[CF-metadata] Soil litter definitions

From: martin.juckes at stfc.ac.uk <martin.juckes>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 08:32:00 +0000

Dear All,

I've been checking through the definitions of some of the land variables used in CMIP5 and the CMIP6 request, and there may be some ambiguity in the concept of "litter".

Two terms (litter_carbon_flux, litter_carbon_content) have definitions which include the phrase '"Litter carbon" is dead inorganic material .....', which surely should be "dead organic", though "dead plant material", as used in the definitions of carbon_mass_flux_into_soil_from_vegetation_excluding_litter, carbon_mass_flux_into_soil_from_litter appears to be the more common and accurate definition.

There is a further problem in that the above terms are defined as if "litter" inlcuded all plant debris, but the definition of "wood_debris_carbon_content " asserts, to the contrary, that 'dead organic matter composed of coarse wood .. is distinct from litter'. Do we really want wood debris to be distinct from litter, rather than a component of litter?

regards,
Martin
Received on Fri May 20 2016 - 02:32:00 BST