Advances in integrated modeling of terrestrial systems

Abstract:

Integrated modeling of terrestrial systems encompasses the closure of the water, energy and biogeochemical cycles from the subsurface across the land surface into the atmosphere, and human impacts at the commensurate space and time scales. This presentation will cover recent, innovative studies that advance our understanding and predictive capabilities, and tackle courageously the challenges of integrated modeling, such as natural complexity and chaos; anthropogenic activities; fusion of uncertain models with uncertain observations; and technical and computational intricacies. These studies show that integrated models are useful tools in water resources research, when they are applied in carefully designed numerical experiments and in conjunction with observations. The new insights stimulate a discussion on persistent limitations and future research directions to arrive at meaningful water resources assessments, which are needed by societies worldwide.