Estimation of hourly and daily evapotranspiration and soil moisture using downscaled LST over various urban surfaces

Surface moisture is important to link land surface temperature (LST) to people’s thermal comfort. In urban areas, the surface roughness from buildings and urban trees impacts wind speed, and consequently surface moisture. To find the role of surface roughness in surface moisture estimation, we developed methods to estimate daily and hourly evapotranspiration (ET) and soil moisture, based on a case study of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In order to capture the spatial and temporal variations of LST, hourly and daily LST was produced by downscaling techniques. Given the heterogeneity in urban areas, fractions of vegetation, soil, and impervious surfaces were calculated. To describe the urban morphology, surface roughness parameters were calculated from digital elevation model (DEM), digital surface model (DSM), and Terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). Two source energy balance (TSEB) model was employed to generate ET, and the temperature vegetation index (TVX) method was used to calculate soil moisture. Stable hourly soil moisture fluctuated from 15% to 20%, and daily soil moisture increased due to precipitation and decreased due to seasonal temperature change. ET over soil, vegetation, and impervious surface in the urban areas yielded different patterns in response to precipitation. The surface roughness from high-rise has bigger influence on ET in central urban areas.     

近30年全球干旱半干旱区的蒸散变化特征

全球变暖加剧了气候系统能量和水分循环相互作用的变化,水分平衡变化导致极端旱涝事件频发。地表蒸散是能量水分循环的重要过程,是理解气候变化的关键环节。本文基于1982~2011年FLUXNET-MTE观测资料和ERA-Interim再分析资料,分析了全球干旱半干旱区蒸散的时空变化特征及典型区域的变幅、趋势和季节变化。结果表明:（1）干旱半干旱区多年平均蒸散量小于300 mm。冬季蒸散量最小,夏季最大且变率也最强。1990年代前后,干旱半干旱区蒸散发生了明显的年代际转变,暖季的年代际差异尤为明显。（2）近30年来,东半球干旱半干旱区蒸散量呈增加趋势,西半球呈减小趋势。典型区域来看,南非呈显著增加趋势[25.14 mm（10 a）-1],美国西南部呈显著减小趋势[-19.86 mm（10 a）-1];萨赫勒、中国北部和澳大利亚呈增加趋势,阿根廷及智利南部呈减小趋势。（3）蒸散变化与温度、降水的变化联系密切,三者具有相似的年循环变化,但三者间相关性在干旱半干旱区具有显著的差异性。     

Drought characteristics of Henan province in 1961-2013 based on Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index

Drought is one of the most complex natural hazards affecting agriculture, water resources, natural ecosystems, and society. The negative societal consequences of drought include severe economic losses, famine, epidemics, and land degradation. However, few studies have analyzed the complexity of drought characteristics, both at multiple time scales and with variations in evapotranspiration. In this study, drought occurrences were quantified using a new drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), based on observed data of monthly mean temperature and precipitation from 1961 to 2013 in Henan province, central China. Based on the SPEI values of each weather station in the study, the frequency and severity of meteorological droughts were computed, and the monthly, seasonal, and annual drought frequency and intensity over a 53-year period were analyzed. The spatial and temporal evolution, intensity, and the primary causes of drought occurrence in Henan were revealed. The results showed that the SPEI values effectively reflected the spatial and temporal pattern of drought occurrence. As the time scale decreased, the amplitude of the SPEI increased and droughts became more frequent. Since 1961, drought has occurred at the annual, seasonal, and monthly scales, and the occurrence of drought has increased. However, regional distribution has been uneven. The highest drought frequency, 35%, was observed in the Zhoukou region, while the lowest value, ~26%, was measured in central and western Henan. The most severe droughts occurred in the spring and summer, followed by autumn. Annually, wide-ranging droughts occurred in 1966–1968, 1998–2000, and 2011–2013. The drought intensity showed higher values in north and west Henan, and lower values in its east and south. The maximum drought intensity value was recorded in Anyang, and the minimum occurred in Zhumadian, at 22.18% and 16.60%, respectively. The factors with the greatest influence on drought occurrence are increasing temperatures, the Eurasian atmospheric circulation patterns, and the El Niño effect.     

Estimation of the Spatial Variation in Evapotranspiration based on Landsat TM and NOAA Satellite Imagery

Søgaard, Henrik: Estimation of the Spatial Variation in Evapotranspiration based on Landsat TM and NOAA Satellite Imagery. Geografisk Tidsskrift 92: 80–85. Copenhagen 1992.

During the last decade, the use of satellite imagery for monitoring water and energy budgets has gained increasing interest. Based on ground reference data collected above a barley field located near Viborg in Jutland, the so-called simplified relationship between net radiation, temperature, and evapotranspiration was examined. It was found that the difference between evapotranspiration and net radiation depends on both the temperature difference between the surface and the air, and the surface roughness. The derived relationship was applied for monitoring evapotranspiration on the basis of surface temperature measured by the NOAA- satellites. This paper will present this study and examine the resolution problem caused by the field size being less in area than the 1 km by 1 km covered by a single NOAA picture element. For a selected day in July, this was done by comparing the NOAA data with Landsat TM-data which has a 120 m resolution in the thermal band.     

