Validation of the next generation of land-surface models: validation strategy for JULES.

There are several ways to validate the next generation of land-surface models, which reflect the many requirements that environmental modellers have of land surface models: from predicting the hour-by-hour changes in the surface temperature, to the multi-decadal evolution of vegetation cover. It is imperative that observations are used to constrain each of the functional uses of these models. A strategy is required to link up the use of atmospheric carbon dioxide observations, Earth Observation data as well as the expanded suite of flux tower data now available. This will ensure that climate prediction models include the best representation of land surface. This presentation outlines such a strategy.