Comparison of the Bowen ratio-energy balance and stability-corrected aerodynamic methods for measurement of evapotranspiration

Summary The Bowen ratio-energy balance (BREB) and the stability-corrected aerodynamic method were used to estimate turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent heat at an irrigated alfalfa site in a semi-arid valley in northern Utah, U.S.A., during August and September of 1991. Despite inclusion of a generalized stability factor, the aerodynamic method underestimated the daytime (sunrise-sunset) sensible and latent heat fluxes by approximately 30% in comparison with the BREB method. The sum of the aerodynamic estimates of sensible and latent heat seldom balanced the energy avaiable from net radiation and change in storage. Wind speed was low during the experiment (averaging 1.6 m s^–1), and so a second analysis was run for data from daytime, non-rainy, turbulent conditions (wind > 1.5 m s^–1). This showed that sensible and latent heat were still underestimated by approximately 30% in comparison with the BREB approach. This suggests that underestimation of sensible and latent heat fluxes by the aerodynamic method was not related to the wind speed conditions during the experiment. These results show that the stability-corrected aerodynamic model did not agree with the Bowen ratio method in this experiment. It appears unlikely that the discrepancies resulted from measurement errors. Perhaps the theoretical foundation of the similarity parameters (stability functions) in the aerodynamic model are not sufficiently generalized. The discrepancies found here confirm the necessity of calibration checks on the validity of aerodynamic estimates of the turbulent fluxes.With 7 Figures     

The role of wintertime radiation in maintaining and destroying stable layers

Summary Strong stable layers are a common occurrence during western Colorado's winter. Analysis of radiosonde observations indicate wintertime boundary layer heights are near 500 m. The terrain in this region consists of mountains that rise approximately 1500–2000 m above the ground to the east, providing an effective blocking barrier. An experiment is described to observe upwelling and downwelling, longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes at two sites in western Colorado during January and February 1992, for combinations of clear, cloudy, snow covered, and bare ground periods. Analysis of the observations and the surface energy budget for typical Bowen ratios provides a better understanding of the role of radiation in maintaining and destroying stable layers.During the day, the surface received a net gain of energy from radiation, while at night there was a net loss. Over snow, the 24-hour net radiative flux was small and either positive or negative. Over bare soil, the 24-hour net radiative flux was positive but still small. There is little difference in the net radiative flux between clear and cloudy days; the reduction of the incident solar flux by clouds is nearly compensated by the hindering of the longwave cooling. The cumulative effects of the 24-hour net radiative flux were negative over snow early in the experiment. The 24-hour values shifted to near zero as the snow albedo decreased and were positive for bare ground.If the daytime net radiative flux is partitioned into sensible and latent heat flux using typical Bowen ratios, the daytime sensible heat available for destroying boundary layers is small for the low solar angles of the winter season. With a Bowen ratio of 0.5, the daytime sensible heat flux available is only 0.3 to 1.2 MJ m^–2 over a snow surface and 1.4 to 2.3 MJ m^–2 over soil. These heat fluxes will not build a deep enough boundary layer to break a typical wintertime inversion. The 24-hour sensible heat flux was negative at both sites for the entire experiment with this Bowen ratio.The radiation observations and the use of typical Bowen ratios lead to the conclusion that the net radiation will sustain or strengthen a stable atmosphere in the winter season in western Colorado. Analysis of the radiosonde observations confirm this result as the boundary layer depths were less than 500 m early in the experiment and grew to only 700 m later in the experiment.With 12 Figures     

Temporal variations in heat fluxes over a central European city centre

Summary Energy fluxes have been measured over an area near the centre of the city of Łódź, Poland, since November 2000. The site was selected because the building style (surface cover and morphology) is typical of European cities, yet distinct from the majority of cities where energy balance observations have been studied thus far. The multi-year dataset permits consideration of temporal changes in energy balance partitioning over a wide range of seasonal and synoptic conditions and of the role of heat storage and anthropogenic fluxes in the energy balance. Partitioning of net radiation into the turbulent fluxes is consistent in the two years, with the largest differences occurring due to differing precipitation. The monthly ensemble diurnal cycles of the turbulent fluxes over the two years are similar. The largest differences occur during the July–September period, and are attributable to greater net radiation and lower rainfall in 2002. The latent heat flux accounts for approximately 40% of the turbulent heat transfer on an annual basis. The average daily daytime Bowen ratio and its variability are slightly reduced during the summer (growing) season. Anthropogenic heat is a significant input to the urban energy balance in the winter. The fluxes observed in this study are consistent with results from other urban sites.     

