Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Seasonal and Interannual Variations of Evapotranspiration and Energy Exchange over Different Land Surfaces in a Semiarid Area of China

Liu Huizhi State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Search for other papers by Liu Huizhi in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
and
Feng Jianwu State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Search for other papers by Feng Jianwu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Oct 2012
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-11-0229.1
Page(s):
1875–1888
Restricted access

Abstract

Seasonal and interannual variations of evapotranspiration (ET) and energy exchange were estimated over degraded grassland and cropland land surfaces in a semiarid region of northeastern China using the eddy covariance technique from 2003 to 2008. The peak daily ET, which occurred in August, was 1.5–4.5 mm day−1 for the degraded grassland and 1.5–5.5 mm day−1 for the cropland land surface. Annual cumulative ET was roughly equal to annual precipitation at both sites. However, the annual cumulative ET at the cropland site was slightly larger (about 10–30 mm) than it was at the grassland at the end of each year. More water might come from irrigation at seedtime and from the soil. With the factor analysis technique, the results revealed that the atmospheric water demand was the most important factor in the ET process on a half-hour time scale in this semiarid area. On a seasonal time scale, ET was greatly constrained by surface conductance and precipitation; on an annual time scale, ET was greatly constrained by the total amount of precipitation at both sites. The accuracy of ET estimation using the Penman–Monteith formula in this semiarid area was also discussed.

Corresponding author address: Liu Huizhi, LAPC, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China. E-mail: huizhil@mail.iap.ac.cn.

Abstract

Seasonal and interannual variations of evapotranspiration (ET) and energy exchange were estimated over degraded grassland and cropland land surfaces in a semiarid region of northeastern China using the eddy covariance technique from 2003 to 2008. The peak daily ET, which occurred in August, was 1.5–4.5 mm day−1 for the degraded grassland and 1.5–5.5 mm day−1 for the cropland land surface. Annual cumulative ET was roughly equal to annual precipitation at both sites. However, the annual cumulative ET at the cropland site was slightly larger (about 10–30 mm) than it was at the grassland at the end of each year. More water might come from irrigation at seedtime and from the soil. With the factor analysis technique, the results revealed that the atmospheric water demand was the most important factor in the ET process on a half-hour time scale in this semiarid area. On a seasonal time scale, ET was greatly constrained by surface conductance and precipitation; on an annual time scale, ET was greatly constrained by the total amount of precipitation at both sites. The accuracy of ET estimation using the Penman–Monteith formula in this semiarid area was also discussed.

Corresponding author address: Liu Huizhi, LAPC, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China. E-mail: huizhil@mail.iap.ac.cn.
Save
Cover Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

  • Amiro, B. D., and E. E. Wuschke, 1987: Evapotranspiration from a boreal forest drainage basin using an energy balance/eddy correlation technique. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 38, 125–139.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Anderson, T. W., 2003: An Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis. 3rd ed. John Wiley and Sons, 752 pp.

  • Aubinet, M., and Coauthors, 2000: Estimates of the annual net carbon and water exchange of forests: The EUROFLUX methodology. Adv. Ecol. Res., 30, 113–175.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Baldocchi, D., and T. P. Meyers, 1998: On using eco-physiological, micrometeorological and biogeochemical theory to evaluate carbon dioxide, water vapor and trace gas fluxes over vegetation: A perspective. Agric. For. Meteor., 90, 1–25.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Baldocchi, D., and L. K. Xu, 2007: What limits evaporation from Mediterranean oak woodlands—The supply of moisture in the soil, physiological control by plants or the demand by the atmosphere? Adv. Water Resour., 30, 2113–2122.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Baldocchi, D., and Coauthors, 2001: FLUXNET: A new tool to study the temporal and spatial variability of ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide, water vapor and energy flux densities. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 82, 2415–2434.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Barr, A. G., and A. K. Betts, 1997: Radiosonde boundary layer budgets above a boreal forest. J. Geophys. Res., 102 (D24), 29 205–29 212.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Betts, A. K., J. H. Ball, and P. Viterbo, 1999: Basin-scale surface water and energy budgets for the Mississippi from the ECMWF reanalysis. J. Geophys. Res., 104 (D16), 19 293–19 306.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Blanken, P. D., and Coauthors, 1997: Energy balance and canopy conductance of a boreal aspen forest: Partitioning overstory and understory components. J. Geophys. Res., 102 (D24), 28 915–28 927.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brutsaert, W., 2006: Indications of increasing land surface evaporation during the second half of the 20th century. Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L20403, doi:10.1029/2006GL027532.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cornic, G., 2000: Drought stress inhibits photosynthesis by decreasing stomatal aperture—Not by affecting ATP synthesis. Trends Plant Sci., 5, 187–188.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dang, Q. L., H. A. Margolis, M. R. Coyea, S. Y. Mikailou, and G. J. Collatz, 1997: Regulation of branch level gas exchange of boreal trees: Roles of shoot potential and vapor pressure differences. Tree Physiol., 17, 521–536.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • De Bruin, H. A. R., and J. Q. Keijman, 1979: The Priestley-Taylor model applied to a large shallow lake in the Netherlands. J. Appl. Meteor., 18, 898–903.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dirmeyer, P. A., 1994: Vegetation stress as a feedback mechanism in mid-latitude drought. J. Climate, 7, 1463–1483.

