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Global Intercomparison of 12 Land Surface Heat Flux EstimatesA global intercomparison of 12 monthly mean land surface heat flux products for the period 1993-1995 is presented. The intercomparison includes some of the first emerging global satellite-based products (developed at Paris Observatory, Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, University of California Berkeley, University of Maryland, and Princeton University) and examples of fluxes produced by reanalyses (ERA-Interim, MERRA, NCEP-DOE) and off-line land surface models (GSWP-2, GLDAS CLM/ Mosaic/Noah). An intercomparison of the global latent heat flux (Q(sub le)) annual means shows a spread of approx 20 W/sq m (all-product global average of approx 45 W/sq m). A similar spread is observed for the sensible (Q(sub h)) and net radiative (R(sub n)) fluxes. In general, the products correlate well with each other, helped by the large seasonal variability and common forcing data for some of the products. Expected spatial distributions related to the major climatic regimes and geographical features are reproduced by all products. Nevertheless, large Q(sub le)and Q(sub h) absolute differences are also observed. The fluxes were spatially averaged for 10 vegetation classes. The larger Q(sub le) differences were observed for the rain forest but, when normalized by mean fluxes, the differences were comparable to other classes. In general, the correlations between Q(sub le) and R(sub n) were higher for the satellite-based products compared with the reanalyses and off-line models. The fluxes were also averaged for 10 selected basins. The seasonality was generally well captured by all products, but large differences in the flux partitioning were observed for some products and basins.
Document ID
20120003896
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Jimenez, C.
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Paris, France)
Prigent, C.
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Paris, France)
Mueller, B.
(Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Switzerland)
Seneviratne, S. I.
(Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule Zurich, Switzerland)
McCabe, M. F.
(New South Wales Univ. Sydney, Australia)
Wood, E. F.
(Princeton Univ. Princeton, NJ, United States)
Rossow, W. B.
(City College of New York New York, NY, US)
Balsamo, G.
(European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts, Reading United Kingdom)
Betts, A. K.
(Atmospheric Research Pittsford, VT, United States)
Dirmeyer, P. A.
(Institute of Global Environment and Society, Inc. Calverton, MD, United States)
Fisher, J. B.
(Oxford Univ. Oxford, United Kingdom)
Jung, M.
(Max-Planck-Inst., Jena Gera, Germany)
Kanamitsu, M.
(Scripps Institution of Oceanography La Jolla, CA, United States)
Reichle, R. H.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Reichstein, M.
(Max-Planck-Inst., Jena Gera, Germany)
Rodell, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Sheffield, J.
(Princeton Univ. Princeton, NJ, United States)
Tu, K.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Wang, K.
(Texas Univ. Austin, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 20, 2011
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 116
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.5761.2011
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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