Land-climate interactions

Please follow this link for the course information retrieved from the ETH semester programme.

The purpose of this course is to provide an overview on the role of land processes (vegetation and soil moisture dynamics, land-atmosphere exchanges) for the climate system. The course consists of 2 contact hours per week (Tue 1-3pm, CHN F46), and include three exercise lectures (Computer room).

Schedule

• 20.09.2011: 1) Introduction (pdf; review paper)
• 27.09.2011: 2) Land energy and water balances; Soil moisture (pdf)
• 04.10.2011: Excursion (Overview, Information, Summary notes)
• 12.10.2011: 3) Evapotranspiration; Runoff (pdf)
• 18.10.2011: 4) Basic land-atmosphere feedback relationships (pdf)
• 25.10.2011: Exercise 1: Evo and follow-up (Exercise sheet; Computer exercise; paper Forest-Grassland; Solution) [HG E 26.3]
• 01.11.2011: 5) Land surface modeling (1) (pdf)
• 08.11.2011: 6) Land surface modeling (2) (pdf)
• 15.11.2011: Exercise 2: Computer exercise 'Simbuck' (Exercise sheet; zip file; feedback sheet; Solution) [HG E 26.3]
• 22.11.2011: 7) Data analysis of land-climate interactions (1) (pdf)
• 29.11.2011: 8) Data analysis of land-climate interactions (2) (pdf)
• 06.12.2011: Exercise 3: Computer exercise 'Daisyworld' (Exercise sheet; Matlab file; Reference article; Solution) [HG E 26.3]
• 13.12.2011: 9) Questions on lecture material (pdf)
• 20.12.2011: 10) Outlook, current research questions (pdf)

Articles recommended for further reading

• Bonan, Science, 2008: Forests and Climate Change: Forcings, Feedbacks, and the Climate Benefits of Forests.
• Koster et al, Science, 2004: Regions of Strong Coupling Between Soil Moisture and Precipitation.
• Friedlingstein et al, J. Climate, 2006: Climate–Carbon Cycle Feedback Analysis: Results from the C4MIP Model Intercomparison.
• Morgan et al, Nature, 2011: C4 grasses prosper as carbon dioxide eliminates desiccation in warmed semi-arid grassland.
• Hirschi et al, Nature Geoscience, 2011: Observational evidence for soil-moisture impact on hot extremes in southeastern Europe.
• Sellers et al, Science, 1997: Modeling the Exchanges of Energy, Water, and Carbon Between Continents and the Atmosphere.
• Jung et al, Nature, 2010: Recent decline in the global land evapotranspiration trend due to limited moisture supply.
• Seneviratne et al, Nature, 2006: Land–atmosphere coupling and climate change in Europe.
• Seneviratne et al, Earth-Science Reviews, 2010: Investigating soil moisture–climate interactions in a changing climate: A review.
• Koster et al, J. Hydrometeorology, 2011: The Second Phase of the Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment: Soil Moisture Contributions to Subseasonal Forecast Skill.
• Lenton et al, PNAS, 2008: Tipping elements in the Earth’s climate system.
• Dirmeyer et al, BAMS, 2006: GSWP-2 Multimodel Analysis and Implications for Our Perception of the Land Surface.
• Scheffer et al, Nature, 2009: Early-warning signals for critical transitions.
• Malhi et al, Science, 2008: Climate Change, Deforestation, and the Fate of the Amazon.
• Ciais et al, Nature, 2005: Europe-wide reduction in primary productivity caused by the heat and drought in 2003.

Contact

Overall lecture: Sonia Seneviratne
Lecture 2): Boris Orlowsky
Lectures 5) & 6): Edouard Davin
Excursion: Irene Lehner
Exercises: Benoît Guillod, René Orth