  • Falge, E., and Coauthors, 2001: Gap filling strategies for long term energy flux data sets. Agric. For. Meteor., 107, 71–77.

  • Fan, L., Y. Gao, H. Brück, and C. Bernhofer, 2009: Investigating the relationship between NDVI and LAI in semi-arid grassland in Inner Mongolia using in-situ measurements. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 95, 151–156.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Foken, T., M. Göockede, M. Mauder, L. Mahrt, B. Amiro, and W. Munger, 2004: Post-field data quality control. Handbook of Micrometeorology, X. Lee, W. Massman, and B. E. Law, Ed., Kluwer, 181–208.

  • Golubev, V. S., J. H. Lawrimore, P. Ya. Groisman, N. A. Speranskaya, S. A. Zhuravin, M. J. Menne, T. C. Peterson, and R. W. Malone, 2001: Evaporation changes over the contiguous United States and the former USSR: A reassessment. Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 2665–2668.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gu, S., and Coauthors, 2008: Characterizing evapotranspiration over a meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D08118, doi:10.1029/2007JD009173.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hadjimitsis, D. G., and Coauthors, 2010: Atmospheric correction for satellite remotely sensed data intended for agricultural applications: Impact on vegetation indices. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 10, 89–95.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hill, T. C., M. Williams, and J. B. Moncrieff, 2008: Modeling feedbacks between a boreal forest and the planetary boundary layer. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D15122, doi:10.1029/2007JD009412.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Horst, T. W., and J. C. Weil, 1994: How far is far enough: The fetch requirements of micrometeorological measurement of surface fluxes. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 11, 1018–1025.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hui, D., S. Wan, B. Su, G. Katul, R. Monson, and Y. Luo, 2004: Gapfilling missing data in eddy covariance measurements using multiple imputation (MI) for annual estimation. Agric. For. Meteor., 121, 93–111.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hunsaker, D., P. Pinter, E. Barnes, and B. Kimball, 2003: Estimating cotton evapotranspiration crop coefficients with a multispectral vegetation index. Irrig. Sci., 22, 95–104.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hwang, T., C. H. Song, P. V. Bolstad, and L. E. Band, 2011: Downscaling real-time vegetation dynamics by fusing multi-temporal MODIS and Landsat NDVI in topographically complex terrain. Remote Sens. Environ., 115, 2499–2512.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jarvis, P. G., 1976: The interpretation of the variations in leaf water potential and stomatal conductance found in canopies in the field. Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, B273, 593–610.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jarvis, P. G., and K. G. McNaughton, 1986: Stomal control of transpiration: Scaling up from leaf to region. Adv. Ecol. Res., 15, 1–49.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kaimal, J. C., and J. J. Finnigan, 1994: Atmospheric Boundary Layer Flows: Their Structure and Management. Oxford University Press, 289 pp.

  • Kaiser, H. F., 1958: The varimax criterion for analytic rotation in factor analysis. Psychometrika, 23, 187–200.

  • Kang, S. Z., B. J. Gu, T. S. Du, and J. H. Zhang, 2003: Crop coefficient and ratio of transpiration to evapotranspiration of winter wheat and maize in a semi-humid region. Agric. Water Manage., 59, 239–254.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lee, X., and T. A. Black, 1994: Relating eddy correlation sensible heat flux to horizontal sensor separation in the unstable atmospheric surface layer. J. Geophys. Res., 99 (D9), 18 545–18 553.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Li, S. G., C. T. Lai, G. Lee, S. Shimoda, T. Yokoyama, A. Higuchi, and T. Oikawa, 2005: Evapotranspiration from a wet temperate grassland and its sensitivity to microenvironmental variables. Hydrol. Processes, 19, 517–532.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Liepert, B. G., J. Feichter, U. Lohmann, and E. Roeckner, 2004: Can aerosols spin down the water cycle in a warmer and moister world? Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L06207, doi:10.1029/2003GL019060.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Liu, B. H., M. Xu, M. Henderson, and W. G. Gong, 2004: A spatial analysis of pan evaporation trends in China, 1955–2000. J. Geophys. Res., 109, D15102, doi:10.1029/2004JD004511.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Liu, C. M., X. Y. Zhang, and Y. Q. Zhang, 2002: Determination of daily evaporation and evapotranspiration of winter wheat and maize by large-scale weighing lysimeter and micro-lysimeter. Agric. For. Meteor., 111, 109–120.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Liu, H. Z., G. Tu, and W. J. Dong, 2008: Three-year changes of surface albedo of degraded grassland and cropland surfaces in a semiarid area. Chin. Sci. Bull., 53, 1246–1254.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Massman, W. J., and X. Lee, 2002: Eddy covariance flux corrections and uncertainties in long-term studies of carbon and energy exchanges. Agric. For. Meteor., 113, 121–144.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McMillen, R. T., 1988: An eddy correlation technique with extended applicability to non-simple terrain. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 43, 231–245.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • McNaughton, K. G., and T. W. Spriggs, 1986: A mixed-layer model for regional evaporation. Bound.-Layer Meteor., 34, 243–262.

