Enhancing environmental models with a new downscaling method for global radiation in complex terrain

Druel, Arsène; Ruffault, Julien; Davi, Hendrik; Chanzy, André; Marloie, Olivier; De Cáceres, Miquel; Olioso, Albert; Mouillot, Florent; François, Christophe; Soudani, Kamel; Martin-StPaul, Nicolas K.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

Research article

|

03 Jan 2025

Research article |

| 03 Jan 2025

Enhancing environmental models with a new downscaling method for global radiation in complex terrain

Arsène Druel, Julien Ruffault, Hendrik Davi, André Chanzy, Olivier Marloie, Miquel De Cáceres, Albert Olioso, Florent Mouillot, Christophe François, Kamel Soudani, and Nicolas K. Martin-StPaul

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1-2025-supplement

Data sets

Monitoring photosynthetically active radiation on Mont Ventoux, 2016-2017 Arsène Druel et al. https://doi.org/10.57745/B22AUG

Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010) USGS EROS https://doi.org/10.5066/F7J38R2N

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission 1 Arc-Second Global USGS EROS https://doi.org/10.5066/F7PR7TFT

ERA5-Land hourly data from 1950 to present J. Muñoz-Sabater https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.e2161bac

Model code and software

ModelData_Toolkit: Multiple scripts to download, manipulate, and modify data used as input for environmental modeling Arsène Druel https://forgemia.inra.fr/urfm/modeldata_toolkit

SurEau-Ecos: a trait-based plant hydraulics model J. Ruffault et al. https://forgemia.inra.fr/urfm/sureau

Capsis platform F. De Coligny https://capsis.cirad.fr/

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Short summary

Accurate radiation data are essential for understanding ecosystem functions and dynamics. Traditional large-scale data lack the precision needed for complex terrain. This study introduces a new model, which accounts for sub-daily direct and diffuse radiation effects caused by terrain features, to enhance the radiation data resolution using elevation maps. Tested on a mountainous area, this method significantly improved radiation estimates, benefiting predictions of forest functions.