Datensatz

Zusammenfassung

In 1999, Hagemann et al. derived a global dataset of land surface parameters (LSP) from a global distribution of major ecosystem types that was made available by the U.S. Geological Survey. These parameters are: background surface albedo, surface roughness length due to vegetation, fractional vegetation cover and leaf area index for the growing and dormancy season, forest ratio, plant-available and total soil water holding capacity. The LSP dataset is provided for the use in global and regional climate modelling and it was successfully implemented in the regional climate models HIRHAM and REMO as well as in the global ECHAM model. As the U.S. Geological Survey has recently made an updated version of their ecosystem dataset available, these changes were incorporated in the LSP dataset. During this implementation, several improvements were made to the LSP dataset. Over Africa, the background surface albedo of bare soil was corrected with METEOSAT albedo data. In addition, the seasonal variation of vegetation characteristics was considered and monthly mean fields of vegetation ratio, leaf area index and background albedo were developed and implemented.