Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.5194/gmd-15-859-2022
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) MPR 1.0: A stand-alone multiscale parameter regionalization tool for improved parameter estimation of land surface models
Author Schweppe, R.; Thober, S.; Müller, S. ORCID logo ; Kelbling, M.; Kumar, R. ORCID logo ; Attinger, S.; Samaniego, L. ORCID logo
Source Titel Geoscientific Model Development
Year 2022
Department CHS
Volume 15
Issue 2
Page From 859
Page To 882
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Data and Software links https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105992
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169748
https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6
Supplements https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-103-supplement
Abstract Distributed environmental models such as land surface models (LSM) require model parameters in each spatial modelling unit (e.g. grid cell), thereby leading to a high-dimensional parameter space. One approach to decrease the dimen- sionality of parameter space in these models is to use regularization techniques. One such highly efficient technique is the Multiscale Parameter Regionalization (MPR) framework that translates high-resolution predictor variables (e.g., soil textural properties) into model parameters (e.g., porosity) via transfer functions (TFs) and upscaling operators that are suitable for every modeled process. This framework yields seamless model parameters at multiple scales and locations in an effective manner. However, integration of MPR into existing modeling workflows has been hindered thus far by hard-coded configurations and non-modular software designs. For these reasons, we redesigned MPR as a model-agnostic, stand-alone tool. It is a useful software for creating graphs of netCDF variables, wherein each node is a variable and the links consist of TFs and/or upscaling operators. In this study, we present and verify our tool against a previous version, which was implemented in the mesoscale hydrologic model mHM (https://www.ufz.de/mhm). By using this tool for the generation of continental-scale soil hydraulic param- eters applicable to different models (Noah-MP and HTESSEL), we showcase its general functionality and flexibility. Further, using model parameters estimated by the MPR tool leads to significant changes in long-term estimates of evapotranspiration, as compared to their default parameterizations. For example, a change of up to 25 % in long-term evapotranspiration flux is observed in Noah-MP and HTESSEL in the Mississippi River basin. We postulate that use of the stand-alone MPR tool will considerably increase the transparency and reproducibility of the parameter estimation process in distributed (environmental) models. It will also allow a rigorous uncertainty estimation related to the errors of the predictors (e.g., soil texture fields), transfer function and its parameters, and remapping (or upscaling) algorithms.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=25436
Schweppe, R., Thober, S., Müller, S., Kelbling, M., Kumar, R., Attinger, S., Samaniego, L. (2022):
MPR 1.0: A stand-alone multiscale parameter regionalization tool for improved parameter estimation of land surface models
Geosci. Model Dev. 15 (2), 859 - 882 10.5194/gmd-15-859-2022