Value of Incorporating Satellite-Derived Land Cover Data in MM5/PLACE for Simulating Surface Temperatures

Abstract The Parameterization for Land–Atmosphere–Cloud Exchange (PLACE) module is used within the Fifth-Generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) to determine the importance of individual land surface parameters in simulating surface temperatures. Sensitivity tests indicate that soil moisture and the coverage and thickness of green vegetation [as manifested by the values of fractional green vegetation coverage (fVEG) and leaf area index (LAI)] have a large effect on the magnitudes of surface sensible heat fluxes. The combined influence of LAI and fVEG is larger than the influence of soil moisture on the partitioning of the surface energy budget. Values for fVEG, albedo, and LAI, derived from 1-km-resolution Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer data, are inserted into PLACE, and changes in model-simulated 1.5-m air temperatures in Oklahoma during July of 1997 are documented. Use of the land cover data provides a clear improvement in afterno...