Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
surface model that can accurately and precisely simulate the interaction between
the atmosphere and the land surface.
By contrast with the regional climate model, the land surface model focuses
more on the interaction between the atmosphere and the land surface, and can
calculate the exchange of energy, dynamics and moisture between the land surface
and the atmosphere. The scholars have gradually realized the importance of the
land surface process in the climatology, geobiochemistry and weather forecasting,
etc. since the 1970s. Since the middle 1980s, many researchers have studied the
issue of deforestation in the tropical rain forest in the Amazon watershed and
carried out a lot of sensitivity analysis (Malhi et al.
2009
).With the development of
the land surface process model, more biophysical processes of vegetation were
introduced. The researches constructed complex parameterization schemes of the
exchange of radiation, moisture, energy and dynamics above the vegetation, which
can more realistically reflect the role of vegetation in the land surface process,
especially the role of vegetation in the water budget and energy budget of the land
surface.
Since the 1990s, the researches gradually considered the water-vapor absorp-
tion of vegetation and introduced the biochemical process that the vegetation
absorbs CO
2
for photosynthesis into the land surface model according to the
relationship between the photosynthesis and plant water. There have been many
improved land surface models, e.g., the Land Surface Model (LSM), improved
Simple Biosphere model (SiB2) (Sellers et al.
1996
), Community Land Model
(CLM) (Bonan et al.
2002
). These improved land surface models have a better
ability to simulate the carbon flux and daily and seasonal cycle of CO
2
concen-
tration, and can be used to simulate the enhanced greenhouse effect due to the
increase of CO
2
concentration in the atmosphere. The latest land surface models
focus more on the biogeochemical process.
With the continuous development of the regional climate model, a great many
of researchers have applied the coupled regional land surface model to the study of
various physical processes and their impacts on the regional climate, energy
budget and interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere. The relevant
researches mainly focused on the schemes of the soil-vegetation-atmosphere
interaction.
1.4 Application of Regional Climate Model
1.4.1 Agricultural Land Development and Management
The area of cultivated land has continuously increased so as to meet the demand of
people for food all over the world, with 1,140 million hectares (Mha) forests
converted into cultivated land during 1700-1992 in the whole world (Klein
