Land Surface Scheme Research Articles

The effect of driving climate data on the simulated terrestrial carbon pools and fluxes over North America

AbstractDynamic vegetation models provide the ability to simulate terrestrial carbon pools and fluxes and a useful tool to study how these are affected by climate variability and climate change. At the continental scale, the spatial distribution of climate, in particular temperature and precipitation, strongly determines surface vegetation characteristics. Model validation exercises typically consist of driving a model with observation‐based climate data and then comparing simulated quantities with their observation‐based counterparts. However, observation‐based datasets themselves may not necessarily be consistent with each other. Here, we compare simulated terrestrial carbon pools and fluxes over North America with observation‐based estimates. Simulations are performed using the dynamic vegetation model Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (CTEM) coupled to the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS) when driven with two reanalysis‐based climate datasets. The driving ECMWF reanalysis data (ERA40) and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis I data (NCEP) show differences when compared to each other, as well as when compared to the observation‐based climate research unit (CRU) data. Most simulated carbon pools and fluxes show important differences, particularly over eastern North America, primarily due to differences in precipitation and temperature in the two reanalysis. However, despite very different gross fluxes, the model yields fairly similar estimates of the net atmosphere‐land CO2 flux when driven with the two forcing datasets. The ERA40 driven simulation produces terrestrial pools and fluxes that compare better with observation‐based estimates. These simulations do not take into account land use change or nitrogen deposition, both of which have been shown to enhance the land carbon sink over North America. The simulated sink of 0.5 Pg C year−1 during the 1980s and 1990s is therefore lower than inversion‐based estimates. The analysis of spatial distribution of trends in simulated carbon pools and fluxes shows that the simulated carbon sink is driven primarily by NPP enhancements over eastern United States. © 2013 The Authors and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. International Journal of Climatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Differences in the Potential Hydrologic Impact of Climate Change to the Athabasca and Fraser River Basins of Canada with and without Considering Shifts in Vegetation Patterns Induced by Climate Change

AbstractThe research objectives are to estimate differences between the potential impact of climatic change to the Athabasca River basin (ARB) and Fraser River basin (FRB) of Canada with and without considering shifts in vegetation patterns induced by climate change and how much the difference will depend on vegetation types and climate. The hydrologic effects of vegetation shifts on ARB and FRB were estimated by applying the Mapped Atmosphere–Plant–Soil System (MAPSS) simulated results based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s First and Second Assessment Report general circulation model (GCM) scenarios to the modified Interaction Soil–Biosphere–Atmosphere (MISBA) scheme. According to MAPSS, vegetation shifts in mountainous regions of FRB are expected to be dominated by conifer/broadleaf competition, while in ARB, climate projections of MAPSS predicted a southern expansion of the boreal forest. Because of differences in sublimation, there is a tendency for more snow to accumulate in open grassland than forests. Furthermore, changes to simulated mean annual maximum snowpack, runoff, and basin area covered by grassland are positively correlated to each other. Generally, a 4% increase in snow water equivalent (SWE) results in a 1% increase in mean annual runoff. These relationships hold true in both basins over a wide range of GCM-projected climate conditions and vegetation responses, suggesting that most changes in mean annual flow can be attributed to changes in SWE. Because of the different modeling approaches between MAPSS and MISBA, it seems that the treatment of these processes in vegetation and hydrologic models should be similar before conclusions can be drawn from various stand-alone simulations. Ideally, a land surface scheme should be coupled with a vegetation model in future studies.

Representing Land Surface Heterogeneity: Offline Analysis of the Tiling Method

AbstractThe tiling method is used in many land surface models to represent the surface heterogeneity. Each grid box is divided into fractions of different types of land use with independent solutions of the surface energy budget. An area-weighted average of the energy fluxes is computed to couple with the atmosphere, assuming the air above the surface is well blended at a given height. In the framework of validation of the tiling method, the ECMWF land surface scheme has been tested in offline mode driven by meteorological forcing provided by the ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim). Two contrasting surfaces in the boreal region of southern Finland are considered: a Scots pine forest (Hyytiälä) and a small nearby lake (Valkea-Kotinen). The field observations are used to evaluate the land surface model simulations for both energy fluxes and reservoirs. The model is able to characterize the main difference between the two sites, which appears in the energy partitioning, explained by the lake’s large thermal inertia. In fact, while a large portion of the incoming solar radiation in the forest is released as sensible heat, the lake stores a substantial amount of energy in the water during late spring and summer and releases it in autumn. The different behavior of the fluxes both on annual and diurnal time scales confirms the benefit of a tiling mechanism in the presence of large contrast. However, it is also shown that the assumption of similar conditions at the blending height introduces errors.

