potential, resulted in a net decrease in greenhouse gas balance by 310\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff89360\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89CO2\uffe2\uff80\uff90eq\uffc2\uffa0m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921. Peatlands with the initial WT close to the soil surface were more vulnerable to C loss: Non\uffe2\uff80\uff90permafrost peatlands lost >2\uffe2\uff80\uff89kg\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 over 100\uffe2\uff80\uff89years when WT is lowered by 50\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm, while permafrost peatlands temporally switched from C sinks to sources. These results highlight that reductions in C storage capacity in response to drying of northern peatlands are offset in part by reduced CH4 emissions, thus slightly reducing the positive carbon climate feedbacks of peatlands under a warmer and drier future climate scenario.Characterizing the terrestrial carbon, water, and energy cycles depends strongly on a capacity to accurately reproduce the spatial and temporal dynamics of land surface evaporation. For this, and many other reasons, monitoring terrestrial evaporation across multiple space and time scales has been an area of focused research for a number of decades. Much of this activity has been supported by developments in satellite remote sensing, which have been leveraged to deliver new process insights, model development and methodological improvements. In this Special Issue, published contributions explored a range of research topics directed towards the enhanced estimation of terrestrial evaporation. Here we summarize these cutting-edge efforts and provide an overview of some of the state-of-the-art approaches for retrieving this key variable. Some perspectives on outstanding challenges, issues, and opportunities are also presented.
", "keywords": ["Atmospheric sciences", "CubeSats", "Life on Land", "Classical Physics", "Science", "0207 environmental engineering", "02 engineering and technology", "high-resolution", "01 natural sciences", "Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience", "Article", "evaporation", "land surface modeling", "remote sensing", "Engineering", "novel sensing", "Physical geography and environmental geoscience", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Earth observation", "Q", "Geomatic engineering", "15. Life on land", "Geomatic Engineering", "land surface flux", "13. Climate action", "cubesats"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/9/1138/pdf"}, {"href": "https://escholarship.org/content/qt1sh5v7hp/qt1sh5v7hp.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091138"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Remote%20Sensing", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.3390/rs11091138", "name": "item", "description": "10.3390/rs11091138", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.3390/rs11091138"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-05-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.3389/frwa.2022.981745", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-05-24T16:20:18Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2022-09-16", "title": "Perspective on satellite-based land data assimilation to estimate water cycle components in an era of advanced data availability and model sophistication", "description": "The beginning of the 21st century is marked by a rapid growth of land surface satellite data and model sophistication. This offers new opportunities to estimate multiple components of the water cycle via satellite-based land data assimilation (DA) across multiple scales. By resolving more processes in land surface models and by coupling the land, the atmosphere, and other Earth system compartments, the observed information can be propagated to constrain additional unobserved variables. Furthermore, access to more satellite observations enables the direct constraint of more and more components of the water cycle that are of interest to end users. However, the finer level of detail in models and data is also often accompanied by an increase in dimensions, with more state variables, parameters, or boundary conditions to estimate, and more observations to assimilate. This requires advanced DA methods and efficient solutions. One solution is to target specific observations for assimilation based on a sensitivity study or coupling strength analysis, because not all observations are equally effective in improving subsequent forecasts of hydrological variables, weather, agricultural production, or hazards through DA. This paper offers a perspective on current and future land DA development, and suggestions to optimally exploit advances in observing and modeling systems.tocm.tif), one for each layer; format is GeoTIFF, compatible with\u00a0convert_geotiff, a commandline utility for converting data from GeoTIFF to geogrid format used by WRF; 16 tiles, 8 for each layer, each covering 90 degrees by 90 degrees (SoilType_depth The beginning of the 21st century is marked by a rapid growth of land surface satellite data and model sophistication. This offers new opportunities to estimate multiple components of the water cycle via satellite-based land data assimilation (DA) across multiple scales. By resolving more processes in land surface models and