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Soil Moisture Memory in Climate ModelsWater balance considerations at the soil surface lead to an equation that relates the autocorrelation of soil moisture in climate models to (1) seasonality in the statistics of the atmospheric forcing, (2) the variation of evaporation with soil moisture, (3) the variation of runoff with soil moisture, and (4) persistence in the atmospheric forcing, as perhaps induced by land atmosphere feedback. Geographical variations in the relative strengths of these factors, which can be established through analysis of model diagnostics and which can be validated to a certain extent against observations, lead to geographical variations in simulated soil moisture memory and thus, in effect, to geographical variations in seasonal precipitation predictability associated with soil moisture. The use of the equation to characterize controls on soil moisture memory is demonstrated with data from the modeling system of the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project.
Document ID
20010027896
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Koster, Randal D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Suarez, Max J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Zukor, Dorothy J.
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
November 3, 2000
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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