Runoff simulation in the Upper Oder catchment during the flooding event 1997 with a coupled atmospheric/ hydrological model

Two alternative modes of the land-surface scheme SEWAB for the hydrological processes describe the two flood waves in the upper Oder catchment of the July 1997 flooding event with similar and reasonable accuracy. With the topographic index approach the peak value is slightly underestimated but correct in time while the reservoir concept shows a slight overestimation with a delay of one to two days. The interpolated observed and the simulated precipitation fields show remarkable differences in space and time. Consequently, the discharge also exhibits larger deviations.

Impact of Surface Parameter Uncertainties within the Canadian Regional Ensemble Prediction System

Abstract The aim of this study is to assess the impact of uncertainties in surface parameter and initial conditions on numerical prediction with the Canadian Regional Ensemble Prediction System (REPS). As part of this study, the Canadian version of the Interactions between Soil–Biosphere–Atmosphere (ISBA) land surface scheme has been coupled to Environment Canada’s numerical weather prediction model within the REPS. For 20 summer periods in 2009, stochastic perturbations of surface parameters have been generated in several experiments. Each experiment corresponds to 20 simulations differing by the perturbations at the initial time of one or several surface parameters or prognostic variables. The sensitivity to these perturbations is quantified especially for 2-m temperature, 10-m wind speed, cloud fraction, and precipitation up to 48-h lead time. Spatial variability of these sensitivities over the North American continent shows that soil moisture, albedo, leaf area index, and SST have the largest impacts on the screen-level variables. The temporal evolution of these sensitivities appears to be closely linked to the diurnal cycle of the boundary layer. The surface perturbations are shown to increase the ensemble spread of the REPS for all screen-level variables especially for 2-m temperature and 10-m wind speed during daytime. A preliminary study of the impact on the ensemble forecast has shown that the inclusion of the surface perturbations tends to significantly increase the 2-m temperature and 10-m wind speed skill.

Large-Eddy Atmosphere–Land-Surface Modelling over Heterogeneous Surfaces: Model Development and Comparison with Measurements

A model is developed for the large-eddy simulation (LES) of heterogeneous atmosphere and land-surface processes. This couples a LES model with a land-surface scheme. New developments are made to the land-surface scheme to ensure the adequate representation of atmosphere–land-surface transfers on the large-eddy scale. These include, (1) a multi-layer canopy scheme; (2) a method for flux estimates consistent with the large-eddy subgrid closure; and (3) an appropriate soil-layer configuration. The model is then applied to a heterogeneous region with 60-m horizontal resolution and the results are compared with ground-based and airborne measurements. The simulated sensible and latent heat fluxes are found to agree well with the eddy-correlation measurements. Good agreement is also found in the modelled and observed net radiation, ground heat flux, soil temperature and moisture. Based on the model results, we study the patterns of the sensible and latent heat fluxes, how such patterns come into existence, and how large eddies propagate and destroy land-surface signals in the atmosphere. Near the surface, the flux and land-use patterns are found to be closely correlated. In the lower boundary layer, small eddies bearing land-surface signals organize and develop into larger eddies, which carry the signals to considerably higher levels. As a result, the instantaneous flux patterns appear to be unrelated to the land-use patterns, but on average, the correlation between them is significant and persistent up to about 650 m. For a given land-surface type, the scatter of the fluxes amounts to several hundred W $$\text{ m }^{-2}$$ , due to (1) large-eddy randomness; (2) rapid large-eddy and surface feedback; and (3) local advection related to surface heterogeneity.

