Region: North of Africa
Name of the data files : surface_N_Africa_1_4x1_4deg_V01.dat
solspe_N_Africa_1_4x1_4deg_V01.dat
Spatial resolution : 1/4°x1/4°
Domain : 16°N-38°N; 19°W-40°E
Reference : Laurent et al. 2008
PI of the data set : Benoit Laurent (benoit.laurent@lisa.u-pec.fr)
Béatrice Marticorena (marticorena@lisa.u-pec.fr)
Description of the files
The «surface_xx.dat» file includes one or two types of surface features (SF) in each grid cell. The parameters are:
X: latitude
Y: longitude
(X,Y; referred by the centre of the box)
soil(1): soil label for SF 1
p(1): fraction of the cell for SF 1
z0s(1): smooth roughness length for SF 1
Z01(1): total roughness length for SF 1
Z02(1): second roughness length for SF 1 (here equal to Z01)
W0(1): residual soil moisture for SF 1
E(1): erodible fraction of the surface for SF 1
soil(2): soil label for SF 2
p2(2): fraction of the cell for SF 2
z0s(2): smooth roughness length for SF 2
Z01(2): total roughness length for SF 2
Z02(2): second roughness length for SF 2 (here equal to Z01)
W0(2): residual soil moisture for SF 2
E(2): erodible fraction of the surface for SF 2
The «solspe_xx.dat» file contains the parameters of the soil size distribution of the different soils and the ratio of vertical to horizontal flux.
As described in Laurent et al. (2008), the total roughness length is derived from POLDER-1 (« Polarization and Directionality of the Earth′s Reflectances») Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Functions. The erodible fraction is estimated from the roughness length based on the empirical relationship established between these two parameters mapped over the Sahara with the geomorphologic approach (Laurent et al., 2006; 2008). Soil types are derived from the 1°x1° map established by Marticorena et al. (1997) as described in Callot et al. (2000). The different soil units identified in the initial data set have been localized in the relevant 1/4°x1/4° grid mesh. All details can be found in Laurent et al. (2008).