Abstract
The heat storage terms in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system may play an important role in the surface energy budget. In this paper, we evaluate the heat storage terms of a subalpine meadow based on a field experiment conducted in the complex terrain of the eastern Qilian Mountains of Northwest China and their impact on the closure of the surface energy balance under such non-ideal conditions. During the night, the average sum of the storage terms was −5.5 W m−2, which corresponded to 10.4% of net radiation. The sum of the terms became positive at 0730 LST and negative again at about 1500 LST, with a maximum value of 19 W m−2 observed at approximately 0830 LST. During the day, the average of the sum of the storage terms was 6.5 Wm−2, which corresponded to 4.0% of net radiation. According to the slopes obtained when linear regression of the net radiation and partitioned fluxes was forced through the origin, there is an imbalance of 14.0% in the subalpine meadow when the storage terms are not considered in the surface energy balance. This imbalance was improved by 3.4% by calculating the sum of the storage terms. The soil heat storage flux gave the highest contribution (1.59%), while the vegetation enthalpy change and the rest of the storage terms were responsible for improvements of 1.04% and 0.77%, respectively.
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Wang, R., Zhang, Q. An assessment of storage terms in the surface energy balance of a subalpine meadow in Northwest China. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 28, 691–698 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-010-9152-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-010-9152-x