Comparison of soil hydraulic parameterizations for mesoscale meteorological models

Soil water contents, calculated with seven soil hydraulic parameterizations, that is, soil hydraulic functions together with the corresponding parameter sets, are compared with observational data. The parameterizations include the Campbell/Clapp-Hornberger parameterization that is often used by meteorologists and the van Genuchten/Rawls-Brakensiek parameterization that is widespread among hydrologists. The observations include soil water contents at several soil depths and atmospheric surface data; they were obtained within the Regio Klima Projekt (REKLIP) at three sites in the Rhine Valley in southern Germany and cover up to 3 yr with 10-min temporal resolution. Simulations of 48-h episodes, as well as series of daily simulations initialized anew every 24 h and covering several years, were performed with the "VEG3D" soil-vegetation model in stand-alone mode; furthermore, 48-h episodes were simulated with the model coupled to a one-dimensional atmospheric model. For the cases and soil types considered in this paper, the van Genuchten/Rawls-Brakensiek model gives the best agreement between observed and simulated soil water contents on average. Especially during episodes with medium and high soil water content, the van Genuchten/Rawls-Brakensiek model performs better than the Campbell/Clapp-Hornberger model.