Comparing the performance of different stomatal conductance models using modelled and measured plant carbon isotope ratios (δ13C): implications for assessing physiological forcing

Accurate modelling of long-term changes in plant stomatal functioning is vital to global climate change studies because changes in evapotranspiration influence temperature via physiological forcing of the climate. Various stomatal models are included in land surface schemes, but their robustness over longer timescales is difficult to validate. We compare the performance of three stomatal models, varying in their degree of complexity, and coupled to a land surface model. This is carried out by simulating the carbon isotope ratio of tree leaves (δ(13) Cleaf ) over a period of 53years, and comparing the results with carbon isotope ratios obtained from tree rings (δ(13) Cstem ) measured at six sites in northern Europe. All three stomatal models fail to capture the observed interannual variability in the measured δ(13) Cstem time series. However, the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere (SPA) model performs significantly better than the Ball-Berry (BB) or COX models when tested for goodness-of-fit against measured δ(13) Cstem . The δ(13) Cleaf time series simulated using the SPA model are significantly positively correlated (P<0.05) with measured results over the full time period tested, at all six sites. The SPA model underestimates interannual variability measured in δ(13) Cstem , but is no worse than the BB model and significantly better than the COX model. The inability of current models to adequately replicate changes in stomatal response to rising levels of CO2 concentrations, and thus to quantify the associated physiological forcing, warrants further investigation.

Exploring the Impact of Land Cover and Topography on Rainfall Maxima in the Netherlands

AbstractThe relative contribution of topography and land use on precipitation is analyzed in this paper for a forested area in the Netherlands. This area has an average yearly precipitation sum that can be 75–100 mm higher than the rest of the country. To analyze this contribution, different configurations of land use and topography are fed into a mesoscale model. The authors use the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) coupled with a land surface scheme simulating water vapor, heat, and momentum fluxes [Soil–Water–Atmosphere Plant System–Carbon (SWAPS-C)]. The model simulations are executed for two periods that cover varying large-scale synoptic conditions of summer and winter periods. The output of the experiments leads to the conclusion that the precipitation maximum at the Veluwe is forced by topography and land use. The effect of the forested area on the processes that influence precipitation is smaller in summertime conditions when the precipitation has a convective character. In frontal conditions, the forest has a more pronounced effect on local precipitation through the convergence of moisture. The effect of topography on monthly domain-averaged precipitation around the Veluwe is a 17% increase in the winter and a 10% increase in the summer, which is quite remarkable for topography with a maximum elevation of just above 100 m and moderate steepness. From this study, it appears that the version of RAMS using Mellor–Yamada turbulence parameterization simulates precipitation better in wintertime, but the configuration with the medium-range forecast (MRF) turbulence parameterization improves the simulation of precipitation in convective circumstances.

Groundwater Constraints on Simulated Transpiration Variability over Southeastern Australian Forests

AbstractA land surface scheme with and without groundwater–vegetation interactions is used to explore the impact of rainfall variability on transpiration over drought-vulnerable regions of southeastern Australia. The authors demonstrate that if groundwater is included in the simulations, there is a low correlation between rainfall variability and the response of transpiration to this variability over forested regions. Groundwater reduces near-surface water variability, enabling forests to maintain transpiration through several years of low rainfall, in agreement with independent observations of vegetation greenness. If groundwater is not included, the transpiration variability matches the rainfall variability independent of land cover type. The authors’ results suggest that omitting groundwater in regions where groundwater sustains forests will 1) probably overestimate the likelihood of forest dieback during drought, 2) overestimate a positive feedback linked with declining transpiration and a drying boundary layer, and 3) underestimate the impact of land cover change due to inadequately simulating the different responses to drought for different land cover types.

Simulated resilience of tropical rainforests to CO2-induced climate change

Assessing potential future carbon loss from tropical forests is important for evaluating the efficacy of programmes for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). An exploration of results from 22 climate models in conjunction with a land surface scheme suggests that in the Americas, Africa and Asia, the resilience of tropical forests to climate change is higher than expected, although uncertainties are large.

