Pochva: a new hydro-thermal process model in soil, snow, and vegetation for application in atmosphere numerical models

This work presents the land model Pochva. Pochva is a model of hydro-thermal processes at the Earth’s surface and in the underlying medium. The model simulates the main hydro-thermal parameters of the surface, soil layer, vegetation, and snow cover. The soil process scheme accounts for diversity in the vertical profile of the soil physical parameters. The snow cover is processed in a multilayer scheme and its numerical algorithm allows solutions for both extremely thin and extremely thick layer cases. The model is characterized by a particular accuracy in simulating the water phase transitions in soil and snow and by the autonomy in the determination of the lower boundary condition in the soil column. The model can be used as a stand-alone land surface model driven by observed or analytical forcing data or coupled to an atmospheric model, which is either global or limited-area, in either the forecast regime or climatic regime. The results of coupling Pochva to the numerical weather prediction limited-area model Bolam are presented.