Digital twin approach for the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: think big, model small

Abstract

KEYWORDS Digital twin Earth, soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, soil-plant hydraulics, leaf water potential, cellular scale, turbulence length scale A Viewpoint on the Frontiers in Science Lead Article A Digital Twin of the terrestrial water cycle: a glimpse into the future through high-resolution Earth observations Key points • State-of-the-art digital replicas of the Earth system, such as the Digital Twin Earth (DTE) for hydrology, simulate Earth processes to accurately monitor and predict various phenomena, such as extreme climate occurrences. • The soil-plant-atmosphere interaction influences the fluxes of heat, water and carbon and understanding these processes allows for a more accurate prediction of ecosystem response to climate and environmental pressures. • Developing a digital twin of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum (SPAC) augmented with Earth Observation (SPACEO) will allow seamless integration of functional (cellular functioning at timescales of seconds) and spatiotemporal processes into regional weather and climate modeling systems, enhancing the accuracy of climate predictions and resource management.