Soil, Water and Ecosystem Sciences
On Campus Courses
Course Listings:
SWS 6813C: MODELING LAND BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
Instructor:
Stefan Gerber
Associate Professor, Landscape
Biogeochemistry
(352) 294-3174
sgerber@ufl.edu
About the Course
Dynamic land models are widely used as part of Earth system models and serve to represent the exchange of energy (heat radiation momentum), water, carbon, and nutrients between land and the atmosphere-ocean system. We will investigate how biological processes are formulated mathematically to capture the broad range of plant functioning on a regional-to-global scale. We will particularly address how such processes are represented and resolved in a model code. We will then make use of a land surface model to explore the effects of global environmental change on vegetation and land surface dynamics.
Credits: 3
Semesters Offered: Spring
Prerequisites: SWS 3022; a minimal proficiency of calculus (e.g. MAC 2233: Survey of Calculus 1; PHY 2048 Physics with Calculus 1, or similar), as well as some programming experience in a basic computer language, such as C or FORTRAN (e.g. COP3272: Programming using C), is advantageous but not a requirement.
Textbook: Reading assignments will be available on the course website in the form of scientific papers. Optional, further reading include the following titles: Bonan G, Ecological Climatology, 2002, Cambridge University Press; Climate Change 2013 - The Physical Science Basis Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC (available online www.ipcc.ch) • Jacobson M.C. et al., 2000, Earth System Science From Biogeochemical Cycles to Global Change.