青藏高原湿地土壤冻结、融化期间的陆面过程特征

利用青藏高原中部玉树隆宝湿地2015年7月-2016年7月的观测资料,分析了土壤冻结、融化前后土壤温、湿度和地表能量收支特征,结果表明：冻土持续时期为12月至次年4月,深层土壤的冻结较浅层土壤滞后,融化过程快于冻结过程,5-40 cm土壤全部冻结历时51 d,全部融化历时19 d。土壤体积含水量年变化幅度达0.6 m³/m³。冻结过程5-40 cm土壤体积含水量下降,融化过程5-10 cm土壤体积含水量升高。土壤冻结之后,感热通量白天的值升高,潜热通量白天的值降低,净辐射和土壤热通量均降低,土壤热通量日变化幅度增大。土壤融化之后,潜热通量、净辐射和土壤热通量白天的值升高。地表反照率、鲍恩比、土壤热导率和土壤热扩散率冻结后增大融化后减小,土壤热容量冻结后减小融化后增大。     

Energy partitioning at treeline forest and tundra sites and its sensitivity to climate change

Abstract

Summertime energy budgets of contiguous wetland tundra and forest near Churchill, Manitoba along the coast of Hudson Bay were measured over a five year period, 1989–1993. An examination of differences in energy budgets between the two sites showed that net radiation was similar in all years. Soil heat flux was greater at the tundra site in most, but not all, years. However, sensible heat flux was always larger at the forest site and latent heat flux was always greater at the tundra site. Mean daily Bowen ratios at both sites were less than unity in all years. Average Bowen ratios for the five years were 0.45 for tundra and 0.66 for forest. Wind direction is used as an analogue for changing climatic conditions where onshore winds are cooler and moister than offshore winds. Sensible and latent heat fluxes at both sites varied significantly between onshore and offshore wind regimes. However, differences between onshore and offshore fluxes at the tundra site were larger than for the forest. Thus, Bowen ratios also varied more at the tundra site. We have plotted the ratio of tundra‐to‐forest Bowen ratios as a measure of the relative sensitivity of energy partitioning to climatic change. The ratio decreases with increasing vapour pressure deficit (and increasing air temperature). We interpret these results as suggesting that energy partitioning over the wetland tundra is more sensitive to changes in climate than the treeline forest environment. Thus, as the climate warms and becomes drier, more additional energy goes into evaporation of water from the wetland tundra than from the forest.     

Energy balance comparison of sorghum and sunflower

Summary An understanding of the energy exchange processes at the surface of the earth is necessary for studies of global climate change. If the climate becomes drier, as is predicted for northern mid-latitudes, it is important to know how major agricultural crops will play a role in the budget of heat and moisture. Thus, the energy balance components of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.] and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), two drought-resistant crops grown in the areas where summertime drying is forecasted, were compared. Soil water content and evapotranspiration (ET) rates also were determined. Net radiation was measured with net radiometers. Soil heat flux was analyzed with heat flux plates and thermocouples. The Bowen ratio method was used to determine sensible and latent heat fluxes. Sunflower had a higher evapotranspiration rate and depleted more water from the soil than sorghum. Soil heat flux into the soil during the daytime was greater for sorghum than sunflower, which was probably the result of the more erect leaves of sorghum. Nocturnal net radiation loss from the sorghum crop was greater than that from the sunflower crop, perhaps because more heat was stored in the soil under the sorghum crop. But daytime net radiation values were similar for the two crops. The data indicated that models of climate change must differentiate nighttime net radiation of agricultural crops. Sensible heat flux was not always less (or greater) for sorghum compared to sunflower. Sunflower had greater daytime values for latent heat flux, reflecting its greater depletion of water from the soil. Evapotranspiration rates determined by the energy balance method agreed relatively well with those found by the water balance method. For example, on 8 July (43 days after planting), the ET rates found by the energy-balance and water-balance methods were 4.6 vs. 5.5 mm/day for sunflower, respectively; for sorghum, these values were 4.0 vs. 3.5 mm/day, respectively. If the climate does become drier, the lower soil water use and lower latent heat flux of sorghum compared to sunflower suggest that sorghum will be better adapted to the climate change.Contribution from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. F. Rachidi is now with the Département d'Écologie Végétale et Pastoralisme, École Nationale d'Agriculture, Meknès, Morocco, and E. T. Kanemasu is now with the Department of Agronomy, University of Georgia, Griffin, Georgia, U.S.A.With 5 Figures     

