Improvement of subsurface process in land surface modeling including lateral flow under unsaturated zone

Lateral subsurface flow is an important component in local water budgets through its direct impact on soil moisture. However, most of the land surface models are one-dimensional considering only vertical interactions and neglecting the horizontal flow of water at the grid or sub-grid scales. Subsurface flow can be affected by surface topography and non-homogenous soil properties controlling the lateral flow of water. In this study, we improved the subsurface flow process in land surface model (Community Land Model, CLM) by considering the lateral flow based on topography and heterogeneous soil hydraulic properties in unsaturated zone. The changes in flow direction derived from topographic factor are used to consider the lateral movement of water at the near surface. Furthermore, vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivities for each layer in unsaturated zone are estimated using different averaging methods and anisotropic factors. Based on the hydraulic conductivities of each layer for heterogeneous soil profiles we considered lateral flow of soil water between soil columns. These approaches were tested at several different sites (e.g. field and watershed scales). The results showed the appropriate vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivities with depth for each site and the improved subsurface flow process by considering the lateral flow in land surface models.