On the Proper Use of Satellite-Derived Leaf Area Index in Climate Modeling

Abstract

Satellite-observed leaf area index (LAI) is increasingly being used in climate modeling. In common land surface models, LAI is specified for the vegetated part only. In contrast, satellite LAI is defined for the total area including both vegetated and nonvegetated fractions. Some recent modeling studies and model developments have not noticed this difference, which resulted in improper use of satellite LAI. This paper clarified this issue. A sensitivity test was carried out using a regional model to investigate the impacts of LAI definitions on simulated climates. This study showed that use of satellite LAI without considering the inconsistency in definition caused much smaller LAI values in the model. As a result, partitioning of surface energy into latent and sensible heat fluxes, as well as the model-simulated precipitation, was affected substantially. Overall, improper use of satellite LAI increased the model biases in simulated precipitation.