1. Playa Sagebrush Desert KSLC Granite Peak Great Salt Lake Desert Utah Nevada DPG Fig. 1. Google Earth image of northwest Utah with relevant landmarks. The perimeter of DPG is outlined. [©2013 Google; imagery ©2013 TerraMetrics.]

2. Fig. 2. Domains used for 4DWX-DPG (30, 10, 3.3, 1.1 km) and the WRF-ARW case studies (12, 4, 1.3 km). 30-second elevation (m) shaded.

3. Fig. 3. Google Earth image of the innermost 1.3 km WRF-ARW domain with Mesowest (categorized by soil texture class), SCAN, and EFS-sage stations annotated. [©2013 Google; imagery ©2013 TerraMetrics.] Goshute Nephi Morgan Dugway Grantsville

4. 09222011 GFS Fig. 4. GFS, NAM, and SCAN derived 5-cm volumetric soil moisture content for the 3 case studies. Grids are interpolated during WRF preprocessing.

5. Fig. 5. Google Earth image of DPG and surrounding area with Mesowest stations used for verification of DPG-PLAYA (blue) and DPG-SL (red). Hollow circles represent stations on the playa margin not considered for the validation. [©2013 Google; imagery ©2013 TerraMetrics.]

6. Fig. 6. Average DPG-PLAYA (blue) and DPG-SL (red) 4DWX-DPG NST BEs at 1200 and 0000 UTC, and the observed KSLC 500-hPa wind speed. The 3 case studies are highlighted for reference.

7. Fig. 7. Observed and 4DWX-DPG DTRs over the DPG-SL and DPG-PLAYA. The 3 case studies are highlighted for reference.

8. Fig. 8. Calculated J75 (  J75, solid) and MP81 (  MP81, dashed) thermal conductivity as a function of volumetric soil moisture for silt loam, playa, sandy loam, loam, and silty clay soil textures.

9. Fig. 9. Time series of 0000 and 1200 UTC 5-cm volumetric soil moisture with accumulated 24-h precipitation at the Dugway SCAN station. The 3 case studies are highlighted for reference.

10. Fig. 10. Average observed and simulated DTRs for DPG-SL, observed and simulated difference between the average DPG-PLAYA temperature and average DPG-SL temperature at 1200 UTC, and the average DPG-SL BE at 1200 UTC for each case study.

11. Fig. 11. Average BE over each soil texture class for 2011-DRY from 1800 UTC 22 September – 0000 UTC 24 September 2011 for (a) J75-GFS, (b) J75-NAM, (c) J75-SCAN, (d) MP81-GFS, (e) MP81-NAM, (f) MP81-SCAN, (g) hybrid-GFS, (h) hybrid-NAM, and (i) hybrid-SCAN. Yellow and grey shading represent daylight and nighttime hours, respectively. a) b) c) d)e)f) g)h)i)

12. Fig. 12. Time series of average observed and simulated DPG-SL NST from 1800 UTC 22 September – 0000 UTC 24 September 2011. Yellow and grey shading represent daylight and nighttime hours, respectively.

13. Fig. 13. Same as Fig. 11 except for 2011-WET (1800 UTC 11 October – 0000 UTC 13 October 2011). a)b)c) d)e)f) g)h)i)

14. a)b)c) d)e)f) g)h)i) Fig. 14. Same as Fig. 11 except for MATERHORN-IOP5 (1800 UTC 9 October – 0000 UTC 11 October 2012).

15. Fig. 15. Observed and simulated ground heat flux at EFS-sage from 1800 UTC 9 October – 0000 UTC 11 October 2012. Yellow and grey shading represent daylight and nighttime hours, respectively.

16. Fig. 16. Time series of 0000 and 1200 UTC observed 5-cm soil thermal conductivity at EFS-sage (solid black) and calculated  J75 (solid following color legend) and  MP81 (dashed following color legends) using interpolated or SCAN observed 5-cm soil moisture. Accumulated 24-h precipitation at the Dugway SCAN station is also shown.