Eddy Covariance Tilt Corrections over a Coastal Mountain Area in South-east China:Significance for Near-Surface Turbulence Characteristics

Turbulence characteristics of an atmospheric surface layer over a coastal mountain area were investigated under different coordinate frames. Performances of three methods of coordinate rotation： double rotation （DR）, triple rotation （TR）, and classic planar-fit rotation （PF） were examined in terms of correction of eddy covariance flux. Using the commonly used DR and TR methods, unreasonable rotation angles are encountered at low wind speeds and cause significant run-to-run errors of some turbulence characteristics. The PF method rotates the coordinate system to an ensemble-averaged plane, and shows large tilt error due to an inaccurate fit plane over variable terrain slopes. In this paper, we propose another coordinate rotation scheme. The observational data were separated into two groups according to wind direction. The PF method was adapted to find an ensemble-averaged streamline plane for each group of hourly runs with wind speed exceeding 1.0 m s-1. Then, the coordinate systems were rotated to their respective best- fit planes for all available hourly observations. We call this the PF10 method. The implications of tilt corrections for the turbulence characteristics are discussed with a focus on integral turbulence characteristics, the spectra of wind-velocity components, and sensible heat and momentum fluxes under various atmospheric stabilities. Our results show that the adapted application of PF provides greatly improved estimates of integral turbulence characteristics in complex terrain and maintains data quality. The comparisons of the sensible heat fluxes for four coordinate rotation methods to fluxes before correction indicate that the PF10 scheme is the best to preserve consistency between fluxes.

Eddy covariance measurements of water vapor and energy flux over a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert,China

Exploring the surface energy exchange between atmosphere and water bodies is essential to gain a quantitative understanding of regional climate change, especially for the lakes in the desert. In this study, measurements of energy flux and water vapor were performed over a lake in the Badain Jaran Desert, China from March 2012 to March 2013. The studied lake had about a 2-month frozen period （December and January） and a 10-month open-water period （February-November）. Latent heat flux （LE） and sensible heat flux （Hs） acquired using the eddy covariance technique were argued by measurements of long＇wave and shortwave radiation. Both fluxes of longwave and shortwave radiation showed seasonal dynamics and daily fluctuations during the study period. The reflected solar radiation was much higher in winter than in other seasons. LE exhibited diurnal and seasonal variations. On a daily scale, LE was low in the morning and peaked in the afternoon. From spring （April） to winter （January）, the diurnal amplitude of LE decreased slowly. LE was the dominant heat flux throughout the year and consumed most of the energy from the lake. Generally speaking, LE was mostly affected by changes in the ambient wind speed, while Hs was primarily affected by the product of water-air temperature difference and wind speed. The diurnal LE and Hs were negatively correlated in the open-water period. The variations in Hs and LE over the lake were differed from those on the nearby land surface. The mean evaporation rate on the lake was about 4.0 mm/d over the entire year, and the cumulative annual evaporation rate was 1445 mm/a. The cumulative annual evaporation was 10 times larger than the cumulative annual precipitation. Furthermore, the average evaporation rates over the frozen period and open-water period were approximately 0.6 and 5.0 mm/d, respectively. These results can be used to analyze the water balance and quantify the source of lake water in the Badain Jaran Desert.

A Re-examination of Density Effects in Eddy Covariance Measurements of CO_2 Fluxes

