Recent Developments to the SimSphere Land Surface Modelling Tool for the Study of Land–Atmosphere Interactions

Abstract

Soil–Vegetation–Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) models are a promising avenue towards gaining a better insight into land surface interactions and Earth’s system dynamics. One such model developed for the academic and research community is the SimSphere SVAT model, a popular software toolkit employed for simulating interactions among the layers of vegetation, soil, and atmosphere on the land surface. The aim of the present review is two-fold: (1) to deliver a critical assessment of the model’s usage by the scientific and wider community over the last 15 years, and (2) to provide information on current software developments implemented in the model. From the review conducted herein, it is clearly evident that from the models’ inception to current day, SimSphere has received notable interest worldwide, and the dissemination of the model has continuously grown over the years. SimSphere has been used so far in several applications to study land surface interactions. The validation of the model performed worldwide has shown that it is able to produce realistic estimates of land surface parameters that have been validated, whereas detailed sensitivity analysis experiments conducted with the model have further confirmed its structure and architectural coherence. Furthermore, the recent inclusion of novel functionalities in the model, as outlined in the present review, has clearly resulted in improving its capabilities and in opening up new opportunities for its use by the wider community. SimSphere developments are also ongoing in different aspects, and its use as a toolkit towards advancing our understanding of land surface interactions from both educational and research points of view is anticipated to grow in the coming years.