by coupling the land, the atmosphere, and other Earth system compartments, the observed information can be propagated to constrain additional unobserved variables. Furthermore, access to more satellite observations enables the direct constraint of more and more components of the water cycle that are of interest to end users. However, the finer level of detail in models and data is also often accompanied by an increase in dimensions, with more state variables, parameters, or boundary conditions to estimate, and more observations to assimilate. This requires advanced DA methods and efficient solutions. One solution is to target specific observations for assimilation based on a sensitivity study or coupling strength analysis, because not all observations are equally effective in improving subsequent forecasts of hydrological variables, weather, agricultural production, or hazards through DA. This paper offers a perspective on current and future land DA development, and suggestions to optimally exploit advances in observing and modeling systems.Peatlands at high latitudes have accumulated >400\uffe2\uff80\uff89Pg carbon (C) because saturated soil and cold temperatures suppress C decomposition. This substantial amount of C in Arctic and Boreal peatlands is potentially subject to increased decomposition if the water table (WT) decreases due to climate change, including permafrost thaw\uffe2\uff80\uff90related drying. Here, we optimize a version of the Organizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems model (ORCHIDEE\uffe2\uff80\uff90PCH4) using site\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific observations to investigate changes in CO2 and CH4 fluxes as well as C stock responses to an experimentally manipulated decrease of WT at six northern peatlands. The unmanipulated control peatlands, with the WT <20\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm on average (seasonal max up to 45\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm) below the surface, currently act as C sinks in most years (58\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff8934\uffe2\uff80\uff89g C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921; including 6\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff897\uffe2\uff80\uff89g C\uffe2\uff80\uff93CH4 m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921 emission). We found, however, that lowering the WT by 10\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm reduced the CO2 sink by 13\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff8915\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921 and decreased CH4 emission by 4\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff894\uffe2\uff80\uff89g CH4 m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921, thus accumulating less C over 100\uffe2\uff80\uff89years (0.2\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff890.2\uffe2\uff80\uff89kg\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922). Yet, the reduced emission of CH4, which has a larger greenhouse warming potential, resulted in a net decrease in greenhouse gas balance by 310\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff89360\uffe2\uff80\uff89g\uffe2\uff80\uff89CO2\uffe2\uff80\uff90eq\uffc2\uffa0m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0year\uffe2\uff88\uff921. Peatlands with the initial WT close to the soil surface were more vulnerable to C loss: Non\uffe2\uff80\uff90permafrost peatlands lost >2\uffe2\uff80\uff89kg\uffe2\uff80\uff89C\uffe2\uff80\uff89m\uffe2\uff88\uff922 over 100\uffe2\uff80\uff89years when WT is lowered by 50\uffe2\uff80\uff89cm, while permafrost peatlands temporally switched from C sinks to sources. These results highlight that reductions in C storage capacity in response to drying of northern peatlands are offset in part by reduced CH4 emissions, thus slightly reducing the positive carbon climate feedbacks of peatlands under a warmer and drier future climate scenario.The beginning of the 21st century is marked by a rapid growth of land surface satellite data and model sophistication. This offers new opportunities to estimate multiple components of the water cycle via satellite-based land data assimilation (DA) across multiple scales. By resolving more processes in land surface models and by coupling the land, the atmosphere, and other Earth system compartments, the observed information can be propagated to constrain additional unobserved variables. Furthermore, access to more satellite observations enables the direct constraint of more and more components of the water cycle that are of interest to end users. However, the finer level of detail in models and data is also often accompanied by an increase in dimensions, with more state variables, parameters, or boundary conditions to estimate, and more observations to assimilate. This requires advanced DA methods and efficient solutions. One solution is to target specific observations for assimilation based on a sensitivity study or coupling strength analysis, because not all observations are equally effective in improving subsequent forecasts of hydrological variables, weather, agricultural production, or hazards through DA. This paper offers a perspective on current and future land DA development, and suggestions to optimally exploit advances in observing and modeling systems.to