ALBERT

Beschreibung: In present-day Earth system models, the coupling of land surface and atmosphere is based on simplistic assumptions. Often the heterogeneous land surface is represented by a set of effective parameters valid for an entire model grid box. Other models assume that the surface fluxes become horizontally homogeneous at the lowest atmospheric model level. For heterogeneity above a certain horizontal length scale this is not the case, resulting in spatial subgrid-scale variability in the fluxes and in the state of the atmosphere. The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology’s Earth System Model is used with three different coupling schemes to assess the importance of the representation of spatial heterogeneity at the land surface as well as within the atmosphere. Simulations show that the land surface–atmosphere coupling distinctly influences the simulated near-surface processes with respect to different land-cover types. The representation of heterogeneity also has a distinct impact on the simulated gridbox mean state and fluxes in a large fraction of land surface.

Beschreibung: Processes driving the production, transformation and transport of methane (CH4) in wetland ecosystems are highly complex. We present a simple calculation algorithm to separate open-water CH4 fluxes measured with automatic chambers into diffusion- and ebullition-derived components. This helps to reveal underlying dynamics, to identify potential environmental drivers and, thus, to calculate reliable CH4 emission estimates. The flux separation is based on identification of ebullition-related sudden concentration changes during single measurements. Therefore, a variable ebullition filter is applied, using the lower and upper quartile and the interquartile range (IQR). Automation of data processing is achieved by using an established R script, adjusted for the purpose of CH4 flux calculation. The algorithm was validated by performing a laboratory experiment and tested using flux measurement data (July to September 2013) from a former fen grassland site, which converted into a shallow lake as a result of rewetting. Ebullition and diffusion contributed equally (46 and 55 %) to total CH4 emissions, which is comparable to ratios given in the literature. Moreover, the separation algorithm revealed a concealed shift in the diurnal trend of diffusive fluxes throughout the measurement period. The water temperature gradient was identified as one of the major drivers of diffusive CH4 emissions, whereas no significant driver was found in the case of erratic CH4 ebullition events.

Beschreibung: The coupling of models is a commonly used approach when addressing the complex interactions between different components of earth systems. We demonstrate that this approach can result in a reduction of errors in wave forecasting, especially in dynamically complicated coastal ocean areas, such as the southern part of the North Sea – the German Bight. Here, we study the effects of coupling of an atmospheric model (COSMO) and a wind wave model (WAM), which is enabled by implementing wave-induced drag in the atmospheric model. The numerical simulations use a regional North Sea coupled wave–atmosphere model as well as a nested-grid high-resolution German Bight wave model. Using one atmospheric and two wind wave models simultaneously allows for study of the individual and combined effects of two-way coupling and grid resolution. This approach proved to be particularly important under severe storm conditions as the German Bight is a very shallow and dynamically complex coastal area exposed to storm floods. The two-way coupling leads to a reduction of both surface wind speeds and simulated wave heights. In this study, the sensitivity of atmospheric parameters, such as wind speed and atmospheric pressure, to the wave-induced drag, in particular under storm conditions, and the impact of two-way coupling on the wave model performance, is quantified. Comparisons between data from in situ and satellite altimeter observations indicate that two-way coupling improves the simulation of wind and wave parameters of the model and justify its implementation for both operational and climate simulations.

Beschreibung: The performance of improved versions of the four earth system models (ESMs) CNRM, EC-Earth, HadGEM, and MPI-ESM is assessed in comparison to their predecessor versions used in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. The earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) is applied to evaluate selected climate phenomena in the models against observations. This is the first systematic application of the ESMValTool to assess and document the progress made during an extensive model development and improvement project. This study focuses on the South Asian (SAM) and West African (WAM) monsoons, the coupled equatorial climate, and Southern Ocean clouds and radiation, which are known to exhibit systematic biases in present-day ESMs. The analysis shows that the tropical precipitation in three out of four models is significantly improved. Two of three updated coupled models show an improved representation of tropical sea surface temperatures with one coupled model not exhibiting a double Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Simulated cloud amounts and cloud-radiation interactions are improved over the Southern Ocean. Improvements are also seen in the simulation of the SAM and WAM, although systematic biases remain in regional details and the timing of monsoon rainfall. Analysis of simulations with EC-Earth at different horizontal resolutions from T159 up to T1279 shows that the synoptic-scale variability of precipitation over the SAM and WAM regions improves with higher model resolution. The results suggest the reasonably good agreement of modeled and observed mean WAM and SAM rainfall in lower resolution models may be a result of unrealistic intensity distributions.

