TY - JOUR
T1 - Stochastic coupling of rainfall and biomass dynamics
AU - Nordbotten, Jan M.
AU - Rodriguez-Iturbe, Ignacio
AU - Celia, Michael Anthony
PY - 2007/1
Y1 - 2007/1
N2 - A modeling scheme is presented to derive the probabilistic structure of plant biomass when subjected to stochastic precipitation conditions. Using the fact that soil moisture varies on a much shorter scale than plant biomass, analytical expressions are derived for the steady state probability distribution of the average plant biomass over a period T, which is expected to be of the order of 2 or 3 months. Analytical expressions are also given for the time-dependent mean and variance of the biomass over a period T. The analysis is based on a simple model linking the daily dynamics of plant growth and soil moisture. The derived analytical expressions reproduce the results obtained from a full simulation of the underlying model very well. The results allow the study of the impact of different climatic scenarios regarding changes in frequency and intensity of rainfall, as well as changes in the mean seasonal temperature, on the expected value and variance of plant biomass throughout time.
AB - A modeling scheme is presented to derive the probabilistic structure of plant biomass when subjected to stochastic precipitation conditions. Using the fact that soil moisture varies on a much shorter scale than plant biomass, analytical expressions are derived for the steady state probability distribution of the average plant biomass over a period T, which is expected to be of the order of 2 or 3 months. Analytical expressions are also given for the time-dependent mean and variance of the biomass over a period T. The analysis is based on a simple model linking the daily dynamics of plant growth and soil moisture. The derived analytical expressions reproduce the results obtained from a full simulation of the underlying model very well. The results allow the study of the impact of different climatic scenarios regarding changes in frequency and intensity of rainfall, as well as changes in the mean seasonal temperature, on the expected value and variance of plant biomass throughout time.
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U2 - 10.1029/2006WR005068
DO - 10.1029/2006WR005068
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33847659130
SN - 0043-1397
VL - 43
JO - Water Resources Research
JF - Water Resources Research
IS - 1
M1 - W01408
ER -