1. General Model Information
Name: High Resolution Biosphere Model
Acronym: HRBM
Main medium: terrestrial
Main subject: carbon balance of the biosphere, biogeochemistry
Organization level: Ecosphere
Type of model: ordinary differential equations
Main application: research, decision support/expert system
Keywords: carbon cycle, climate change, global change, land-use, vegetation fires
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Gerd Esser
Institut fuer Planzenoekologie, IFZ,
Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32
35392 Giessen
Germany
Phone: 0641/99-35310
Fax: 0641/99-35309
email: gerd.esser@bot2.bio.uni-giessen.de
Homepage: http://www.uni-giessen.de/biologie/pflanzenoeko/ag_esser/
Author(s):
G. Esser
Abstract:
The High Resolution Biosphere Model (HRBM) was developed as an instrument to
investigate the carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere, the impacts of
the rising atmospheric CO2 level and of climatic changes. It therefore had
to meet the following demands:
- include the major carbon fluxes and pools of the terrestrial biosphere;
- describe the fluxes by means of equations which consider the deterministic
relations to the environment;
- make the equations valid in the entire span of the environmental variables
in the terrestrial biosphere;
- include any important indirect effects which may
influence the global carbon budget.
The biospheric carbon pools in the model are balanced by the carbon fluxes which
are functions of the vector of driving variables.
For the purposes of this model, the surface of the Earth is subdivided into
grid elements of 0.5 degree latitude and longitude. Only the landmass is
taken into account, leading to a total of 62,483 grid elements. The mass
balance of the model pools is carried out by integrating the system of
differential equations by a 4th-order Runge-Kutta method.
The initial pool values necessary to start the model are computed using a
fixed atmospheric CO2 concentration. The atmosphere then acts as an "unlimited"
carbon source to fill the pools. This "pre-run" procedure may need as many as
5000 model years, a considerable computing time, to stabilize the large soil
pools and to prevent model drift in the consecutive model run.
II. Technical Information
II.1 Executables:
Operating System(s): any by compilation
II.2 Source-code:
Programming Language(s): FORTRAN 77
please contact us if you need the code
II.3 Manuals:
High Resolution Biosphere Model, Documentation Model Version 3.00.00
Manual (pdf format)
II.4 Data:
please contact us for further information
III. Mathematical Information
III.1 Mathematics
III.2 Quantities
state variables (pools):
- phytomass herbaceous below ground
- phytomass herbaceous above ground
- phytomass woody below ground
- phytomass woody above ground
- litter herbaceous below ground
- litter herbaceous above ground
- litter woody below ground
- litter woody above ground
- soil organic carbon
- atmospheric carbon
- black carbon (charcoal) (fire submodel)
rate variables (fluxes):
- net primary productivity herbaceous,
- net primary productivity woody,
- litter production herbaceous,
- litter production woody,
- litter depletion herbaceous,
- litter depletion woody,
- soil organic carbon production,
- soil organic carbon depletion,
- deforestation,
- phytomass burning loss herbaceous (fire submodel),
- phytomass burning loss woody (fire submodel),
- litter burning loss herbaceous (fire submodel),
- litter burning loss woody (fire submodel),
- phytomass mortality loss herbaceous (fire submodel),
- phytomass mortality loss woody (fire submodel),
- phytomass black carbon production herbaceous (fire submodel),
- phytomass black carbon production woody (fire submodel),
- litter black carbon production herbaceous (fire submodel)
- litter black carbon production woody (fire submodel)
III.2.1 Input
- precipitation (mean or monthly),
- temperature (mean or monthly),
- cloudiness,
- soil types,
- fossil carbon emissions,
- relative agricultural net primary productivity (RAP),
- standard land use map for 1980,
- change of agriculturally used areas (1860 - 1980)
- population parameters
III.2.2 Output
any state variable and flux on a global 0.5 degree grid and globally aggregated, time resolution monthly or longer
IV. References
Esser, G.; Hoffstadt, J.; Mack, F.; Wittenberg, U., 1994, High Resolution Biosphere Model , Documentation, Model Version 3.00.00.
Mitt. Inst. Pflanzenökol. der JLU Gießen, Heft 2, 68 S.
Witenberg, U.; Esser, G., 1997, Evaluation of the isotopic disequilibrium in the terrestrial biosphere by a global carbon isotope model.
Tellus 49B, 263-269.
Mack, F.; Hoffstadt, J.; Esser, G.; Goldammer, J.G., 1997, Modeling the influence of vegetation fires on the global carbon cycle.
In: Levine, J. (ed.), Biomass burning and global change, Vol. 1, Chapter 15, pp. 149-159 ; MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Wittenberg, U.; Heimann, M.; Esser, G.; McGuire, D.A.; Sauf, W., 1998, On the influence of biomass burning on the seasonal CO2 signal as observed at monitoring stations.
Global Biogeochem. Cycles 12, 531-544.
McGuire, A.D.; Sitch, S.; Clein, J.S.; Dargaville, R.; Esser, G.; Foley, J.; Heimann, M.; Joos, F.; Kaplan, J.; Kicklighter, D.W.; Meier, R.A.; Melillo, J.M.; Moore, B.; Prentice, I.C.; Ramankutty, N.; Reichenau, T.; Schloss, A.; Tian, H.; Williams, L.J.; Wittenberg, U., 2001, Carbon balance of the terrestrial biosphere in the twentieth century: Analyses of CO2, climate and land use effects with four process-based ecosystem models.
Global Biogeochem. Cycles 15 (1), 183-206.
V. Further information in the World-Wide-Web
VI. Additional remarks
Last review of this document by: Tim G. Reichenau and Joachim Benz Thu Aug 22 12:05:14 CEST 2002
Status of the document: Contributed by Tim G. Reichenau
last modified by
Joachim Benz Mon Nov 10 16:48:21 CET 2003