MOTIF Land-Surface and Vegetation Variables

Note: the list of required variables is not stable yet. You will find in the tables below the variables that are likely to be found in the database, and the variables that were suggested as useful but did not make it to the final list.

Required variables

High frequency surface processes variables required by the Dust Model

Please check Sandy Harrison's note to get full details about the dust model variables! The following table lists the variables that either are not required at all at DAily frequency in the MOTIF database, or are not required at a high enough frequency (sub-DAily) for the dust model.

Rejected variables

Notes

Michel Crucifix

One difficulty arising from the various variable lists is that much information is redundant. Part of the problem could be solved by creating a separate list, called 'land surface processes', which, basically, would consider the diagnostics and prognostics of the land surface scheme.

Another difficulty is the very large number of variables. The number of variables to be centrally held and managed should not exceed 20 per module and per model, 5 to 10 of which only being compulsary. A more restrictive list presents both advantages of reducing our data storage requirements and improve the intrinsic quality of each variable (better control, quality check, better definition etc.) If a particular model seems to show a response specifically different from the others, it is always time to look at some very specific varibles, with the support of the expert on that model.

Can we make clear what we mean by soil wetness, soil moisture, and soil water content?