CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Courtney, L.; and Berg, A.A.
Date : 2009.
Title : Evaluation of process controls on soil water content variability.
Publication : 2009 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers. March 22-27, 2009. Rivera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Global climate is closely coupled to the processes of the hydrologic cycle. Soil water content, an integral component of the hydrologic cycle, strongly influences climate at local, regional and global scales through interactions with the atmosphere and land-surface. Exchanges of energy and water, controlled and moderated by soil moisture interactions, are crucial to atmospheric processes, surface hydrology and biogeochemical cycles. Consideration of soil water content and its variability, therefore, is crucial to further understanding these processes and accurate modelling in land-surface schemes such as the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS). The inability of land surface schemes to accurately predict patterns of soil moisture variability has been attributed to incomplete knowledge of the processes influencing soil moisture variability. In this research we assess the validity of the processes controlling soil moisture variability within the Canadian Land Surface Scheme. The processes controlling soil moisture variability were derived from a principal component analysis (PCA) of a regional scale soil water content network over Alberta, Canada. An identical PCA analysis was computed for the CLASS for assessment of the processes controls in the model. In this study we show how PCA can be used for purposes of model to data inter-comparison illustrating differences between the process controls observed in data and in model.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology