Integrating the Interconnections Between Groundwater and Land Surface Processes Through the Coupled NASA Land Information System and ParFlow Environment

Abstract Understanding the interactions between the atmosphere, the land, and the subsurface is fundamental to hydrology and is critical for a better assessment of the impacts of climate change and human management on hydrological systems. However, many land surface models simplify the subsurface hydrology and thereby these interactions. In this study, we couple the land surface model Noah‐MP included in the NASA Land Information System (LIS) with the integrated hydrologic model ParFlow (ParFlow‐LIS) using the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and the National United Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC). This coupling improves the simulation of water and energy cycle processes by adding the three‐dimensional variably saturated and heterogeneous flow in the subsurface using sophisticated and nonlinear physics‐based equations as well as the advances in satellite remote sensing‐based data assimilation of the land surface, thereby benefiting the integrated hydrologic modeling and data assimilation community. We use the High Plains aquifer, located in the central United States, as a testbed to evaluate the coupled ParFlow‐LIS system. The new ParFlow‐LIS system accounts for the effects of topographically driven flows on the land surface, producing more fine‐scale patterns of land surface states and fluxes than standalone LIS. In addition, ParFlow‐LIS enables the consideration of the effect of subsurface water storage on evapotranspiration. This is particularly important in areas and times with dry soils, such as during drought conditions or in the presence of a cone of depression due to pumping.