A new approach to simulate peat accumulation, degradation and stability in a global land surface scheme (JULES vn5.8_accumulate_soil) for northern and temperate peatlands

Chadburn, Sarah E.; Burke, Eleanor J.; Gallego-Sala, Angela V.; Smith, Noah D.; Bret-Harte, M. Syndonia; Charman, Dan J.; Drewer, Julia; Edgar, Colin W.; Euskirchen, Eugenie S.; Fortuniak, Krzysztof; Gao, Yao; Nakhavali, Mahdi; Pawlak, Włodzimierz; Schuur, Edward A. G.; Westermann, Sebastian

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022

Articles | Volume 15, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) – configurations,...

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 4

Development and technical paper

|

25 Feb 2022

Development and technical paper |

| 25 Feb 2022

A new approach to simulate peat accumulation, degradation and stability in a global land surface scheme (JULES vn5.8_accumulate_soil) for northern and temperate peatlands

Sarah E. Chadburn, Eleanor J. Burke, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, Noah D. Smith, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Dan J. Charman, Julia Drewer, Colin W. Edgar, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Krzysztof Fortuniak, Yao Gao, Mahdi Nakhavali, Włodzimierz Pawlak, Edward A. G. Schuur, and Sebastian Westermann

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022-supplement

Data sets

A new approach to simulate peat accumulation, degradation and stability in a global land surface scheme (JULES vn5.8_accumulate_soil) for northern and temperate peatlands S. E. Chadburn, E. J. Burke, A. V. Gallego-Sala, N. D. Smith, M. S. Bret-Harte, D. J. Charman, J. Drewer, C. W. Edgar, E. S. Euskirchen, K. Fortuniak, Y. Gao, M. Nakhavali, W. Pawlak, E. A. G. Schuur, S. Westermann, and G. Hugelius https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5818180

Model code and software

JULES branch S. Chadburn and JULES collaboration https://code.metoffice.gov.uk/trac/jules/browser/main/branches/dev/sarahchadburn/vn5.8_accumulate_soil

Rose suite E. Burke, S. Chadburn, and JULES collaboration https://code.metoffice.gov.uk/trac/roses-u/browser/c/g/3/6/5/

Short summary

We present a new method to include peatlands in an Earth system model (ESM). Peatlands store huge amounts of carbon that accumulates very slowly but that can be rapidly destabilised, emitting greenhouse gases. Our model captures the dynamic nature of peat by simulating the change in surface height and physical properties of the soil as carbon is added or decomposed. Thus, we model, for the first time in an ESM, peat dynamics and its threshold behaviours that can lead to destabilisation.