High Resolution Simulation of the Variability of Surface Energy Balance Fluxes Across Central London with Urban Zones for Energy Partitioning

The parameterization of surface heat-flux variability in urban areas relies on adequate representation of surface characteristics. Given the horizontal resolutions (e.g. $$\approx $$ 0.1–1 km) currently used in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, properties of the urban surface (e.g. vegetated/built surfaces, street-canyon geometries) often have large spatial variability. Here, a new approach based on Urban Zones to characterize Energy partitioning (UZE) is tested within a NWP model (Weather Research and Forecasting model; WRF v3.2.1) for Greater London. The urban land-surface scheme is the Noah/Single-Layer Urban Canopy Model (SLUCM). Detailed surface information (horizontal resolution 1 km) in central London shows that the UZE offers better characterization of surface properties and their variability compared to default WRF-SLUCM input parameters. In situ observations of the surface energy fluxes and near-surface meteorological variables are used to select the radiation and turbulence parameterization schemes and to evaluate the land-surface scheme and choice of surface parameters. For radiative fluxes, improved performance (e.g. $$>$$ 25 W m $$^{-2}$$ root-mean-square error reduction for the net radiation) is attained with UZE parameters compared to the WRF v3.2.1 default for all three methods from the simplest to the most detailed. The UZE-based spatial fluxes reproduce a priori expectations of greater energy storage and less evaporation in the dense city centre compared to the residential surroundings. Problems in Noah/SLUCM partitioning of energy between the daytime turbulent fluxes are identified with the overestimation of the turbulent sensible heat and underestimation of the turbulent latent heat fluxes.

Sensitivity of Global Tropical Climate to Land Surface Processes: Mean State and Interannual Variability

Abstract This study examines the sensitivity of the global climate to land surface processes (LSP) using an atmospheric general circulation model both uncoupled (with prescribed SSTs) and coupled to an oceanic general circulation model. The emphasis is on the interactive soil moisture and vegetation biophysical processes, which have first-order influence on the surface energy and water budgets. The sensitivity to those processes is represented by the differences between model simulations, in which two land surface schemes are considered: 1) a simple land scheme that specifies surface albedo and soil moisture availability and 2) the Simplified Simple Biosphere Model (SSiB), which allows for consideration of interactive soil moisture and vegetation biophysical process. Observational datasets are also employed to assess the extent to which results are realistic. The mean state sensitivity to different LSP is stronger in the coupled mode, especially in the tropical Pacific. Furthermore, the seasonal cycle of SSTs in the equatorial Pacific, as well as the ENSO frequency, amplitude, and locking to the seasonal cycle of SSTs, is significantly modified and more realistic with SSiB. This outstanding sensitivity of the atmosphere–ocean system develops through changes in the intensity of equatorial Pacific trades modified by convection over land. The results further demonstrate that the direct impact of land–atmosphere interactions on the tropical climate is modified by feedbacks associated with perturbed oceanic conditions (“indirect effect” of LSP). The magnitude of such an indirect effect is strong enough to suggest that comprehensive studies on the importance of LSP on the global climate have to be made in a system that allows for atmosphere–ocean interactions.

The role of snow‐surface coupling, radiation, and turbulent mixing in modeling a stable boundary layer over Arctic sea ice

To enhance the understanding of the impact of small‐scale processes in the polar climate, this study focuses on the relative role of snow‐surface coupling, radiation and turbulent mixing in an Arctic stable boundary layer. We extend the GABLS1 (GEWEX Atmospheric Boundary‐Layer Study 1) model intercomparison for turbulent mixing with the other relevant physical processes in the stable boundary layer over sea ice. We use the Single Column Model (SCM) version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale meteorological model and run different combinations of boundary layer and radiation schemes, using a state‐of‐the art land surface scheme. With this intercomparison of schemes, we confirm a wide variety in the state of the atmosphere and the surface variables for the selected parameterization schemes. To understand this variety, a sensitivity analysis for one particular combination of parameterization schemes is performed, using a novel analysis method of process diagrams. The variation between the sensitivity runs indicates a relative orientation of model sensitivities to variations in each of the governing processes and these can explain the variety of model results obtained in the intercomparison of different parameterization schemes. Moreover, we apply the same method for several geostrophic wind speeds to represent a large range of synoptic conditions. Results indicate a shift in process significance for different wind regimes. For low wind regimes, the model sensitivity is larger for surface coupling and radiation, while for high wind speeds, the largest sensitivity is found for the turbulent mixing process. An interesting non‐linear feature was found for turbulent mixing for frequently occurring wind speeds and low wind speed cases, where the 2 m temperature increases for decreased amounts of mixing.

