How the BIOME4 scheme is related to land surface physics
  1. We related each BIOME4 class to one or more land cover descriptions of Wilson & Henderson-Sellers (1999).

  2. We used lookup-tables published in Wilson & Henderson-Sellers (1999) modified by Jones (unpublished) to calculate mean percentages of vegetation components (land cover description) and associated land cover class. If two or more land cover descriptions were used to describe a biome, we calculate the average percentage for each land class.

  3. We then calculate surface parameter/physics for each biome by using percentage of each land class and respective surface physics published in Cox et al. (1999)

  4. Mega-biomes were calculated by grouping and averaging physical surface parameters of relevant biomes.

References:
Cox P.M., Betts R.A., Bunton C.B., Essery R.L.H., Rowntree P.R. & Smith J. , 1999. The impact of new land surface physics on the GCM simulation of climate and climate sensitivity. Climate Dynamics, 15, 183-203

Jones C. P (unpublished): UNIFIED MODEL DOCUMENTATION PAPER NO 70 ,SPECIFICATION OF ANCILLARY FIELDS VERSION 4 DATED 04/12/95.

Wilson, M.F. and A. Henderson-Sellers, 1985. A Global Archive of Land Cover and Soils Data for Use in General Circulation Climate Models. Journal of Climatology, Vol.5, 119-143.

Data Source URL: http://dss.ucar.edu/datasets/ds767.0/: Wilson, M.F. and A. Henderson-Sellers: A Global Archive of Land Cover and Soils Data
Download the following tables as an Excel spreadsheet

