Development of hybrid stochastic-mechanistic models for the partitioning and extrapolation of land surface to atmosphere water, energy and carbon fluxes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Karsten Schulz
• Subject Area: Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
• Term: from 2005 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13593819

Measurements of the exchange of water vapour, energy and carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere are made at many locations around the globe using tower based measurement platforms (FLUXNET). These data represent a substantial financial investment into understanding, monitoring and ultimately predicting the role of the land surface in regulating the surrounding climate. Novel methodology for deriving a new class of predictive models for these natural systems is proposed, where information from measurements is given more weight in the model building process than has previously been the case. This project will explore the potential of this methodology for the identification of hybrid stochastic-mechanistic models for water, energy and carbon fluxes. It is anticipated to derive a database of robust parsimoneous process descriptions and parameterizations dependent on site characteristics and the required temporal resolution. The subsequent development of regionalization schemes and the extensive use of remote sensing information in this second phase of the proposed project will allow for a more robust temporal and spatial extrapolation of flux measurements worldwide.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants