2-6: Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Modeling

Importance of this Unit to the Course

Soil and vegetation interact with the atmosphere (the atmosphere affects them and they, in turn, affect the atmosphere) in complicated but important ways that ultimately determine the heating and cooling of the lower atmosphere and the evaporation rate. These heating, cooling and moistening rates are critical inputs to global and regional climate models and are provided by soil-vegetation-atmosphere models.

Objectives

To understand how interactions among vegetation, soil, and atmosphere are included in global and regional climate models.
To understand how plants regulate the flow of CO2 and moisture in and out of leaves.

Preparation for Discussion (You must complete this section before class.)

Read the summary information. (Print text for offline review; images only.)

Take the Quiz

Review additional reading material (this material is not covered in the quiz, but offers more ideas for online discussion)

None

Discussion (online / face-to-face) (See your portfolio for due dates and times)

A major component of the course is participation in the online dialog. The following types of comments are required:

Social Comments
Knowledge-building Comments
Ethical Comments

The following may be used as discussion starters for the online dialog:

Unit Problem to Ponder:

By examining seasonal differences in earth surface cover between Jan-Feb and Jul-Aug what are some key factors that need to be considered in representing the albedo (reflectivity) of the earth's surface in soil-vegetation-atmosphere models?
Unit exam questions from previous years
Unit discussions from previous years, available from the current online discussion

Additional Reading