Simulating high-resolution soil moisture patterns in the Shale Hills watershed using a land surface hydrologic model: Simulating High-Resolution Soil Moisture Patterns

Shi, Yuning; Baldwin, Douglas C.; Davis, Kenneth J.; Yu, Xuan; Duffy, Christopher J.; Lin, Henry

doi:10.1002/hyp.10593

The accelerating degradation of native grasslands is becoming a threat to the world’s biome supply and has raised serious environmental concerns such as desertification and dust storm. Given that the steppe grasslands, such as those located in the Inner Mongolia Plateau of north China, have a dry climatic condition, the grass growth closely relies on available soil water, which in turn depends on precipitation prior to the growing season (in particular from May to July). However, our understanding of steppe hydrology and water consumption by grasses is incomplete. In this study, the agro-hydrologic Soil Water Plant Atmosphere (SWAP) model was used to mimic the long-term variations in soil water and vegetation growth in a typical steppe grassland of north China to further understand how alterations of hydrologic processes are related to grassland degradation. A field experiment was conducted to collect the data needed to set up the model. The SWAP model was calibrated using continuous observations of soil moisture and soil temperature at various depths for a simulation period of 2014 to 2017. The results indicated that the SWAP model can be used to simulate the responses of soil moisture and vegetation growth to climates. Moreover, this study examines the water balance and chronological variations of precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil water, and runoff. This study will add new knowledge of steppe hydrologic processes into existing literature.

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