The quantification of energy interactions among land surface, atmosphere, and surface vegetation is significant to comprehend the hydrological cycle in montane watersheds. Moreover, elevation change is essential in causing variations in energy fluxes. Thus, estimating the major components of energy interactions is essential for better understanding of the hydrological process. Ram Ray, Research Scientist, and his colleagues used the advanced land surface models, the common land model (CLM), and variables infiltration capacity (VIC) to estimate hydrometeorological variables along the elevation transect in Sierra Nevada Mountain, California, and compared it with the Eddy Covariance Flux Tower measurements. Results showed that the effect of the elevation on the change in energy fluxes was not significant; however, estimated net radiation had an increasing trend whereas the latent heat and ground heat fluxes had decreasing trends at upper elevation.

Ray conducted this research during his tenure at the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, the University of California at Merced. More details about this work can be found in the recently published article “Simulations of energy balance components at snow-dominated montane watershed by land surface models” in Environmental Earth Sciences of Springer publications at this link http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12665-017-6655-0

Dr. Ali Fares

 

Ali Fares, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Director, Cooperative Agricultural Research Center
alfares@pvamu.edu
(936) 261-5019