Talk by Aniket Gupta: Understanding the Role and Representation of Critical-Zone Processes in Hydrological and Land Surface Models

Available in person in Harshbarger 110 or via zoom (see email link)

Abstract

Earth System Models (ESMs) serve as the foundation for understanding climate change, weather patterns, hydrology, and ecological processes at global and regional scales, aiding in risk management and sustainable development. However, their coarse grid resolution may underestimate the influence of critical-zone processes, which encompass fine-scale physical interactions from the top of the canopy to the deep subsurface. Critical-zone hydrological processes are intricate and occur at very fine temporal and spatial scales. A broader impact of such processes can only be represented by integrating the surface and subsurface hydrology using fine scale domain discretization and descriptive process representation. At high-resolution modeling scales, these processes are significantly impacted by heterogeneous subsurface geology, topographically controlled radiation, wind-driven snow redistribution along slopes, and canopy interception and shading. These factors, in turn, influence soil moisture, streamflow generation, evapotranspiration, snow accumulation and melt, and the surface energy balance in both bare ground and forested areas. As critical-zone processes strongly regulate the local hydrological cycle and water balance, it is crucial to carefully upscale them from high-resolution to coarse-resolution grids while preserving the effects of surface and subsurface heterogeneity on water and energy budgets. Neglecting these processes in ESMs can lead to significant misinterpretations of present and future water, energy, and carbon dynamics.

Bio

Dr. Aniket Gupta holds a doctorate from Université Grenoble Alpes, France, and currently serves as a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Arizona, USA. Dr. Gupta’s expertise lies in critical-zone hydrology, snow hydrology, land surface processes, and catchment hydrological modeling. He utilized advanced tools like ParFlow-CLM for critical-zone studies, EcoSLIM for source mixing and residence time estimation in the mountainous catchment, and the Noah-MP land surface model to improve physical hydrology in the Southwest US. His work also involves improving hydrological processes at the catchment scale by refining source codes, and integrating advanced processes and tools. His goal is to upscale the critical-zone processes for their better representation in large-scale hydrological and land surface models.