Biome-BGC is a computer program that estimates fluxes and storage of energy , water , carbon , and nitrogen for the vegetation and soil components of terrestrial ecosystems. We call it a process model because its algorithms represent physical and biological processes that control fluxes of energy and mass. The model uses a daily time-step . This means that each flux is estimated for a one-day period. Between days, the program updates its memory of the mass stored in different components of the vegetation, litter, and soil.
Weather is the most important control on vegetation processes.
Flux estimates in Biome-BGC depend strongly on daily weather conditions. Model behavior over time depends on the history of these weather conditions, the climate .