  • Monteith, J. L., and M. H. Unsworth, 1990: Principles of Environmental Physics. 2nd ed. Chapman & Hall, 291 pp.

  • Nagler, P. L., J. Cleverly, E. Glenn, D. Lampkin, A. Huete, and Z. Wan, 2005: Predicting riparian evapotranspiration from MODIS vegetation indices and meteorological data. Remote Sens. Environ., 94, 17–30.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ohta, T., and Coauthors, 2008: Interannual variation of water balance and summer evapotranspiration in an eastern Siberian larch forest over a 7-year period (1998–2006). Agric. For. Meteor., 148, 1941–1953.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pielke, R. S., R. Avissar, M. Raupach, A. J. Dolman, X. Zeng, and A. S. Denning, 1998: Interactions between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems: Influence on weather and climate. Global Change Biol., 4, 461–475.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Priestley, C. H. B., and R. J. Taylor, 1972: On the assessment of surface heat flux and evaporation using large-scale parameters. Mon. Wea. Rev., 100, 81–92.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ramanathan, V., P. J. Crutzen, J. T. Kiehl, and D. Rosenfeld, 2001: Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle. Science, 294, 2119–2124.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rana, G., and N. Katerji, 1996: Evapotranspiration measurement for tall plant canopies: The sweet sorghum case. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 54, 187–200.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roderick, M. L., and G. D. Farquhar, 2002: The cause of decreased pan evaporation over the past 50 years. Science, 298, 1410–1411.

  • Running, S. W., D. D. Baldocchi, D. P. Turner, S. T. Gower, P. S. Bakwin, and K. A. Hibbard, 1999: A global terrestrial monitoring network integrating tower fluxes, flask sampling, ecosystem modeling and EOS data. Remote Sens. Environ., 70, 108–127.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ryu, Y., D. D. Baldocchi, S. Ma, and T. Hehn, 2008: Interannual variability of evapotranspiration and energy exchange over an annual grassland in California. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D09104, doi:10.1029/2007JD009263.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sala, O., and W. K. Lauenroth, 1982: Small rainfall events: An ecological role in semiarid regions. Oecologia, 53, 301–304.

  • Sala, O., W. K. Lauenroth, and W. J. Parton, 1992: Long-term soil water dynamics in the shortgrass steppe. Ecology, 73, 1175–1181.

  • Shi, T.-T., D.-X. Guan, J.-B. Wu, A.-Z. Wang, C.-J. Jin, and S.-J. Han, 2008: Comparison of methods for estimating evapotranspiration rate of dry forest canopy: Eddy covariance, Bowen ratio energy balance, and Penman-Monteith equation. J. Geophys. Res., 113, D19116, doi:10.1029/2008JD010174.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Shuttleworth, W. J., and I. R. Calder, 1979: Has the Priestley-Taylor equation any relevance to forest evaporation? J. Appl. Meteor., 18, 639–646.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Stewart, R. B., and W. R. Rouse, 1976: A simple method for determining the evaporation from shallow lakes and ponds. Water Resour. Res., 12, 623–628.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Sun, L., and G. X. Wu, 2001: Influence of land evapotranspiration on climate variations. Sci. China, Ser. D: Earth Sci., 44, 838–846.

  • Suyker, A. E., and S. B. Verma, 2008: Interannual water vapor and energy exchange in an irrigated maize-based agroecosystem. Agric. For. Meteor., 148, 417–427.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Valentini, R., and Coauthors, 2000: Respiration as the main determinant of carbon balance in European forests. Nature, 404, 861–865.

  • Verhoef, A., S. J. Allen, and C. R. Lloyd, 1999: Seasonal variation of surface energy balance over two Sahelian surfaces. Int. J. Climatol., 19, 1267–1277.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Webb, E. K., G. I. Pearman, and R. Leuning, 1980: Correction of flux measurements for density effects due to heat and water vapour transfer. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 106, 85–100.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wetherald, R. T., and S. Manabe, 2002: Simulation of hydrologic changes associated with global warming. J. Geophys. Res., 107, 4379, doi:10.1029/2001JD001195.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wever, L. A., L. B. Flanagan, and P. J. Carlson, 2002: Seasonal and interannual variation in evapotranspiration, energy balance and surface conductance in a northern temperate grassland. Agric. For. Meteor., 112, 31–49.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wild, M., A. Ohmura, H. Gilgen, and D. Rosenfeld, 2004: On the consistency of trends in radiation and temperature records and implications for the global hydrological cycle. Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L11201, doi:10.1029/2003GL019188.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wilson, K. B., and D. D. Baldocchi, 2000: Seasonal and interannual variability of energy fluxes over a broadleaved temperate deciduous forest in North America. Agric. For. Meteor., 100, 1–18.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wilson, K. B., and Coauthors, 2002: Energy balance closure at FLUXNET sites. Agric. For. Meteor., 113, 223–243.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 1010 349 30
PDF Downloads 653 112 7