CESM Models

CLM: Hydrologic Cycle

The hydrologic cycle over land in CLM includes representations of interception of precipitation by plant foliage and wood, throughfall and stemflow, transpiration, soil evaporation, canopy evaporation, infiltration, runoff, soil water, aquifer recharge, and snow. These are directly linked to the biogeophysics and also affect temperature, precipitation, and runoff. Total runoff (surface and sub-surface runoff) is routed downstream to oceans using a river transport model (RTM) that is synchronously coupled to CLM for hydrological applications as well as for improved land-ocean-sea ice-atmosphere coupling in the CESM.