Credit: Longhuan WANG Human activities, such as urban planning, irrigation and agricultural fertilization, can affect terrestrial carbon, nitrogen and water cycle processes and aquatic ecosystems. Some human activities lead to water stress, ecological environment damage, including groundwater lateral flow, and the movement of frost and thaw fronts. These changes in turn alter energy balance and water budget, and affect weather, climate and environment. "We need a new land surface model to describe these processes," said Prof. XIE Zhenghui from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, "a comprehensive land surface model can not only provide a platform for water-energy simulations, but also contribute to water resources management, environment protection and sustainable development."