A soil-vegetation-atmosphere-transfer scheme, which solves the coupled system of the Surface Energy and Water Balance (SEWAB) equations considering partly vegetated surfaces, is presented. In terms of complexity, SEWAB is similar to many other land±surface schemes with respect to the calculation of the turbulent ¯uxes of sensible and latent heat the latter being based on the one-layer concept for vegetation. Emphasis is put on the description of the soil processes as the link between the atmospheric and hydrologic system. The diusion equations for heat and moisture are solved semi-implicitly on a multi-layer grid. Surface runo and base¯ow may be calculated as saturation excess runo as usually done in land±surface schemes for atmospheric models. In addition to this, the variable in®ltration capacity (VIC) approach is included alternatively which takes into account the in¯uence of topographic heterogeneities inside a grid cell on surface runo prediction. Subsurface runo may also be described by the ARNO conceptualization allowing a gradual increase with soil moisture content. The saturation hydraulic conductivity is a function of depth. SEWAB has been validated with ®eld data from the FIFE experiment and has participated in the PILPS project for intercomparison of land±surface parameterization schemes. SEWAB partitions reasonably well the incoming solar radiation and the precipitation into sensible and latent heat ¯uxes as well as into runo and soil moisture storage. The inclusion of a variable in®ltration capacity description slightly improves the surface runo estimation and the timing of the total runo. Changes in the parameterization of the subsurface runo production and the drainage show only minor eects.