Integrated Ecological Modeling Using Pedostructure Concept. Presentation of both computer models, Kamel and KamelSoil.
Résumé
Modeling soil biogeochemical processes is in a deadlock due to two major limitations: 1. Since most of the biogeochemical processes occur in the soil-water film at surface of solids which compose the hierarchical and aggregated soil structure, coupling biogeochemical models with existing soil water representations is not possible at the process scale without a new paradigm that takes into consideration soil structure and its interaction with soil water. 2. Current pedological mapping and characterization methods do not provide the required soil information and data that are needed for scaling the processes from their scale within the soil to the landscape levels. Such information includes i) delineation of primary soil map units and ii) the functional characteristics which allow for modeling soil internal thermodynamic state that controls the bio and geochemical processes in soil. The new concept of pedostructure and its thermodynamic characterization had lead to a new paradigm for soil water modeling and characterization. This new paradigm provides systematic methodologies for addressing the two challenges introduced above. The physically based soil structure water computer model, Kamel, was built using this paradigm then offers the possibility of 1) coupling disciplinary models (e.g. the organic matter transformation, transport and mineralization) with the soil structure hydro-functioning, at the scale of processes in soil, and 2) integrating results from the local scale in the soil medium to the field scale. In this communication, we present the model Kamel which is available though a dedicated website, along with KamelSoil, a translator of the easily available soil information into pedostructure parameters for Kamel.