One of the goals of AMIP II Diagnostic Subproject 12 is to identify possible relationships between LSS type and the resulting simulation of continental climate. However, if such relationships exist, they will be obscured by the coupling of each LSS to its atmospheric host model, in that the simulation of land-surface climate will be a product of two-way (possibly compensatory) interactions. To reveal putative LSS "signatures" in these coupled simulations, diagnostics that highlight "intrinsic" LSS characteristics within the context of host model differences (e.g. in surface radiative fluxes and/or precipitation) need to be devised.
Diagnostic Subproject 12 will explore two approaches: the first will investigate whether various global similarity measures of land-surface climate cluster according to LSS type; the second approach will assess whether the LSS type has a discernable impact on land-surface energy and moisture partitionings (e.g. dimensionless Bowen and runoff ratios).Preliminary results from applying these diagnostics to available AMIP II simulations will be presented.
This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Sciences Division, by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W-7405-ENG-48.
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