GTEC

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(1) MODEL AND VERSION: GTEC 2.0

Full model name: Global Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon (GTEC) Version 2.0

Host institution: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

References:

Post, W. M., King, A. W., and S. D. Wullschleger 1996. Soil organic matter models and global estimates of soil organic carbon. pp. 201-222. IN (P. Smith, J. Smith and D. Powlson, eds.) Evaluation of Soil Organic Matter Models Using Existing Long-Term Datasets. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

King, A. W., W. M. Post and S. D. Wullschleger. 1997. The potential response of terrestrial carbon storage to changes in climate and atmospheric CO2. Climatic Change 35:199-227.

Post, W. M., A. W. King, and S. D. Wullschleger 1997. Historical variations in terrestrial biospheric carbon storage. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 11:99--109.

King, A. W., S. D. Wullschleger and W, M. Post. Seasonal biosphere-atmosphere CO2 exchange and terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage: mechanism, extrapolation, and implications. Paper presented at the 5th International Carbon Dioxide Conference, 8-12 September 1997, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

(2) MODEL TYPE:

Ecosystem

(3) PRIMARY MODEL PURPOSE:

Understanding role of terrestrial ecosystems in the global carbon cycle

(4) MODELING APPROACH:

Mechanistic, process-based simulation of simultaneous soil-plant-atmosphere carbon and water fluxes and resulting changes in plant and soil carbon reservoirs using difference equations.

(5) RESOLUTION:

Spatial: 1 degree latitude X 1 degree longitude

Temporal: hourly and daily

(6) SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL SCALES AT WHICH MODEL RESULTS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED:

Spatial: global and regional

Temporal: daily, monthly, annual over periods of up to several hundred years

(7) PROCESSES AND PROCESS COMPONENTS SIMULATED:

Carbon: GPP, NPP, and NEP

Water: transpiration and evapotranspiration

a) soils: layered soil, piston flow

b) energy balance: latent heat, actual evapotranspiration

c) snow: not simulated

d) order of water balance: canopy interception and evaporation, throughfall, infiltration, transpiration

Nitrogen: nitrogen dynamics are not simulated; assumes an open N cycle

(8) SIMULATED RESERVOIRS:

Carbon

a)vegetation: leaves, stem, coarse roots, fine roots

b) litter: decomposable and recalcitrant litter

c) SOC: humus, microbial biomass, and inert organic matter

Nitrogen

a) vegetation: same as for carbon

b) litter: not represented

c) SOC: not represented

(9) CALIBRATION VARIABLES AND METHOD:

model is calibrated against observations of leaf and ecosystem (stand) scale carbon and water flux through a non-automated iterative process of model verification, validation, and revision.

(10) SCALING OF PROCESSES TO THE GRID CELL:

assumes homogeneous vegetation and soils for each grid cell, and multiplies results from a point simulation at the centroid of the cell by the area of the cell

(11) DISTURBANCES:

disturbance is not simulated

(12) VEGETATION I/O:

uses actual (but static) vegetation

(13) INPUT DRIVERS FOR MODEL INITIALIZATION:

daily or monthly climate (shortwave irradiance [or clouds], air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation), daily or monthly leaf area index, vegetation type, soil type.