Beschreibung: The Karouni orogenic gold deposits are located in north-central Guyana 35 km to the west of the 5 Moz Omai gold deposit. They are hosted in a 2200 to 2100 Ma greenstone belt within the Paleo- to Neoproterozoic Guiana Shield. Karouni consists of two deposits, Smarts and Hicks, located 2 km apart along the NW-striking Smarts-Hicks shear zone. Both deposits are hosted within a sequence of greenschist facies mafic volcanic rocks and felsic intrusions. The hydrothermal alteration mineral assemblages vary according to lithology and are characterized by narrow selvages (〈1–4 m in width). A chlorite-talc-calcite assemblage dominates in high MgO basalt, whereas in high TiO2 dolerite a progression toward the vein is seen from chlorite-calcite-rutile- to albite-dominated mineralogy. Karouni is anomalous among orogenic gold deposits for its dominant sodic alteration and distinct lack of potassic alteration. Gold is located within inclusions in coarse, disseminated pyrite associated with the proximal alteration zones and as coarse native gold within the quartz-carbonate veins. Minor gold is also located within Au-bearing telluride minerals. The high TiO2 dolerites formed a favorable chemical trap due to their high magnetite content, suggesting sulfidation via redox reaction as a possible mechanism of gold deposition. Mass balance modeling of the hydrothermal alteration indicates a wall rock-dominated system with limited addition or subtraction of major elements with the exception of C, S, and Na. Modeling of the proximal alteration has also shown strong trace element enrichment of W-Bi-Ag-Te-Mo-Pb, all of which are correlative with gold. In situ laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) trace element geochemistry and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) S isotope analyses of pyrite from the gold-bearing hydrothermal system within the deposit indicate a geochemically and isotopically homogeneous system with only minor trace element variation due to differences in host rock, suggesting a single hydrothermal pulse correlative with the late stages of the Trans-Amazonian orogeny.

Beschreibung: Widespread negative correlations between summertime-mean temperatures and precipitation over land regions are a well-known feature of terrestrial climate. This behavior has generally been interpreted in the context of soil moisture–atmosphere coupling, with soil moisture deficits associated with reduced rainfall leading to enhanced surface sensible heating and higher surface temperature. The present study revisits the genesis of these negative temperature–precipitation correlations using simulations from the Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment–phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (GLACE-CMIP5) multimodel experiment. The analyses are based on simulations with five climate models, which were integrated with prescribed (noninteractive) and with interactive soil moisture over the period 1950–2100. While the results presented here generally confirm the interpretation that negative correlations between seasonal temperature and precipitation arise through the direct control of soil moisture on surface heat flux partitioning, the presence of widespread negative correlations when soil moisture–atmosphere interactions are artificially removed in at least two out of five models suggests that atmospheric processes, in addition to land surface processes, contribute to the observed negative temperature–precipitation correlation. On longer time scales, the negative correlation between precipitation and temperature is shown to have implications for the projection of climate change impacts on near-surface climate: in all models, in the regions of strongest temperature–precipitation anticorrelation on interannual time scales, long-term regional warming is modulated to a large extent by the regional response of precipitation to climate change, with precipitation increases (decreases) being associated with minimum (maximum) warming. This correspondence appears to arise largely as the result of soil moisture–atmosphere interactions.

