The European TERRABITES network on the Terrestrial Biosphere in the Earth System (www.terrabites.net) invites for its 1st Training School on Land Biosphere Modeling.

Only for part of the processes represented in land biosphere models a kind of standard modeling approach has been developed since the first Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) have been setup during the 1970s. E.g. soil hydrology or canopy radiation models are physically well- founded and well-documented. This is not the case for other aspects. There is e.g. no consensus on how leaf phenology, competetion between different vegetation types, or fire processes should be modeled. Many implementations of such processes into models are extremely model-specific and often not well-documented. For this reason, the Training Schools attempts to introduce into the overall concepts and components of several different global vegetation models (CLM, LPJ, JSBACH, JULES, ORCHDEE) in parallel. The presentation of the models will proceed process-wise, so that similarities and dissimilarities of the different approaches and model formulations get apparent and can be discussed. Accordingly, the Training School not only addresses junior scientists in the field, but also experienced senior scientists interested in a comparative view on land biosphere modeling.

The Training School is organized by experienced experts in the field, well-acquainted with model and code details:

Rosie Fisher (CLM), Terrestrial Sciences Section, NCAR, Boulder, USA
Christian Reick (JSBACH), MPI for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
Stephen Sitch (LPJ, JULES), University Exeter, UK
Sönke Zaehle (JSBACH, ORCHIDEE), MPI for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

The organizers/lecturers of the Training School have so far no experience with this concept of comparative presentations that involves joint presentation from different experts. Accordingly, this Training School is quite experimental. Nevertheless, in view of today's diversity of modeling approaches it seems that this experiment is an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the major solved and open problems in modeling land processes In addition, it is hoped that the experimental character invites for lively discussions and stimulates communication between different modelers that lasts beyond the end of the course.

Course details:

Number of participants: 30

Begin:
Wed 8 Feb 2012, 15:00, immediately after the end of the 2nd TERRABITES Symposium (see www.terrabites-2ndsymp.org).

End:
Fri 10 Feb 2012, 18:00, or later if you like to participate in the informal closing dinner Friday evening.

Venue:
ESA-ESRIN, Meeting Room James Cook
Via Galileo Galilei
00044 Frascati (RM)
Italy

How to get there:
Please see www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESRIN_SITE/GGG8UIPZ0GC_0.html

Accomodation:
Information will be provided later.

Registration:

Please send your electronic application until 10 Dec 2011 to
Olga Petrikova, Olga.Petrikova@we dont want spamzmaw.de

The application should include
– half a page of explanation why participation in the Training School would be beneficial for you,
– a short CV clearly indicating your background and current position.

Applicants will be notified by e-mail about admission by end of December.

Travel support:

Travel support including hosting is available on request for approx. 15 participants. To apply for
travel support please add a rough calculation of support needed.

Please be aware that intercontinental flights usually cannot be reimbursed.