Multiscale Modeling and Model-Data Integration to Improve the E3SM Land Model

Authors

Peter Thornton¹* (thorntonpe@ornl.gov), Colleen Iversen¹, Charles Abolt², Scott Painter¹, Ethan Coon¹, Yu Zhang², Katrina Bennett², Claire Bachand², Benjamin Sulman¹, Fengming Yuan¹, Teri O’Meara¹, Ryan Crumley², Rich Fiorella², Xiang Huang²

Institutions

¹Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN; ²Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

URLs

https://ngee-arctic.ornl.gov

Abstract

The overarching objective for the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE) Arctic project is to deliver an improved predictive understanding of Arctic tundra processes at the scale of a high-resolution Earth system model (ESM) grid cell. To achieve that goal, the team has identified six Integrated Modeling efforts, each of which results in improved prediction capability implemented within DOE’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). During Phase 3 of NGEE Arctic, researchers are synthesizing observations, experiments, and fine-scale modeling results to arrive at new E3SM Land Model (ELM) parameterizations suitable for a high-resolution ESM grid cell. Over the past year, the team has made significant progress in connecting high-resolution and process-resolving simulations to site-scale observations to improve understanding of fundamental controls on hydrologic, thermal, and biogeochemical processes in Arctic tundra landscapes. Researchers have also made important advances in developing new process parameterizations and designing new implementations of subgrid process heterogeneity to migrate new knowledge from fine-scale simulations into improvements in ELM. Here, the team shows examples of improvements in ELM from studies of subgrid fractional area of inundation, hydrologic coupling across subgrid hillslope elements, snow-vegetation interactions in complex topographic settings, complex and dynamic vegetation communities, and redox-resolving biogeochemical reaction networks.

The project draws connections from lessons learned in the NGEE Arctic project to other studies in different ecosystems. The team shows examples of connections between Arctic tundra and coastal wetland systems, focusing on improved representation of processes such as redox-enabled biogeochemistry and improved treatment of subgrid heterogeneity in complex ecosystems with small-scale variation in structure and function.