Beschreibung: We examined parameter optimisation in the JSBACH (Kaminski et al., 2013; Knorr and Kattge, 2005; Reick et al., 2013) ecosystem model, applied to two boreal forest sites (Hyytiälä and Sodankylä) in Finland. We identified and tested key parameters in soil hydrology and forest water and carbon-exchange-related formulations, and optimised them using the adaptive Metropolis (AM) algorithm for Hyytiälä with a 5-year calibration period (2000–2004) followed by a 4-year validation period (2005–2008). Sodankylä acted as an independent validation site, where optimisations were not made. The tuning provided estimates for full distribution of possible parameters, along with information about correlation, sensitivity and identifiability. Some parameters were correlated with each other due to a phenomenological connection between carbon uptake and water stress or other connections due to the set-up of the model formulations. The latter holds especially for vegetation phenology parameters. The least identifiable parameters include phenology parameters, parameters connecting relative humidity and soil dryness, and the field capacity of the skin reservoir. These soil parameters were masked by the large contribution from vegetation transpiration. In addition to leaf area index and the maximum carboxylation rate, the most effective parameters adjusting the gross primary production (GPP) and evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes in seasonal tuning were related to soil wilting point, drainage and moisture stress imposed on vegetation. For daily and half-hourly tunings the most important parameters were the ratio of leaf internal CO2 concentration to external CO2 and the parameter connecting relative humidity and soil dryness. Effectively the seasonal tuning transferred water from soil moisture into ET, and daily and half-hourly tunings reversed this process. The seasonal tuning improved the month-to-month development of GPP and ET, and produced the most stable estimates of water use efficiency. When compared to the seasonal tuning, the daily tuning is worse on the seasonal scale. However, daily parametrisation reproduced the observations for average diurnal cycle best, except for the GPP for Sodankylä validation period, where half-hourly tuned parameters were better. In general, the daily tuning provided the largest reduction in model–data mismatch. The models response to drought was unaffected by our parametrisations and further studies are needed into enhancing the dry response in JSBACH.

Beschreibung: Droughts can impact on forest functioning and production, and even lead to tree mortality. However, drought is an elusive phenomenon that is difficult to quantify and define universally. In this study, we assessed the performance of a set of indicators that have been used to describe drought conditions in the summer months (June, July, August) over a 30 year period (1981–2010) in Finland. Those indicators include the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Precipitation–Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), the Soil Moisture Index (SMI) and the Soil Moisture Anomaly (SMA). Herein, regional soil moisture was produced by the land surface model JSBACH. While SPI, SPEI, and SMA show a degree of anomalies from the statistical means over a period, SMI is directly connected to plant available water and closely dependent on soil properties. Moreover, the buffering effect of soil moisture and the associated soil moisture memory can impact on the onset and duration of drought as indicated by the SMI and SMA, whereas SPI and SPEI are directly controlled by meteorological conditions. In particular, we investigated whether the SMI, SMA and SPEI are able to indicate the Extreme Drought affecting Forest health (EDF) in Finland. EDF thresholds for these indicators are suggested, based on the spatially representative statistics of forest health observations in the exceptional dry year 2006. Our results showed that SMI was the best indicator in capturing the spatial extent of forest damage induced by the extreme drought in 2006. In addition, the derived thresholds were applied to those indicators to capture EDF events over the summer months of the 30 year study period. The SPEI and SMA showed more frequent EDF events over the 30 year period, and typically described a higher fraction of influenced area than SMI. In general, the suggested EDF thresholds for those indicators may be used for the indication of EDF events in Finland or other boreal forests areas in the context of future climate scenarios. However, the results have to be interpreted carefully, with due consideration of their different properties and the complexity of drought. Our results would suggest that in order to take appropriate precautions to mitigate against possible forest losses, an integrated analysis of projected drought with drought indicators is recommended.

Beschreibung: Permafrost or perennially frozen ground is an important part of the terrestrial cryosphere; roughly one quarter of Earth's land surface is underlain by permafrost. The impact of the currently observed warming, which is projected to persist during the coming decades due to anthropogenic CO2 input, certainly has effects for the vast permafrost areas of the high northern latitudes. The quantification of these effects, however, is scientifically still an open question. This is partly due to the complexity of the system, where several feedbacks are interacting between land and atmosphere, sometimes counterbalancing each other. Moreover, until recently, many global circulation models (GCMs) and Earth system models (ESMs) lacked the sufficient representation of cold region physical soil processes in their land surface schemes, especially of the effects of freezing and thawing of soil water for both energy and water cycles. Therefore, it will be analysed in the present study how these processes impact large-scale hydrology and climate over northern hemisphere high latitude land areas. For this analysis, the atmosphere-land part of MPI-ESM, ECHAM6-JSBACH, is driven by prescribed observed SST and sea ice in an AMIP2-type setup with and without newly implemented cold region soil processes. Results show a large improvement in the simulated discharge. On one hand this is related to an improved snowmelt peak of runoff due to frozen soil in spring. On the other hand a subsequent reduction of soil moisture leads to a positive land atmosphere feedback to precipitation over the high latitudes, which reduces the model’s wet biases in precipitation and evapotranspiration during the summer. This is noteworthy as soil moisture – atmosphere feedbacks have previously not been in the research focus over the high latitudes. These results point out the importance of high latitude physical processes at the land surface for the regional climate.