Energy balance comparison of the Hartheim forest and an adjacent grassland site during the HartX experiment

Summary Energy balance components over a grassland surface were compared to those obtained above an adjacent, uniform Scots pine plantation during a five-day period of fine, sunny, spring weather. Soils were judged to contain ample water. Shortwave and total radiation flux densities were measured at both sites with pyranometers and total pyrradiometers. Soil heat flux densities were measured with heat flux plates at both sites, and additional storage changes were estimated for air and canopy at the forest site. The forest gained more shortwave energy than the grassland during daytime because of its lower albedo, but it lost more longwave radiation at night. The turbulent fluxes of sensible and latent energy were evaluated with the Bowen ratio energy balance (BREB) method at both sites. Temperature and humidity gradients were measured with fixed psychrometers at the grassland site, and with interchanging psychrometers at the forest site. Mean daily evapotranspiration (ET) averaged 2.26 mm over the five days for the Scots pine, or only 57 percent of the 3.94 mm measured at the grassland site. The mean Bowen ratios were 2.6 and 0.8, respectively.An error analysis was carried out for the BREB estimates of latent heat flux at the two sites. For a given error in latent heat flux and at a specified Bowen ratio the demands on accuracy of dry- and wet-bulb temperature gradients above the rough forest canopy was found to be 10 times higher than above the smoother grassland. If additionally the observed differences in transpiration rates between the two sites were taken into account, the precision for temperature gradient measurements above the slowly transpiring forest becomes fortyfold greater than required above the rapidly transpiring grass. At present, BREB precision requirements for gradients above rougher, drier canopies appear achievable only through use of specialized instrumentation, such as measurement systems that incorporate interchangeable psychrometers into their design.With 9 Figures     

The Summer Surface Energy Balance of the High Antarctic Plateau

The summertime surface energy balance (SEB) at Kohnen station, situated on the high Antarctic plateau (75°00′ S, 0°04′ E, 2892m above sea level) is presented for the period of 8 January to 9 February 2002. Shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes were measured directly; the former was corrected for problems associated with the cosine response of the instrument. Sensible and latent heat fluxes were calculated using the bulk method, and eddy-correlation measurements and the modified Bowen ratio method were used to verify these calculated fluxes. The calculated sub-surface heat flux was checked by comparing calculated to measured snow temperatures. Uncertainties in the measurements and energy-balance calculations are discussed. The general meteorological conditions were not extraordinary during the period of the experiment, with a mean 2-m air temperature of −27.5°C, specific humidity of 0.52×10⁻³kg kg⁻¹ and wind speed of 4.1ms⁻¹. The experiment covered the transition period from Antarctic summer (positive net radiation) to winter (negative net radiation), and as a result the period mean net radiation, sensible heat, latent heat and sub-surface heat fluxes were small with values of −1.1, 0.0, −1.0 and 0.7 Wm⁻², respectively. Daily mean net radiation peaked on cloudy days (16 Wm⁻²) and was negative on clear-sky days (minimum of −19 W m⁻²). Daily mean sensible heat flux ranged from −8 to +10 Wm⁻², latent heat flux from −4 to 0 Wm⁻² and sub-surface heat flux from −8 to +7 Wm⁻².     

Radiative surface temperature and energy balance of a wheat canopy

The sensible heat loss from a stand of winter wheat was calculated from radiometric measurements of crop surface temperature, measurements of air temperature, and an atmospheric resistance to momentum transfer; corresponding latent heat flux was obtained through the energy balance equation. These estimates of sensible and latent heat were compared with fluxes from the Bowen Ratio method. When radiative temperature was derived using a measured canopy emissivity of 0.98, calculations of sensible heat flux were systematically 50–100 W m^-2 less than Bowen Ratio values. The two techniques agreed more closely when an apparent emissivity of 0.96 was used with an apparent reflectivity of 0.03. The mean difference between the estimates of latent heat flux was then -16 ± 32 W m^-2.The surface temperature method showed less systematic error in comparison with the Bowen Ratio values than did estimates using the aerodynamic method.On leave from: University of Nottingham, School of Agriculture, Loughborough LE12 5RD.     

