Summary:

Vegetation Structure

The vegetation structure in the model is defined by the leaf and stem area indices (L, S) as well as the canopy top and bottom heights (ztop, zbot) for each Plant Functional Type (PFT). These values are obtained from gridded datasets, with leaf and stem area indices coming from monthly values, and canopy heights for trees from satellite data. For short vegetation, the canopy heights are invariant and based on PFT-specific values.

When the biogeochemistry model is active, the vegetation state (LAI, SAI, canopy heights) is calculated prognostically, as described in Chapter 2.20 of the technical note.

The table in the article provides the prescribed canopy top and bottom heights for different PFTs, ranging from 0.5 m to 0.01 m for the bottom height.