Improving the Parameterization of Hydrological Processes in Land Surface Models: Possibilities and Constraints. 1. Water Transfer through the Vadose Zone

As reviews have demonstrated, current land surface models (LSMs) reproduce hydrological characteristics at the regional scale (including river runoff, an integral indicator of terrestrial water regimes) with significant errors when compared to hydrological models. This article reveals a series of publications presenting opinions on the possibilities of improving LSMs based on advances in hydrological modeling. It examines promising areas for the developing models of vertical water transfer in the unsaturated zone of unfrozen and frozen soils, including the use of different forms of basic equations, methods for specifying boundary conditions, parameter assignments, etc.