Suburban-rural energy balance comparisons in summer for Vancouver,B.C.

Simultaneous energy balance observations at a rural and a suburban site in Vancouver, B.C. during the summer of 1983 are presented. The study is a follow-up to that conducted in 1980. Many of the 1980 results were unexpected and the present study seeks to assess their representativeness. The net radiant, turbulent sensible, and rural soil heat flux densities were measured directly. The suburban heat storage was parameterized and the turbulent latent heat flux densities were resolved as residuals in the energy balances. The 1983 average diurnal energy partitioning for both sites was typical of those quoted in the literature, suggesting that the 1980 results represent an extreme case. Suburban-rural differences showed the suburban area to have a 4% increase in net radiation, a 51% increase in turbulent sensible heat, and a 46% decrease in turbulent latent heat flux density. The values of the average daytime Bowen ratio were 0.46 and 1.28 for the rural and suburban areas, respectively. The sensible heat flux density exhibited relatively large values in the late afternoon and remained directed upward on many summer evenings. Large day-to-day variability in the relative magnitude of the suburban turbulent fluxes may have been due to synoptic influences. In this environment, the turbulent surface and mixed layers are closely coupled because of the low aerodynamic resistance over the rough surface.     

Crop residue effects on surface radiation and energy balance — review

Summary Crop residues alter the surface properties of soils. Both shortwave albedo and longwave emissivity are affected. These are linked to an effect of residue on surface evaporation and water content. Water content influences soil physical properties and surface energy partitioning. In summary, crop residue acts to soil as clothing acts to skin. Compared to bare soil, crop residues can reduce extremes of heat and mass fluxes at the soil surface. Managing crop residues can result in more favorable agronomic soil conditions. This paper reviews research results of the quantity, quality, architecture, and surface distribution of crop residues on soil surface radiation and energy balances, soil water content, and soil temperature.With 6 Figures     

Surface energy balance measurements over a banana plantation in South China

The land surface energy exchange depends highly on the surface properties. Little is known of the energy balance over a typical banana plantation of humid tropics. In this study, we examine the characteristics of surface energy exchange over a typical banana field in South China during the period of May 2010 to April 2011 by using the eddy covariance and micrometeorological tower. The results showed that the diurnal and seasonal variations in surface latent heat flux were larger compared with those over the nearby grassland. The dominant energy partitioning varies with season. The latent heat flux was the main consumer of net radiation in summer, whereas the sensible heat flux was the main consumer in winter. The increasing cloud coverage and rain appear to control the surface energy balance with the development of the monsoon. Due to increased afternoon convective cloud systems in the monsoon active period, downward shortwave radiation was dramatically diminished around 14:00?pm. The annual mean Bowen ratio was 0.69, which fell within the range of other vegetated surfaces. The observed surface energy components were not closed, and the ratio of turbulent fluxes to the available energy was about 77 % in October–January and about 85 % in the other months after considering soil heat and air heat storage.     

The impact of soil moisture availability upon the partition of net radiation into sensible and latent heat fluxes

The impact of soil moisture availability on the Bowen ratio and on the partition of net radiation flux into sensible, latent and soil heat fluxes was investigated by using one-dimensional primitive equations with a refined soil parameterization scheme. Simulation results presented that as soil moisture availability increases, the Bowen ratio and the partition of net radiation flux into sensible and soil heat fluxes decrease. The partition of net radiation flux in-to latent heat flux, however, increases. Quantitative relationships between Bowen ratio and the partitions with soil moisture availability were also given in this study.     