陆面蒸散量观测方法比较分析及其影响因素研究

陆面蒸散是陆面水分平衡的主要分量,也是地球系统水分消耗的主要途径,但陆面蒸散量测量技术一直没有得到很好地解决.利用LOPEX试验区内陇中黄土高原定西陆面过程综合观测站的历史观测资料,在参考对照蒸发皿观测的水面蒸发量的基础上,对蒸渗计法、涡动相关法、彭曼方法等3种方法观测的陆面蒸散量的年变化特征进行了比较分析,发现各观测...     

Surface energy and water vapor fluxes observed in a desert plantation in central Iran

Summertime observations of surface radiation budget, energy balance and atmospheric surface layer meteorology were made on an arid valley floor planted with Haloxylon aphyllum to combat desertification in central Iran. The surface microclimate is characterized and compared with other arid regions and the role of ‘desert greening’ on surface fluxes is considered. A high surface albedo (0.265) and large longwave radiation loss produced relatively low net radiation. Energy partitioning was dominated by sensible and ground heat fluxes with opposing diurnal asymmetry governed by strong diurnal variability in eddy diffusivity. The Bowen ratio was 2.53, which fell inside the range of other vegetated arid surfaces. Surface temperature gradients were strong both in the atmospheric surface layer and in the substrate, with consistent lapse conditions by day and inversions at night. The wind regime included a moderate daytime regional wind which displayed Coriolis turning and weaker nocturnal slope flows. Actual evapotranspiration (1 mm dy⁻¹) was only a small fraction of potential evapotranspiration. The diurnal pattern of AET indicates strong stomatal control. The desert greening effect of Haloxylon plantations provided atmospheric water and reduced sensible heat flux by up to 40%.     

Diurnal surface temperature difference index derived from ground-based meteorological measurements for assessment of moisture availability

Droughts have become widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, including in China, where they have affected farmland resources on the Loess Plateau. Given this background, we proposed a new index, the Normalized Day-Night Surface Temperature Index (NTDI), to estimate moisture availability (m_a), defined as the ratio of actual to reference evapotranspiration. The NTDI is defined as the ratio of the difference between the maximum daytime surface temperature and the minimum nighttime surface temperature, to the difference between the maximum and minimum surface temperatures estimated from meteorological data by applying energy balance equations.To calculate the index, we used data of 20 clear-sky meteorological observations made during the 2005 growing season at a natural grassland station in the Liudaogou River basin on the Loess Plateau. The NTDI showed a significant inverse exponential correlation with m_a (R² = 0.97, p < 0.001), whereas the numerator of the index (the maximum daytime surface temperature minus the minimum nighttime surface temperature) was only weakly correlated with m_a (R² = 0.24, p = 0.03). This result indicates that normalization relative to the index denominator (maximum surface temperature − minimum surface temperature) dramatically improved the accuracy of the estimate.     

Genesis of an endoreic piezometric coastal depression in sub-Sahelian Western Africa: the Continental Terminal Aquifer of Trarza (Mauritania)

Despite its capital importance, the genesis of endoreic water table depressions in Western sub-Sahelian Africa is not well known yet. It is the case of the Trarza Aquifer, which is the main resource of drinkable water for Nouakchott. While water needs are growing steadily, global warming is threatening this resource. The genesis of piezometric depression is the object of this study, which analyses it in the light of the hydrochemistry of the western border of the Trarza aquifer, which is located in proximity of the Atlantic Ocean and its salt wedge.

The hydrochemical facies of groundwater in the Idini pumping site, 60 km East of Nouakchott, and that of a Nouakchott to the Senegal River transect, should be categorised into 3 groups: 1) chloro-sulfated 2) sulfato-chlorinated and chloro-bicarbonated. Such facies, which are also sodocalcic, indicate that mineralization is of mixed origin (marine and continental).

After reviewing the main mathematical models for piezometric depression, the present study attempts a conceptualization of the piezometric evolution of this phreatic aquifer (Continental Terminal) during the Quaternary. It highlights the dominant role of evaporation in the evolution of the water table of the Trarza aquifer, whose impact is similar to the one of the Quaternary marine level increase.     

黄河上游流域蒸散量及其影响因子研究

利用彭曼公式计算了80年代以来黄河上游流域蒸散量,分析了该地区蒸散量、日照时数、气温、空气饱和差等气候因子的变化趋势,着重研究了诸因子对蒸散量的影响。研究发现,黄河上游流域蒸散量呈逐年增大趋势,并以每年3.25 mm的速度递增;而作为主要影响因子的日照时数则以每年3.6小时的速度增加;气温同样表现出逐年升高的趋势,其气候倾向率为0.4℃/10 a;空气饱和差也以每年0.02 hPa的速度递增。因此,可以认为,黄河上游流域日照时数、气温及饱和差的增加,加剧了草地蒸散量的增大,而蒸散量的增大和降水量的减少则直接影响到了黄河上游流量的减少和草地荒漠化的蔓延。