Corrections of density effects resulting from air-parcel expansion/compression are important in interpreting eddy covariance fluxes of water vapor and CO2 when open-path systems are used. To account for these effects, mean vertical velocity and perturbation of the density of dry air are two critical parameters in treating those physical processes responsible for density variations. Based on various underlying assumptions, different studies have obtained different formulas for the mean vertical velocity and perturbation of the density of dry air, leading to a number of approaches to correct density effects. In this study, we re-examine physical processes related to different assumptions that are made to formulate the density effects. Specifically, we re-examine the assumptions of a zero dry air flux and a zero moist air flux in the surface layer, used for treating density variations, and their implications for correcting density effects. It is found that physical processes in relation to the assumption of a zero dry air flux account for the influence of dry air expansion/compression on density variations. Meanwhile, physical processes in relation to the assumption of a zero moist air flux account for the influence of moist air expansion/compression on density variations. In this study, we also re-examine mixing ratio issues. Our results indicate that the assumption of a zero dry air flux favors the use of the mixing ratio relative to dry air, while the assumption of a zero moist air flux favors the use of the mixing ratio relative to the total moist air. Additionally, we compare different formula for the mean vertical velocity, generated by air-parcel expansion/compression, and for density effect corrections using eddy covariance data measured over three boreal ecosystems.

Evaporation and CO_(2)fluxes in a coastal reef:an eddy covariance approach

Introduction:We conducted season-long observations of evaporation and carbon flux at the Gulf of Aqaba coast,northern Red Sea.We used the eddy-covariance method with a two-tower setup to measure evaporation rates over land and sea and the advection between them.Using a three-dimensional mass balance approach,we calculated total evaporation as the sum of two main components in our site:horizontal advection and turbulent vertical flux,with half-hourly change of water vapor storage and horizontal flux divergence found to be negligible.Outcomes:Average evaporation rates were 11.4[mm/day]from April through May(early summer)and 10.5[mm/day]from June through August(summer).The coastal reef was a CO_(2)sink over the period of measurements,significantly higher in June through August than in April through May.The main environmental drivers of CO_(2)flux were humidity,water temperature,sensible heat flux,and wind speed.Discussion:The rates of evaporation near the shore were considerably higher than values reported in other studies typically used to represent the mean for the whole Gulf area.We found that evaporation rates computed by common bulk models approximate the mean values of evaporation but have poor representativeness of the intra-daily temporal variation of evaporation.There was a significant correlation between CO_(2)flux and evaporation attributed to common environmental drivers of gas diffusion,turbulent fluxes,and horizontal transport.Conclusion:We conclude that observations of fluxes in coastal waters need to use at least a two-tower system to account for the effect of horizontal advection on the total flux.

Impact of Sky Conditions on Net Ecosystem Productivity over a “Floating Blanket” Wetland in Southwest China

Based on eddy covariance(EC) measurements during 2016–20, the effects of sky conditions on the net ecosystem productivity(NEP) over a subtropical “floating blanket ” wetland were investigated. Sky conditions were divided into overcast, cloudy, and sunny conditions. On the half-hourly timescale, the daytime NEP responded more rapidly to the changes in the total photosynthetic active radiation(PARt) under overcast and cloudy skies than that under sunny skies. The increase in the apparent quantum yield under overcast and cloudy conditions was the greatest in spring and the least in summer. Additionally, lower atmospheric vapor pressure deficit(VPD) and moderate air temperature were more conducive to enhancing the apparent quantum yield under cloudy skies. On the daily timescale, NEP and the gross primary production(GPP) were higher under cloudy or sunny conditions than those under overcast conditions across seasons. The daily NEP and GPP during the wet season peaked under cloudy skies. The daily ecosystem light use efficiency(LUE) and water use efficiency(WUE) during the wet season also changed with sky conditions and reached their maximum under overcast and cloudy skies, respectively. The diffuse photosynthetic active radiation(PAR_d) and air temperature were primarily responsible for the variation of daily NEP from half-hourly to monthly timescales, and the direct photosynthetic active radiation(PAR_b) had a secondary effect on NEP. Under sunny conditions, PAR_b and air temperature were the dominant factors controlling daily NEP. While daily NEP was mainly controlled by PAR_d under cloudy and overcast conditions.

