title: An Overview of the Use of the SimSphere Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) Model for the Study of Land-Atmosphere Interactions.
abstract: Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) models consist of deterministic mathematical representations of the physical processes involved between the land surface and the atmosphere and of their interactions, at time-steps acceptable for the study of land surface processes. The present article provides a comprehensive and systematic review of one such SVAT model suitable for use in mesoscale or boundary layer studies, originally developed by [1]. This model, which has evolved significantly both architecturally and functionally since its foundation, has been widely applied in over thirty interdisciplinary science investigations, and it is currently used as a learning resource for students in a number of educational institutes globally. The present review is also regarded as very timely, since a variation of a method using this specific SVAT model along with satellite observations is currently being considered in a scheme being developed for the operational retrieval of soil surface moisture by the US National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), in a series of satellites that are due to be launched from 2016 onwards.
authors.affiliation: University of Bristol, Department of Earth Sciences, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, BS8 1RJ, Bristol, UK.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petropoulos
authors.forename: Toby N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wooster