Effects of vegetative heterogeneity and patch-scale harvest on energy balance closure and flux measurements

Based on the micrometeorological measurements at a heterogeneous farmland in South China, this work detects the effects of vegetative heterogeneity and patch-scale harvest on the energy balance closure and turbulent fluxes. As a quality control, the integral turbulent characteristics are analyzed in the framework of Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. Spatial representativeness of the measurements is studied in terms of footprint and source area. Firstly, in two wind sectors, the nondimensional standard deviations of turbulent quantities generally agree with some foregoing studies. Discrepancies exist in the other sectors due to the instrument-induced flow distortion. Secondly, energy balance closure is examined with two types of linear regression, which confirms that mismatching source areas between the available energy and turbulent fluxes have no preference to either energy “deficit” or “surplus”. Thirdly, turbulent fluxes exhibit greater variability when they represent smaller source areas. The patch-scale harvest adjacent to the flux mast causes notable increase and decrease in the sensible heat and latent heat fluxes, respectively, while the CO₂ exchange almost vanishes after the harvest. Interestingly, energy balance closure is less influenced despite the notable effects on the turbulent fluxes and Bowen ratio, implying that the energy balance closure check may mask some variability in the turbulent fluxes. Thus, to adjust the heat fluxes with a single “closure factor” for a perfect closure is dangerous at a patchy site.