Unidimensional modelling of a fallow savannah during the HAPEX-Sahel experiment using the SiSPAT model

Abstract

In the framework of the HAPEX-Sahel experiment, a data set was gathered on a fallow savannah site of the Central East Supersite. This includes 54 days of atmospheric forcing (air temperature and humidity, wind speed, solar and long-wave radiation and rainfall), net radiation, sensible, latent and soil heat fluxes and soil temperature series at a time step of 20 min. Furthermore, 17 soil moisture profiles, the evolution of the leaf area indices and some soil characteristics were available. The data set was used, at the field scale, to calibrate and validate the SiSPAT (simple soil plant atmosphere transfer) model, a 1D model of coupled heat and mass transfer in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. The objectives of the study were (i) to assess the performances of the model in the prediction of the diurnal cycle of net radiation, turbulent fluxes, soil temperatures and the evolution of soil water content over a period of 54 days (day of the year 239–292, 1992), characterized by early stage intense rainfall events and fast drying afterwards, (ii) to analyse the influence of soil surface crust on the water balance and (iii) to identify the 1D modelling limits when the surface area consists of two strates: a ground sparse herb layer, characterized by a large spatial variability of surface properties and water content with scattered bushes. The model was calibrated over a 2-week period and then run over the whole 54-day period. We were able to reproduce the main characteristics of the observed net radiation, turbulent fluxes, soil temperature and soil moisture for the intense rainfall events and for an elongated dry period. Nevertheless, when the crust was not taken into account, the rainfall-runoff-infiltration process and the evapotranspiration after rain were poorly predicted (overestimation of evapotranspiration of infiltration). When a crust was considered to model the water balance at the field scale, its influence was found to be substantial on the runoff generation and the infiltration, and consequently on the bare soil evaporation. However, runoff predictions were much larger than the observations. Indeed, at the field scale, no runoff was generally observed. Lateral redistribution of water between crusted and noncrusted zones was observed in the plot. However, this cannot be taken into account with the presented 1D deterministic modelling. Hence further model development is needed to yield a better representation of soil water fluxes at the field scale.