Urban-PLUMBER

A multi-site model evaluation project for urban areas

Phase 2 Phase 1 Download project protocol
Mathew Lipson (UNSW), Sue Grimmond (Reading), Martin Best (Met Office),
with observational and modelling participants.

AU-Preston detailed results

NOTE: Results presented here are highly dependent on how models are configured in this experiment and may be subject to variable output formatting errors. Results are not intended to indicate the quality of any individual model, but to help participants better understand and improve modelling approaches in different urban environments.

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variable definitions

SWnet LWnet Qle Qh Qanth Qstor SWup LWup Qg Qanth_Qh Qanth_Qle Qtau Albedo CAlbedo UAlbedo SAlbedo LAI SnowFrac SWE SurfStor RoofSurfT WallSurfT RoadSurfT TairSurf TairCanyon TairBuilding SnowT VegT BaresoilT AvgSurfT RadT SoilTemp SoilMoist SoilWet TVeg ESoil RootMoist ACond Qirrig Evap Qs Qsb Qsm Qfz DelSoilMoist DelSWE DelIntercept SWdown LWdown Tair Qair Rainf Snowf PSurf Wind alb

SWnet: Net shortwave radiation (positive downward)

SWnet

LWnet: Net longwave radiation (positive downward)

LWnet

Qle: Latent heat flux (positive upward)

Qle

Qh: Sensible heat flux (positive upward)

Qh

Qanth: Anthropogenic heat flux (positive upward)

Qanth

Qstor: Net storage heat flux in all materials (increase)

Qstor

SWup: Upwelling shortwave radiation flux (positive upward)

SWup

LWup: Upwelling longwave radiation flux (positive upward)

LWup

Qg: Ground heat flux (positive downward)

Qg

Qanth_Qh: Anthropogenic sensible heat flux (positive upward)

Qanth_Qh

Qanth_Qle: Anthropogenic latent heat flux (positive upward)

Qanth_Qle

Qtau: Momentum flux (positive downward)

Qtau

Albedo: Surface albedo

Albedo

CAlbedo: Vegetation canopy albedo

CAlbedo

UAlbedo: Urban canopy albedo

UAlbedo

SAlbedo: Snow albedo

SAlbedo

LAI: Leaf area index

LAI

SnowFrac: Snow covered fraction

SnowFrac

SWE: Snow water equivalent

SWE

SurfStor: Surface water storage

SurfStor

RoofSurfT: Roof surface temperature (skin)

RoofSurfT

WallSurfT: Wall surface temperature (skin)

WallSurfT

RoadSurfT: Road surface temperature (skin)

RoadSurfT

TairSurf: Near surface air temperature (2m)

TairSurf

TairCanyon: Air temperature in street canyon (bulk)

TairCanyon

TairBuilding: Air temperature in buildings (bulk)

TairBuilding

SnowT: Snow surface temperature

SnowT

VegT: Vegetation canopy temperature

VegT

BaresoilT: Temperature of bare soil

BaresoilT

AvgSurfT: Average surface temperature (skin)

AvgSurfT

RadT: Surface radiative temperature

RadT

SoilTemp: Average layer soil temperature

SoilTemp

SoilMoist: Average layer soil moisture

SoilMoist

SoilWet: Total soil wetness

SoilWet

TVeg: Vegetation transpiration

TVeg

ESoil: Bare soil evaporation

ESoil

RootMoist: Root zone soil moisture

RootMoist

ACond: Aerodynamic conductance

ACond

Qirrig: Anthropogenic water flux from irrigation (increase)

Qirrig

Evap: Total evapotranspiration (positive upward)

Evap

Qs: Surface runoff (positive out of gridcell)

Qs

Qsb: Subsurface runoff (positive out of gridcell)

Qsb

Qsm: Snowmelt (solid to liquid)

Qsm

Qfz: Re-freezing of water in the snow (liquid to solid)

Qfz

DelSoilMoist: Change in soil moisture (increase)

DelSoilMoist

DelSWE: Change in snow water equivalent (increase)

DelSWE

DelIntercept: Change in interception storage (increase)

DelIntercept

SWdown: Downward shortwave radiation at measurement height

SWdown

LWdown: Downward longwave radiation at measurement height

LWdown

Tair: Air temperature at measurement height

Tair

Qair: Specific humidity at measurement height

Qair

Rainf: Rainfall rate (positive downward)

Rainf

Snowf: Snowfall rate (positive downward)

Snowf

PSurf: Air pressure at measurement height

PSurf

Wind: Wind speed at measurement height

Wind

alb: Implied albedo calculated from SWdown and SWnet

alb

Jump to:

variable definitions

SWnet LWnet Qle Qh Qanth Qstor SWup LWup Qg Qanth_Qh Qanth_Qle Qtau Albedo CAlbedo UAlbedo SAlbedo LAI SnowFrac SWE SurfStor RoofSurfT WallSurfT RoadSurfT TairSurf TairCanyon TairBuilding SnowT VegT BaresoilT AvgSurfT RadT SoilTemp SoilMoist SoilWet TVeg ESoil RootMoist ACond Qirrig Evap Qs Qsb Qsm Qfz DelSoilMoist DelSWE DelIntercept SWdown LWdown Tair Qair Rainf Snowf PSurf Wind alb