Soil Moisture Characterization for Biogenic Emissions Modeling in Texas

Abstract:

The role of isoprene and other biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) in the formation of tropospheric ozone has been recognized as critical for air quality planning in Texas. In the southwestern United States, drought has become a recurring phenomenon and, in addition to other extreme weather events, can impose profound and complex effects on human populations and the environment. Understanding these effects on vegetation and biogenic emissions is important as Texas concurrently faces requirements to achieve and maintain attainment with the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone in several large metropolitan areas. This research evaluated the impact of soil moisture through the use of simulated and observational datasets on emissions estimates of isoprene. Soil moisture measurements (e.g., Climate Reference Network, Soil Climate Analysis Network) at limited locations in eastern Texas during 2006-2011 showed spatial and temporal variability associated with environmental drivers such as meteorology and physical soil characteristics; low volumetric soil moisture values (< 0.05 m3/m3) were observed during 2011, a year characterized by all-time record drought over the majority of Texas. Comparisons of soil moisture observations in the upper one meter to predictions from the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) indicated a tendency towards a dry bias for NLDAS especially at depths greater than 10 cm. The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) was used to explore the sensitivity of biogenic emissions estimates to alternative soil moisture representations for year 2011. A range of soil moisture inputs over eastern Texas informed by the observed to simulated comparisons demonstrated that the impact on predicted isoprene emissions was affected by both the soil moisture and specific wilting point datasets employed.