Optimising the FAMOUS climate model: inclusion of global carbon cycling

Abstract. FAMOUS fills an important role in the hierarchy of climate models, both explicitly resolving atmospheric and oceanic dynamics yet being sufficiently computationally efficient that either very long simulations or large ensembles are possible. An improved set of carbon cycle parameters for this model has been found using a perturbed physics ensemble technique. This is an important step towards building the "Earth System" modelling capability of FAMOUS, which is a reduced resolution, and hence faster running, version of the Hadley Centre Climate model, HadCM3. Two separate 100 member perturbed parameter ensembles were performed; one for the land surface and one for the ocean. The land surface scheme was tested against present-day and past representations of vegetation and the ocean ensemble was tested against observations of nitrate. An advantage of using a relatively fast climate model is that a large number of simulations can be run and hence the model parameter space (a large source of climate model uncertainty) can be more thoroughly sampled. This has the associated benefit of being able to assess the sensitivity of model results to changes in each parameter. The climatologies of surface and tropospheric air temperature and precipitation are improved relative to previous versions of FAMOUS. The improved representation of upper atmosphere temperatures is driven by improved ozone concentrations near the tropopause and better upper level winds.

Tropical cyclone predictions over the Bay of Bengal using the high‐resolution Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) model

AbstractThe performance of the high‐resolution Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) model for tropical cyclone prediction over the Bay of Bengal region of the northern Indian Ocean is assessed through study of 21 cyclone systems. Error metrics in the predicted fields of maximum sustained winds (MSW), central sea‐level pressure (CSLP) and the vector track position are computed by comparison with corresponding tropical cyclone estimations from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). From 65 sensitivity experiments for five severe cyclones the combination of Kain–Fritsch (KF) convection, Yonsei University (YSU) planetary boundary layer (PBL), LIN explicit microphysics and NOAH land surface schemes are found to provide the best simulations for intensity and track prediction. It has been found that the KF convection scheme gives higher convective warming with stronger vertical motions relative to other tested cumulus schemes and that the YSU scheme simulates more realistic winds in the inflow region than other tested PBL schemes. Results of simulations with the best physics for all 21 cyclones reveal that the model had a tendency to overestimate the intensity, with mean errors ranging from −2 to 15 hPa for CSLP, 1 to 22 m s−1for MSW corresponding to 24 to 72 h predictions. The mean vector landfall position errors are found to be 122 km at 12 h, 170 km at 24 h, 244 km at 48 h and 250 km at 72 h, and 67% of the landfall errors are less than 135 km, indicating fairly good forecasts. Further, the predictions are found to be best for northward moving cyclones followed by northwestward, westward and northeastward moving cyclones.

High-resolution seasonal snowfall simulation over Northeast China

Performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model in simulating seasonal snowfall over Northeast China was examined. The influences of horizontal resolution and physics parameterization schemes were also investigated. The results indicate that WRF can reasonably reproduce the main features of temperature and precipitation. The simulated spatial and temporal distribution of snowfall compared well with observations. Higher resolution simulations achieved better results, and WRF was found to be more sensitive to the choice of land surface and microphysics scheme than convective cumulus parameterization scheme.

A Process-Oriented Small Lake Scheme for Coupled Climate Modeling Applications

Abstract A one-dimensional dynamic lake model is presented as a candidate for simulating small unresolved lakes within the land surface scheme of a regional or global climate model. This model is based largely on well-established process algorithms with some exceptions. The complete nonlinear surface energy balance is computed in a skin layer of arbitrary thickness in order to ensure rapid response times with the atmosphere. Turbulent mixing in the surface mixed layer is achieved through stirring and buoyancy production as well as shear production along the diurnal thermocline. The net effect of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability on thermocline structure is grossly accounted for by computing a linear temperature profile within a thermocline layer. The energetics of billowing is not considered; however, a significant thermocline leakage term is included. The model has been incorporated into the Canadian Land Surface Scheme and used to estimate regional turbulent sensible and latent heat fluxes over the Experimental Lakes Area in the boreal forest of northwestern Ontario—an area about 30% lake covered. It is demonstrated that the presence of open water has a significant effect on the net flux exchange with the atmosphere in this region. Sensible heat flux to the atmosphere is suppressed during the summer stratified period but enhanced in the fall, resulting in an increased accumulation of about 5% by the end of the open water season due to the presence of lakes. Turbulent latent heat flux to the atmosphere is more enhanced during autumn, with a final accumulation about 24% larger.

