Based on the TL discussion here the agreed objectives for 2026:

  1. continue the implementation and evaluation of dynamic water bodies (inundation, evaporation, infiltration).
    1. Improved lake representation to allow shallow water bodies (inundated areas) in collaboration with Dmitrii Mironov
    2. Tested irrigation and inundation effects in coupled forecasts and analysis experiments.
    3. Continue testing frozen soil thermal and hydrological improvements following Bob Su visit.
  2. further expand the use of CaMa-Flood as diagnostic tool for ecLand improvements.
    1. Developed the ifs-riverbench: https://sites.ecmwf.int/pad/riverbench/discharge-dashboard/ (for assessing runoff fixes)
    2. Developed the ifs-floodbench: https://sites.ecmwf.int/pad/floodbench/ (for benchmarking major floods)
  3. contribute to the development and implementation of spatially optimised parameter and explore the use of AI emulators
    1. Setup PLUMBER2 site runs with ecLand 50r1 in ~1-hour https://sites.ecmwf.int/pad/plumber2/dashboards/ecland_cy50r1_climv21/all170/
    2. Expanded to 775 sites in FLUXNET-Shuttle https://sites.ecmwf.int/pad/fluxnet-shuttle/dashboards/shuttle-all775/
    3. Tested the LIAISE experiment as test-bed of calibration domain github.com/gpbalsamo/liaise-ecland
  4. further expand the use of satellite observations for calibration and validation of ecLand.
    1. Co-supervised the Code-for-Earth Atlantis project https://github.com/ECMWFCode4Earth/atlantis/
    2. Collaborated with Paul Dirmeyer for applying coupling strength diagnostics to 50r1
    3. Tested a prototype of data assimilation for CaMa-Flood flooded areas and river discharge.
  5. contribute to the preparation of the CAMS-RD proposal for enhanced land carbon/vegetation modelling.
    1. Prepared the EUFOR-G3W proposal together with the CAMS Team, entering into EUFOR-G3W Project phase
    2. Prepared FLUXNET-CH4 framework for future ITTs https://sites.ecmwf.int/pad/fluxnet-shuttle/dashboards/fluxnet-ch4/


2025:

  1. test water extent by CaMa-Flood interaction with subgrid Open-Water (Flake).
    1. I have successfully implemented and tested in the dynamical open water for the IFS and evaluated it on a number of flood cases in the period 2016-2026
    2. I have developed a new flooded area extent benchmarking using GFM and VIIRS data and this confirmed good performance in simulating large floods.
  2. experiment on the shallow-water vertical exchange with focus on water and energy (eg. wet soil after inundation or lake retract, re-evaporation)
    1. The lake model minimum depth has been tested reducing to 0.5m without numerical instabilities.
    2. I have developed the 2-way coupling for CaMa-Flood within the IFS allowing re-evaporation from inundated areas.
    3. An infiltration flux has been tested first in the context of irrigation as a step towards considering flooded water reinfiltration.
    4. I have implemented the irrigation process in offline, forecast, and analysis proving significant positive impact on weather forecast scores.
  3. investigate the runoff generation spottiness with link to daily report case studies.
    1. The runoff spots have been understood and link with deep soil layer freezing.
    2. A modified infiltration has been shown to mitigate the runoff issue with neutral impact on meteorology and it is already included in 49r3.
  4. collaborate with Jasper on the orographic runoff generation sensitivity 
    1. A revision of the orographic runoff based on conserving the surface runoff fraction across resolutions has been implemented with positive impact on DestinE river discharge simulations.
  5. collaborate with Souhail/Gabriele/Francesca on the 9-layer sensitivities to hydrological changes
    1. This development has been deprioritised in agreement with my line manager
  6. collaborate with Patricia on the investigation of Africa drought motivating the OPER vs ERA5 differences
    1. The difference in soil moisture has been understood and attributed to the change of vegetation cover since 49r1.
    2. Preliminary work towards infiltration capping has been performed to mitigate the risk of hydrophobic soils.
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