climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

, a biosphere model, is used to

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

the

biosphere The biosphere (), also called the ecosphere (), is the worldwide sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed the zone of life on the Earth. The biosphere (which is technically a spherical shell) is virtually a closed system with regard to mat ...

of Earth, and can be coupled with atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) for modelling the entire

climate system Earth's climate system is a complex system with five interacting components: the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), the cryosphere (ice and permafrost), the lithosphere (earth's upper rocky layer) and the biosphere ( ...

. It has been suggested that terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) are a more inclusive term than land surface models (LSMs). The representation of roots in TBMs (or LSMs), however, remains relatively crude. Particularly, the dynamic functions of roots and phylogenetic basis of water uptake remain largely absent in TBMs (or LSMs).

Models

The Daisyworld computer simulation from 1983, calculated how

radiant energy In physics, and in particular as measured by radiometry, radiant energy is the energy of electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. As energy, its SI unit is the joule (J). The quantity of radiant energy may be calcul ...

increased or decreased, dependent on the

albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

effect, based on changes in the biosphere. The Simple Biosphere (SiB) model, presented by Sellers et al. in 1986, calculates transfer of energy, mass and momentum of the atmosphere and the vegetated surface of the Earth. The model is designed for use in atmospheric ''general circulation models'', to account for the related climate attribution of the biosphere. A revised version was published in 1996 and incorporates satellite measurements. The Ent Dynamic Terrestrial Biosphere Model is a global vegetation model for use with the Earth System Modeling Framework.

Models

See also

References

Further reading