An Integrated Earth System Science Approach for Predicting Nutrient Transports from the Land to the Ocean

Zong-Liang Yang, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, liang@mail.utexas.edu
Cedric H. David, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, cedric.david@mail.utexas.edu (Presenter)
Zhongfeng Xu, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, xuzf.iap@gmail.com
Ahmad Tavakoly, Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin, tavakoly@utexas.edu
Xitian Cai, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, xtcai@utexas.edu
Lisa Helper, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, lisa.helper@gmail.com
David Maidment, Center for Research in Water Resources, University of Texas at Austin, maidment@mail.utexas.edu
James McClelland, Marine Science Institue, University of Texas at Austin, jimm@mail.utexas.edu
Paul Montagna, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, paul.montagna@tamucc.edu
Hongjie Xie, Department of Geological Sciences University of Texas at San Antonio, hongjie.xie@utsa.edu
Weimin Hao, U.S. Forest Service, whao@fs.fed.us

It is important to understand how upland landscapes and coastal waters – which are connected by watersheds – respond to changes in hydrological and biogeochemical cycles resulting from changes in climate, extreme weather events, and land use. A multi-scale and multi-disciplinary earth system modeling framework was developed under the prior NASA Interdisciplinary Research in Earth Science (IDS) project that includes: a regional climate model (WRF) nested within a global climate model (CCSM), an improved land surface (energy and water balance) model with multi-parameterization options (Noah-MP), a newly developed parallel computing river routing model (RAPID) using the mapped “blue-line” rivers from the NHDPlus dataset, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem models. This poster introduces latest developments under the newly approved NASA IDS project. We are developing an accurate dynamic downscaling method whose computing domain covers the contiguous United States. Our hydrological modeling framework has now been adapted from two river basins in Texas to the entire Texas Gulf Coast Hydrologic Region and exploratory work investigates the transition to the entire Mississippi River Basin. We are also currently extending the modeling framework to include a mesoscale meteorological model with online chemistry (WRF-CHEM) to address the biosphere-atmosphere exchanges of momentum, energy, water, and other materials, taking full advantage of satellite datasets such as the land use and land cover change, the burned area, surface albedo, trace gases and aerosols. WRF-CHEM can also compute dry and wet deposition of nitrogen (N) species and other pollutants, providing important input to watershed N budgets, riverine N exports, and the N balance in the coastal waters. Finally, we have designed a community-based sampling program recruiting/training volunteers living near downstream locations; primarily focusing on storm-flow conditions, but also collecting quarterly samples during baseflow to compare with Texas Commission for Environmental Quality or US Geological Survey data.

Presentation: 2011_Poster_Yang_13_251.pdf (5402k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Coupled Processes at Land-Atmosphere-Ocean Interfaces   (Mon 4:00 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Yang, Zong-Liang: Using Satellite Data and Fully Coulpled Regional Hydrologic, Ecological and Atmospheric Models to Study Complex Coastal Evironmental Processes ...details

Poster Location ID: 13