Microclimatological conditions at the Imingfjell mountain, Norway: comparison of model results with observed data

Abstract

Models are often used when data is insufficient. However, it is difficult to assess how well they perform, especially for mountainous areas. The Community Land Model 4.5 was selected for testing with the Imingfjell mountain in Norway as a research area. Weather parameters from two nearest meteorological stations and energy fluxes for lichens and shrubs on the Imingfjell were used for comparison with model input and output data, respectively. Calculated by the model temperature from the input was higher by 1-2 °C than from the stations meaning the model underestimates the Imingfjell elevation by 3 times, possibly due to its spatial resolution. As for output data comparison, mean values for modelled soil heat fluxes slightly differed from field data by only 1-3 W/m2. However, these similarities cannot be considered significant due to average correlation coefficients (0.63 for model/lichen and 0.51 – model/shrub).