Functionality

Main ORCHIDEE version

The ‘trunk’ version of ORCHIDEE:

• solves the water-energy-carbon budget at a half hour time step
• represents the ecosystem in terms of a range of Plant Functional Types
• represents vegetation with a big leaf approach
• uses precipitation, air temperature, wind, solar radiation, humidity and atmospheric CO₂ as forcing data
• computes its own phenology
• may be used either with prescribed forcing, or coupled to an earth system model

Thematic versions

The following branches have been carefully validated and tested:

• ORCHIDEE-multi-soil-hydro – a more detailed simulation soil hydrology over 11 layers
• ORCHIDEE-CN– this branch includes both Carbon and Nitrogen cycling
• ORCHIDEE-FM – includes a generic description of forest management
• ORCHIDEE-HIGHLATITUDE – this branch includes the 11-layer hydrology, wetland dynamics and permafrost dynamics
• ORCHIDEE-EXT – in this branch all parameters have been externalized, and so is the appropriate choice for sensitivity analysis
• ORCHIDEE-STICS – an evolution of the ORCHIDEE ecosystem model that is coupled to the STICS agronomy model, which describes crop phenology
• ORCHIDEE-PASIM – ORCHIDEE coupled to an implementation of the PASIM, which is a model of prairie management developed by the INRA institute
• ORCHIDEE-BVOC – a version that implements the emission and interactions of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds

At present, a core team of more than 25 people are working on extending the functionality of the trunk and developing new branches with additional features.