Surface Turbulent Flux Measurements over the Loess Plateau for a Semi-Arid Climate Change Study

In order to provide high quality data for climate change studies, the data quality of turbulent flux measurements at the station of SACOL （Semi-Arid Climate ＆ Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University）, which is located on a semi-arid grassland over the Loess Plateau in China, has been analyzed in detail. The effects of different procedures of the flux corrections on CO2, momentum, and latent and sensible heat fluxes were assessed. The result showed that coordinate rotation has a great influence on the momentum flux but little on scalar fluxes. For coordinate rotation using the planar fit method, different regression planes should be determined for different wind direction sectors due to the heterogeneous nature of the ground surface. Sonic temperature correction decreased the sensible heat flux by about 9%, while WPL correction （correction for density fluctuations） increased the latent heat flux by about 10%. WPL correction is also particularly important for CO2 fluxes. Other procedures of flux corrections, such as the time delay correction and frequency response correction, do not significantly influence the turbulent fluxes. Furthermore, quality tests on stationarity and turbulence development conditions were discussed. Parameterizations of integral turbulent characteristics （ITC） were tested and a specific parameterization scheme was provided for SACOL. The ITC test on turbulence development conditions was suggested to be applied only for the vertical velocity. The combined results of the quality tests showed that about 62%-65% of the total data were of high quality for the latent heat flux and CO2 flux, and as much as about 76% for the sensible heat flux. For the momentum flux, however, only about 35% of the data were of high quality.

Three-year Variations of Water, Energy and CO_2 Fluxes of Cropland and Degraded Grassland Surfaces in a Semi-arid Area of Northeastern China

Based on 3 years （2003-05） of the eddy covariance （EC） observations on degraded grassland and cropland surfaces in a semi-arid area of Tongyu （44°25′N, 122°52′E, 184 m a.s.1.）, Northeast China, seasonal and annual variations of water, energy and CO2 fluxes have been investigated. The soil moisture in the thin soil layer （at 0.05, 0.10 and 0.20 m） clearly indicates the pronounced annual wet-dry cycle; the annual cycle is divided into the wet （growing season） and dry seasons （non-growing season）. During the growing season （from May to September）, the sensible and latent heat fluxes showed a linear dependence on the global solar radiation. However, in the non-growing season, the latent heat flux was always less than 50 W m^-2, while the available energy was dissipated as sensible, rather than latent heat flux. During the growing season in 2003-05, the daily average sensible and latent heat fluxes were larger on the cropland surface than on the degraded grassland surface. The cropland ecosystem absorbed more CO2 than the degraded grassland ecosystem in the growing season in 2003-05. The total evapotranspiration on the cropland was more than the total precipitation, while the total evapotranspiration on the degraded grassland was almost the same as the total annual precipitation in the growing season. The soil moisture had a good correlation with the rainfall in the growing season. Precipitation in the growing season is an important factor on the water and carbon budget in the semi-arid area.

Evapotranspiration and Its Energy Exchange in Alpine Meadow Ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

To understand the water and energy exchange on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we explored the characteristics of evapotranspiration （ET） and energy fluxes from 2002 to 2005 over a Kobresia meadow ecosystem using the eddy covariance method. The ratio of annual ET to precipitation （P） of meadow ecosystem was about 60%, but varied greatly with the change of season from summer to winter. The annual ET/P in meadow was lower than that in shrub, steppe and wetland ecosystems of this plateau. The incident solar radiation （Rs） received by the meadow was obviously higher than that of lowland in the same latitude; however the ratio of net radiation （Rn） to Rs with average annual value of 0.44 was significantly lower than that in the same latitude. The average annual ET was about 390 mm for 2002-2005, of which more than 80% occurred in growing season from May to September. The energy consumed on the ET was about 44% of net radiation in growing season, which was lower than that of shrub, steppe and wetland on this plateau. This study demonstrates that the Kobresia meadow may prevent the excessive water loss through evapotranspiration from the ecosystem into the atmosphere in comparison to the shrub, steppe and wetland ecosystems of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Seasonal and inter-annual variations in carbon fluxes and evapotranspiration over cotton field under drip irrigation with plastic mulch in an arid region of Northwest China

