Heat transport, water balance, snowpack and soil freezing

Authors: Flerchinger, Gerald; Seyfried, Mark

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Book
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2020
Publication Date: 7/29/2022
Citation: Flerchinger, G.N., Seyfried, M.S. 2022. Heat transport, water balance, snowpack and soil freezing. In: Ahuja, L.R., Kersebaum, K.C., Wendroth, O., editors. Modeling Processes and Their Interactions in Cropping Systems: Challenges for the 21st Century. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc. p. 33-52.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780891183860

Interpretive Summary: Integration of agricultural system models with field research has the potential to make agricultural management more quantitative and significantly enhance efficiency of agricultural research and technology. The modeling of soil-plant-climate-management processes is needed to enhance quantitative teaching of these processes at upper undergraduate and graduate levels. This chapter focuses on mathematical algorithms for simulating soil heat transfer, soil freezing, and snowmelt as part of a text book on modeling soil-plant-climate-management processes for graduate education and research. Example model applications are presented to serve as a learning tool and to illustrate the ability of detailed physical representations for capturing varying site and climatic conditions on energy and water balance simulations.

Technical Abstract: This chapter describes routines used in the Simultaneous Heat and Water (SHAW) model to simulate energy and water fluxes within the plant-snow-residue-soil system. The SHAW model is a numerical representation of a vertical, one-dimensional system composed of a multi-species plant canopy, snow cover if present, plant residue, and the soil profile. The model simulates the surface energy balance, evaporation, transpiration, soil water, snow accumulation/melt and heat and water fluxes using a detailed, physically-based solution to the energy and mass balance equations. Example model applications are presented to illustrate the ability of the detailed physical representation to capture the influence of varying site and climatic conditions on energy and water balance simulations.