The MOSAIC-BIOGEO team: Modelling of Continental Surfaces and Interfaces

Scientific objectives of the team:

The MOSAIC team brings together scientists and engineers working on terrestrial biosphere modelling and the study of land-atmosphere exchanges. The team gathers two sub-groups: MOSAIC and BIOGEO. We aim to improve our understanding of the impact of global changes on biogeochemical cycles, using an integrated soil-plant-atmosphere modelling approach. The principal (but not the only) model we use is the IPSL Terrestrial Biosphere Model, ORCHIDEE. Specifically, the team objectives are:

• to understand the key processes (photosynthesis, respiration, evapotranspiration etc.) that control the mass balances of constituents such as water, carbon and nutrients (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus), the energy budget of terrestrial ecosystems and their spatio-temporal variations.
• to simulate these processes through models in order to better understand the impact of global changes (climate change, increase in greenhouse gases, changes in anthopogenic forcing) on the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and their associated feedbacks.
• to develop and make best use of satellite land surface data products (land cover, vegetation phenology, land surface temperature, soil moisture, etc.) in order to better characterise the terrestrial biosphere.
• to develop data assimilation methods, in particular a data assimilation system for the optimisation of the ORCHIDEE model parameters, in conjunction with members of the INVSAT team at LSCE.  
• to coordinate  the ORCHIDEE model developments, in collaboration with the entire ORCHIDEE project team, which includes several IPSL laboratories and various other groups across the LSCE.

Personnel:

9 permanent and approximately 30 non-permanent researchers  (PhD students, Post-Docs and engineers).

Team leaders: Catherine Ottlé and Fabienne Maignan