PNNL

Abstract

Ecosystem models are important tools for diagnosing the carbon cycle and projecting its behavior across space and time. Most assessments of model performance occur at individual temporal scales, but ecosystems respond to drivers at multiple time scales. Spectral methods, such as wavelet analyses, present an alternative approach that enables the identification of the dominant time scales contributing to model performance in the frequency domain. In this study we used wavelet analyses to synthesize the performance of twenty-one ecosystem models at nine eddy-covariance towers as part of the North American Carbon Program's site-level inter-comparison. This study expands upon previous single-site and single-model analyses to determine what patterns of model failure are consistent across a diverse range of models and sites.