A surface energy budget view of the 1988 midwestern United States drought

Measurements of the surface energy budget over an Illinois corn field during the summer drought of 1988 yielded Bowen ratio values around 1 compared to potential values of 0.2–0.3 if soil moisture had not been limiting. An analysis of the atmospheric water vapor budget for the upper midwestern United States suggests that the measured decrease in evapotranspiration was significant and may have played a role in the persistence and severity of the drought by reducing the atmospheric water vapor supply and increasing the atmospheric heating rate.