Energy Fluxes of an Open Water Area in a mid-Latitude Prairie Wetland

Concurrent measurements of the surface energy balance components (net radiation, heat storage, and sensible and latent heat fluxes) were made in three communities (open water, Phragmites australis, Scirpus acutus) in a wetland in north-central Nebraska, U.S.A., during May-October, 1994. The Bowen ratio – energy balance method was used to calculate latent and sensible heat fluxes. This paper presents results from the open water area. The heat stored in water (G) was found to play a major role in the energy exchange over the water surface. During daytime, G consumed 45–60% of R _n , the net radiation (seasonally averaged daytime G was about 127 W m^–2). At night, G was a significant source of energy (seasonally averaged nighttime G was about -135 Wm^–). The diurnal pattern of latent heat flux ( E) did not follow that of R _n . On some days, E was near zero during midday periods with large R _n . The diurnal variability in E seemed to be significantly affected by temperature inversions formed over the cool water surface. The daily evaporation rate (E) ranged from 2 to 8 mm during the measurement period, and was generally between 70 and 135% of the equilibrium rate.     

Evapotranspiration measurement for tall plant canopies: The sweet sorghum case

Summary A methodological study on a tall canopy in a Mediterranean region was carried out in order to identify the most suitable method for measuring the actual evapotranspiration (ET). ET from a sweet sorghum crop was measured by 4 different methods: (i) energy balance/eddy correlation, (ii) energy balance/Bowen ratio, (iii) energy balance/aerodynamic simplified, and (iv) floating lysimeter (ETmeter). In order to compare a very large range of ET values and to reduce experimental errors due to low gradients of air humidity and temperature, the crop was submitted to two soil drying-wetting cycles. To evaluate the main limitations of each method with respect to crop height, crop ET was monitored during the entire vegetative cycle, from stem elongation (crop height 0.85 m, full canopy) to grain filling (when the crop was 2.5 m high). The comparison between the micrometeorological methods (i, ii, and iii) was made on hourly and daily time steps, while the analysis of ETmeter measurements was made on a daily time step only. On an hourly scale: eddy correlation ET was 106% of Bowen ratio ET and simplified aerodynamic ET was 116%, 125% and 135% of Bowen ratio ET with the first sensors are placed at the top of the canopy and the second sensors at 0.7 m, 1.4 m and 2.8 m from the first sensors, respectively. On a daily scale: eddy correlation ET was 102% of Bowen ratio ET, simplified aerodynamic was 114% of Bowen ratio ET and ETmeter ET was 97% of Bowen ratio ET. In the last case the values are very widely spread and the correlation is really not so good. The results show that the Bowen ratio method and the eddy correlation method are in good agreement on daily scales, however, certain precautions, must be taken concerning the eddy correlation method on an hourly scale. The simplified aerodynamic method failed when crop height was > 1.5 m and the ETmeter failed under windy conditions (wind speed > 2.0 m/s) and limited crop water conditions.With 13 Figures     

Local boundary-layer development over burnt and unburnt tropical savanna: an observational study

Fire scars have the ability to radically alter the surface energy budget within a tropical savanna by reducing surface albedo, increasing available energy for partitioning into sensible and latent heat fluxes and increasing substrate heat flux. These changes have the potential to alter boundary-layer conditions and ultimately feedback to local and regional climate. We measured radiative and energy fluxes over burnt and unburnt tropical savanna near Howard Springs, Darwin, Australia. At the burnt site a low to moderate intensity fire, ranging between 1,000 and 3,500 kW m⁻¹, initially affected the land surface by removing all understorey vegetation, charring and blackening the ground surface, scorching the overstorey canopy and reducing the albedo. A reduction in latent heat fluxes to almost zero was seen immediately after the fire when the canopy was scorched. This was then followed by an increase in the sensible heat flux and a large increase in the ground heat flux over the burnt surface. Tethered balloon measurements showed that, despite the presence of pre-monsoonal rain events occurring during the measurement period, the lower boundary layer over the burnt site was up to 2^°C warmer than that over the unburnt site. This increase in boundary-layer heating when applied to fire scars at the landscape scale can have the ability to form or alter local mesoscale circulations and ultimately create a feedback to regional heating and precipitation patterns that may affect larger-scale processes such as the Australian monsoon.     