Simulating the Carbon Cycling of Northern Peatlands Using a Land Surface Scheme Coupled to a Wetland Carbon Model (CLASS3W-MWM)

Northern peatlands store approximately one-third of the terrestrial soil carbon (C), although they cover only 3% of the global land mass. Northern peatlands can be subdivided into bogs and fens based on their hydrology and biogeochemistry. Peatland hydrology and biogeochemistry are tightly coupled to climate and, therefore, may be very sensitive to climate variability and change. To address the fate of the large peatland soil C storage under a future changed climate, a peatland C model, the McGill Wetland Model (MWM), was coupled to a land surface climate model (the wetland version of the Canadian Land Surface Scheme, CLASS3W), referred as CLASS3W-MWM. We evaluated the CLASS3W-MWM for a bog (Mer Bleue, located at 45.41°N, 75.48°W, in eastern Canada) and a poor fen (Degero Stormyr, located at 64°11′N, 19°33′E, in northern Sweden). CLASS3W-MWM captured the magnitude and direction of the present day C cycling very well for both bogs and fens. Moreover, the seasonal and interannual variability were reproduced...

A subgrid channel model for simulating river hydraulics and floodplain inundation over large and data sparse areas

This paper presents a new computationally efficient hydraulic model for simulating the spatially distributed dynamics of water surface elevation, wave speed, and inundation extent over large data sparse domains. The numerical scheme is based on an extension of the hydraulic model LISFLOOD‐FP to include a subgrid‐scale representation of channelized flows, which allows river channels with any width below that of the grid resolution to be simulated. The scheme is shown to be numerically stable and scalable, before being applied to an 800 km reach of the river Niger in Mali. The Niger application focused on the performance of four different model structures: a model without channels (two‐dimensional (2‐D) model), a model without a floodplain (one‐dimensional (1‐D) model), a model of the main channels and floodplain (1‐D/2‐D model), and the subgrid approach developed here. Inclusion of both the channel network and the floodplain was shown to be essential, meaning that large scale models of this region, including routing models for land surface schemes, will require a floodplain component. Including subgrid‐scale channels on the floodplain changed inundation dynamics over the delta significantly and increased simulation accuracy in terms of water level, wave propagation speed, and inundation extent. Furthermore, only the subgrid model showed a consistent parameterization when calibrated against either gauge or ICESat water level data, suggesting that connectivity provided by small channels is a strong control on the hydraulics of the floodplain, or, at the very least, that low resolution gridded hydraulic models require additional connectivity to represent the delta flow dynamics.

A bare ground evaporation revision in the ECMWF land-surface scheme: evaluation of its impact using ground soil moisture and satellite microwave data

Abstract. In situ soil moisture data from 122 stations across the United States are used to evaluate the impact of a new bare ground evaporation formulation at ECMWF. In November 2010, the bare ground evaporation used in ECMWF's operational Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) was enhanced by adopting a lower stress threshold than for the vegetation, allowing a higher evaporation. It results in more realistic soil moisture values when compared to in situ data, particularly over dry areas. Use was made of the operational IFS and offline experiments for the evaluation. The latter are based on a fixed version of the IFS and make it possible to assess the impact of a single modification, while the operational analysis is based on a continuous effort to improve the analysis and modelling systems, resulting in frequent updates (a few times a year). Considering the field sites with a fraction of bare ground greater than 0.2, the root mean square difference (RMSD) of soil moisture is shown to decrease from 0.118 m3 m−3 to 0.087 m3 m−3 when using the new formulation in offline experiments, and from 0.110 m3 m−3 to 0.088 m3 m−3 in operations. It also improves correlations. Additionally, the impact of the new formulation on the terrestrial microwave emission at a global scale is investigated. Realistic and dynamically consistent fields of brightness temperature as a function of the land surface conditions are required for the assimilation of the SMOS data. Brightness temperature simulated from surface fields from two offline experiments with the Community Microwave Emission Modelling (CMEM) platform present monthly mean differences up to 7 K. Offline experiments with the new formulation present drier soil moisture, hence simulated brightness temperature with its surface fields are larger. They are also closer to SMOS remotely sensed brightness temperature.