BIOMES (BIOME4)
Key Biome rootdepth dr (m) snow free albedo (α0) cold deep snow albedo (αs) surface resistance to evaporation rs (sm -1) surface roughness length z0v (m) canopy water (surface) capacity cm (mm) vegetation infiltration enhancement Iv leaf area index of vegetated fraction L canopy height of vegetated fraction h (m) vegetation fraction
1 tropical evergreen forest 1.43E+00 1.21E-01 2.30E-01 1.29E+02 1.14E+00 6.90E-01 5.73E+00 8.58E+00 2.94E+01 9.50E-01
2 tropical semi-deciduous forest 1.43E+00 1.21E-01 2.30E-01 1.29E+02 1.14E+00 6.90E-01 5.73E+00 8.58E+00 2.94E+01 9.50E-01
3 tropical deciduous forest/woodland 6.96E-01 1.37E-01 4.36E-01 9.76E+01 6.85E-01 5.92E-01 3.06E+00 4.85E+00 1.28E+01 8.00E-01
4 temperate deciduous forest 1.08E+00 1.36E-01 3.55E-01 9.60E+01 8.51E-01 5.85E-01 5.28E+00 4.68E+00 1.34E+01 9.50E-01
5 temperate conifer forest 8.40E-01 1.36E-01 2.55E-01 8.45E+01 9.01E-01 1.13E+00 5.50E+00 5.79E+00 1.81E+01 9.50E-01
6 warm-temperate mixed forest 9.75E-01 1.31E-01 3.00E-01 9.13E+01 9.00E-01 8.60E-01 5.50E+00 5.32E+00 1.61E+01 9.50E-01
7 cool mixed forest 9.75E-01 1.31E-01 3.00E-01 9.13E+01 9.00E-01 8.60E-01 5.50E+00 5.32E+00 1.61E+01 9.50E-01
8 cool conifer forest 8.40E-01 1.36E-01 2.55E-01 8.45E+01 9.01E-01 1.13E+00 5.50E+00 5.79E+00 1.81E+01 9.50E-01
9 cold mixed forest 9.75E-01 1.31E-01 3.00E-01 9.13E+01 9.00E-01 8.60E-01 5.50E+00 5.32E+00 1.61E+01 9.50E-01
10 evergreen taiga/montane forest 8.40E-01 1.36E-01 2.55E-01 8.45E+01 9.01E-01 1.13E+00 5.50E+00 5.79E+00 1.81E+01 9.50E-01
11 deciduous taiga/montane forest 8.40E-01 1.27E-01 3.45E-01 8.45E+01 9.01E-01 9.50E-01 5.50E+00 3.89E+00 9.49E+00 9.50E-01
12 tropical savanna 8.30E-01 1.76E-01 5.30E-01 9.10E+01 2.70E-01 6.90E-01 2.73E+00 5.05E+00 6.82E+00 9.50E-01
13 tropical xerophytic shrubland 6.90E-01 1.86E-01 5.90E-01 8.55E+01 1.64E-01 7.30E-01 2.18E+00 4.06E+00 2.69E+00 8.50E-01
14 temperate xerophytic shrubland 6.80E-01 1.76E-01 5.95E-01 7.80E+01 2.43E-01 8.00E-01 2.25E+00 2.71E+00 1.32E+00 9.00E-01
15 temperate sclerophyll woodland 9.10E-01 1.48E-01 4.60E-01 8.90E+01 6.02E-01 6.75E-01 4.03E+00 3.94E+00 8.82E+00 9.00E-01
16 temperate broadleaved savanna 9.20E-01 1.51E-01 4.55E-01 8.70E+01 6.23E-01 5.85E-01 4.23E+00 3.95E+00 9.63E+00 9.50E-01
17 open conifer woodland 7.00E-01 1.57E-01 4.10E-01 7.90E+01 6.03E-01 9.20E-01 4.10E+00 4.67E+00 1.29E+01 9.00E-01
18 boreal parkland 7.00E-01 1.57E-01 4.10E-01 7.90E+01 6.03E-01 9.20E-01 4.10E+00 4.67E+00 1.29E+01 9.00E-01
19 tropical grassland 6.90E-01 1.79E-01 5.90E-01 8.55E+01 1.64E-01 7.30E-01 2.18E+00 4.06E+00 2.69E+00 8.50E-01
20 temperate grassland 4.78E-01 1.89E-01 6.99E-01 6.64E+01 2.92E-02 5.31E-01 1.47E+00 2.13E+00 4.88E-01 8.80E-01
21 desert 1.60E-01 2.50E-01 7.73E-01 9.80E+01 3.13E-02 5.43E-01 7.25E-01 2.75E+00 1.33E+00 1.00E-01
22 steppe tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
23 shrub tundra 5.60E-01 1.59E-01 6.50E-01 6.60E+01 2.04E-01 8.30E-01 1.95E+00 2.11E+00 1.39E+00 9.00E-01
24 dwarf-shrub tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
25 prostrate shrub tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
26 cushion-forb, lichen, moss tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
27 barren (soil) 1.00E-01 n/a 8.00E-01 1.00E+02 3.00E-04 5.00E-01 5.00E-01 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00
28 land ice 0.00E+00 7.50E-01 8.00E-01 0.00E+00 1.00E-04 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00
MEGA-BIOMES (BIOME4)
Key Mega-Biome rootdepth dr (m) snow free albedo (α0) cold deep snow albedo (αs) surface resistance to evaporation rs (sm -1) surface roughness length z0v (m) canopy water (surface) capacity cm (mm) vegetation infiltration enhancement Iv leaf area index of vegetated fraction L canopy height of vegetated fraction h (m) vegetation fraction
1 tropical forest 1.43E+00 1.21E-01 2.30E-01 1.29E+02 1.14E+00 6.90E-01 5.73E+00 8.58E+00 2.94E+01 9.50E-01
2 warm-temperate forest 9.75E-01 1.31E-01 3.00E-01 9.13E+01 9.00E-01 8.60E-01 5.50E+00 5.32E+00 1.61E+01 9.50E-01
3 savanna and dry woodland 8.39E-01 1.53E-01 4.70E-01 9.12E+01 5.45E-01 6.36E-01 3.51E+00 4.45E+00 9.52E+00 9.00E-01
4 grassland and dry shrubland 6.35E-01 1.83E-01 6.19E-01 7.89E+01 1.50E-01 6.98E-01 2.02E+00 3.24E+00 1.80E+00 8.70E-01
5 desert 1.60E-01 2.50E-01 7.73E-01 9.80E+01 3.13E-02 5.43E-01 7.25E-01 2.75E+00 1.33E+00 1.00E-01
6 temperate forest 1.01E+00 1.33E-01 3.18E-01 9.29E+01 8.84E-01 7.68E-01 5.43E+00 5.11E+00 1.52E+01 9.50E-01
7 boreal forest 7.70E-01 1.44E-01 3.55E-01 8.18E+01 7.52E-01 9.80E-01 4.80E+00 4.76E+00 1.33E+01 9.25E-01
8 tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
9 dry tundra 1.60E-01 1.50E-01 8.00E-01 7.60E+01 4.18E-03 5.80E-01 7.00E-01 1.00E+00 1.00E+00 4.00E-01
28 land ice 0.00E+00 7.50E-01 8.00E-01 0.00E+00 1.00E-04 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00 0.00E+00