Simple process-led algorithms for simulating habitats (SPLASH v.1.0): robust indices of radiation, evapotranspiration  and plant-available moisture

Davis, Tyler W.; Prentice, I. Colin; Stocker, Benjamin D.; Thomas, Rebecca T.; Whitley, Rhys J.; Wang, Han; Evans, Bradley J.; Gallego-Sala, Angela V.; Sykes, Martin T.; Cramer, Wolfgang

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-689-2017

Articles | Volume 10, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-689-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-689-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 2

Model description paper

|

14 Feb 2017

Model description paper |

| 14 Feb 2017

Simple process-led algorithms for simulating habitats (SPLASH v.1.0): robust indices of radiation, evapotranspiration and plant-available moisture

Tyler W. Davis, I. Colin Prentice, Benjamin D. Stocker, Rebecca T. Thomas, Rhys J. Whitley, Han Wang, Bradley J. Evans, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, Martin T. Sykes, and Wolfgang Cramer

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-689-2017-supplement

Data sets

Climatic Research Unit (CRU) time-series datasets of variations in climate with variations in other phenomena P. D. Jones and I. C. Harris http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/3f8944800cc48e1cbc29a5ee12d8542d

VIC gridded NetCDF data B. Livneh, T. J. Bohn, D. W. Pierce, F. Munoz-Arriola, B. Nijssen, R. Vose, D. R. Cayan, and L. Brekke ftp://192.12.137.7/pub/dcp/archive/OBS/livneh2014.1_16deg/VIC.netCDF

CERES EBAF Surface Edition 2.8 Surface Fluxes Monthly Averages and 16-year Climatology NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center https://ceres.larc.nasa.gov/products.php?product=EBAF-Surface

NCEP CPC soil moisture NetCDF data H. van den Dool, J. Huang, and Y. Fan http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/data.cpcsoil.html

Koppen-Geiger climate classification shapefile M. Kottek, J. Grieser, C. Beck, B. Rudolf, and F. Rubel http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/

Short summary

This research presents a comprehensive description for calculating necessary, but sparsely observed, factors related to Earth's surface energy and water budgets relevant in, but not limited to, the study of ecosystems. We present the equations, including their derivations and assumptions, as well as example indicators relevant to plant-available moisture. The robustness of these relatively simple equations provides a tool to be used across broad fields of scientific research.