Preliminary results of the coupled CWRF-GOSSYM system

GOSSYM is a comprehensive crop growth model that has been continuously developed since the late 1970s and widely applied to assist cotton growers, crop consultants, and researchers. The state-of-art CWRF (Climate-Weather Research and Forecasting model) demonstrated skillfull simulations of regional water and energy cycle processes that are keenly important to cotton growth. This study focuses on coupling GOSSYM and CWRF to study crop-climate interactions. The coupling procedures include (1) recoding the GOSSYM to follow the CWRF F90 modular implementation; (2) replacing the soil dynamic module of the GOSSYM with the CWRF-predicted soil temperature and moisture while integrating the crop field management or cultural practice component (e.g., irrigation, tillage); (3) providing the GOSSYM with surface air temperature, precipitation, and surface solar radiation from the CWRF; (4) constructing crop height and coverage, leaf and stem area indices, greenness and root profile from the GOSSYM as inputs for the CWRF to represent the crop feedback on solar albedo and infrared emissivity, precipitation interception, and evapotranspiration. This study presents the preliminary results of the GOSSYM driven by the CWRF simulated climate conditions and discusses the model performance on cotton yield, leaf area index and height and their responses to water stress under the irrigation and non-irrigation conditions.