Incorporation of water vapor transfer in the JULES land surface model: Implications for key soil variables and land surface fluxes

Abstract

This study focuses on the mechanisms underlying water and heat transfer in upper soil layers, and their effects on soil physical prognostic variables and the individual components of the energy balance. The skill of the JULES (Joint UK Environment Simulator) land surface model (LSM) to simulate key soil variables, such as soil moisture content and surface temperature, and fluxes such as evaporation, is investigated. The Richards equation for soil water transfer, as used in most LSMs, was updated by incorporating isothermal and thermal water vapor transfer. The model was tested for three sites representative of semiarid and temperate arid climates: the Jornada site (New Mexico, USA), Griffith site (Australia), and Audubon site (Arizona, USA). Water vapor flux was found to contribute significantly to the water and heat transfer in the upper soil layers. This was mainly due to isothermal vapor diffusion; thermal vapor flux also played a role at the Jornada site just after rainfall events. Inclusion of water vapor flux had an effect on the diurnal evolution of evaporation, soil moisture content, and surface temperature. The incorporation of additional processes, such as water vapor flux among others, into LSMs may improve the coupling between the upper soil layers and the atmosphere, which in turn could increase the reliability of weather and climate predictions.