Numerical simulation of surface heat and water fluxes in tibet plateau

This paper examines the performance of an off-line version of the Community Land Model (CLM3.0) by simulating the soil properties: soil temperature, and soil wetness, in Tibetan Plateau, and the modeled results are validated with direct measurements at three filed sites. The soil properties in the model are initialized with field measurements and are driven by half-hourly observed atmospheric variables (temperature, humidity, wind speed, surface pressure and downward radiation (solar and infrared). The observation (or direct measurements) of the soil properties and atmospheric fields are collected through the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Asian Monsoon Experiment (GAME)-Tibet project. Results indicate the CLM is able to capture general characteristics of soil in Tibetan Plateau. The model shows sensitivity to initial soil properties, particularly soil moisture. The initial error in the soil moisture contributes largely the simulated bias in soil moisture.