An analysis of errors in the calculation of energy flux densities above vegetation by a Bowen-ratio profile method

The Bowen-ratio profile method for calculating total carbon dioxide, latent heat, and sensible heat flux density above a corn crop was used by measuring temperature, water vapor, and CO₂ concentrations at several heights in the aerodynamic boundary layer of the crop. The ratio (α) of sensible heat flux density to carbon dioxide flux density as well as the Bowen ratio (β) were used in the computations. The two ratios, α and β were determined graphically from the slopes of linear plots of temperature vs CO₂ concentration and vs water vapor. Each of the energy flux densities was computed from the two ratios and net radiation minus soil heat flux density. An analysis of probable error was performed on the Bowen-ratio profile method to evaluate the accuracy of the flux density estimates. Less than 10% error was found for latent heat flux density and less than 15% for carbon dioxide flux density under normal midday conditions for the instrumentation used. However, the carbon dioxide flux density error increased to over 40% when the sensible heat flux was small.     

Surface Energy Balance Measurements Above an Exurban Residential Neighbourhood of Kansas City,Missouri

Previous measurements of urban energy balances generally have been limited to densely built, central city sites and older suburban locations with mature tree canopies that are higher than the height of the buildings. In contrast, few data are available for the extensive, open vegetated types typical of low-density residential areas that have been newly converted from rural land use. We made direct measurements of surface energy fluxes using the eddy-covariance technique at Greenwood, a recently developed exurban neighbourhood near Kansas City, Missouri, USA, during an intensive field campaign in August 2004. Energy partitioning was dominated by the latent heat flux under both cloudy and near clear-sky conditions. The mean daytime Bowen ratio (β) values were 0.46, 0.48, and 0.47 respectively for the cloudy, near clear-sky and all-sky conditions. Net radiation (R _n ) increased rapidly from dawn (−34 and −58W m⁻²) during the night to reach a maximum (423 and 630W m⁻²) after midday for cloudy and near clear-sky conditions respectively. Mean daytime values were 253 and 370W m⁻², respectively for the cloudy and near clear-sky conditions, while mean daily values were 114 for cloudy and 171W m⁻² for near clear-sky conditions, respectively. Midday surface albedo values were 0.25 and 0.24 for the cloudy and near clear-sky conditions, respectively. The site exhibited an angular dependence on the solar elevation angle, in contrast to previous observations over urban and suburban areas, but similar to vegetated surfaces. The latent heat flux (Q _E ), sensible heat flux (Q _H ), and the residual heat storage ΔQ _s terms accounted for between 46–58%, 21–23%, and 18–31% of R _n , respectively, for all-sky conditions and time averages. The observed albedo, R _n , and Q _E values are higher than the values that have been reported for suburban areas with high summer evapotranspiration rates in North America. These results suggest that the rapidly growing residential areas at the exurban fringe of large metropolitan areas have a surface energy balance that is more similar to the rural areas from which they were developed than it is to the older suburbs and city centres that make up the urban fabric to which they are being joined.     

Unsteadiness as a cause of non-equality of eddy diffusivities for heat and vapour at the base of an advective inversion

This paper examines the effect of non-stationarity of the wind on similarity of the eddy diffusivities for heat and vapour within a stable layer at the bottom of an internal boundary layer formed downwind of a dry-to-wet transition. First, we present some experimental data taken above a rice crop downwind of very extensive dry range lands at Warrawidgee, NSW, Australia. These data establish that periods of higher wind speed were associated with periods of higher saturation deficit in the canopy of the rice crop, and lower Bowen ratio. It is shown that Bowen ratios calculated for 30-second sub-intervals varied three-fold within a single 20-minute averaging period. Thus periods of higher wind speed corresponded to periods of higher moisture flux and smaller sensible heat flux.An idealized situation is then analysed theoretically. It is assumed that the time scale of the slow variations of the wind is long compared with the surface-layer time scale and that fetch is sufficient that the air near the ground is in continuous equilibrium with the surface. Using a two-scale Reynolds decomposition of the fluctuating wind and scalar variables into active and inactive components, it is shown that unsteadiness can lead to an eddy diffusivity for saturation deficit, calculated as the ratio of average flux to average gradient, that is larger than that for total energy calculated in a similar way. Using this ratio to calculate the ratio of diffusivities for temperature and humidity, K_T/K_q, it is found that the latter can be much larger than one if the Bowen ratio is small and negative. Despite this, assuming K_T = K_q and using the Bowen ratio method to calculate surface energy fluxes will usually incur only minor errors.