Xinjiang is the largest semi-arid and arid region in China, and drip irrigation under plastic mulch is widely used in this water-limited area. Quantifying carbon and water fluxes as well as investigating their environ- mental drivers over cotton fields is critical for understanding regional carbon and water budgets in Xinjiang, the largest cotton production basin of China. In this study, an eddy covariance （EC） technique was used to measure the carbon and water fluxes of cotton field under drip irrigation with plastic mulch in the growing seasons of 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013 at Wulanwusu Agrometeorological Experiment Station, a representative oasis cropland in northern Xinjiang. The diurnal patterns of gross primary production （GPP）, net ecosystem exchange （NEE） and evapotran-spiration （ET） showed obviously sinusoidal variations from June to September, while the diurnal ecosystem respiration （Res） was stable between daytime and nighttime. The daytime hourly GPP and ET displayed asymptotic rela-tionships with net solar radiation （Rnet）, while showed concave patterns with raising vapor pressure deficit （VPD） and air temperature （Ta）. The increases in hourly GPP and ET towards the maximum occurred over half ranges of VPD and Ta. The seasonal variations of GPP, NEE and ET were close to the cotton phenology, which almost reached the peak value in July. The cumulative GPP averaged 816.2±55.0 g C/m^2 in the growing season （from April to October）, and more than half of GPP was partitioned into NEE （mean value of -478.6±41.4 g C/m^2）. The mean seasonal ET was 501.3±13.9 mm, and the mean water use efficiency （WUE） was 1.0＋0.1 （mg C/g H2O）/d. The agro-ecosystem behaved as a carbon sink from squaring to harvest period, while it acted as a carbon source before the squaring time as well as after the harvest time.

Turbulent Variance Characteristics of Temperature and Humidity over a Non-uniform Land Surface for an Agricultural Ecosystem in China

This paper describes the application of the variance method for flux estimation over a mixed agricultural region in China. Eddy covariance and flux variance measurements were conducted in a near-surface layer over a non-uniform land surface in the central plain of China from 7 June to 20 July 2002. During this period, the mean canopy height was about 0.50 m. The study site consisted of grass （10% of area）, beans （15%）, corn （15%） and rice （60%）. Under unstable conditions, the standard deviations of temperature and water vapor density （normalized by appropriate scaling parameters）, observed by a single instrument, followed the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The similarity constants for heat （CT） and water vapor （Cq） were 1.09 and 1.49, respectively. In comparison with direct measurements using eddy covariance techniques, the flux variance method, on average, underestimated sensible heat flux by 21% and latent heat flux by 24%, which may be attributed to the fact that the observed slight deviations （20% or 30% at most） of the similarity ＂constants＂ may be within the expected range of variation of a single instrument from the generally-valid relations.

Improvements of a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model and Simulations of Carbon and Water at an Upland-Oak Forest

The interest in the development and improvement of dynamic global vegetation models （DGVMs）, which have the potential to simulate fluxes of carbon, water and nitrogen, along with changes in the vegetation dynamics, within an integrated system, has been increasing. In this paper, some numerical schemes and a higher resolution soil texture dataset were employed to improve the Sheffield Dynamic Global Vegetation Model （SDGVM）. Using eddy covariance-based measurements, we then tested the standard version of the SDGVM and the modified version of the SDGVM. Detailed observations of daily carbon and water fluxes made at the upland oak forest on the Walker Branch Watershed in Tennessee, USA offered a unique opportunity for these comparisons. The results revealed that the modified version of the SDGVM did a reasonable job of simulating the carbon and water flux and the variation of soil water content （SWC）. However, at the end of the growing season, it failed to simulate the effect of the limitations on the soil respiration dynamics and as a result underestimated this respiration. It was also noted that the modified version overestimated the increase in the SWC following summer rainfall, which was attributed to an inadequate representation of the ground water and thermal cycle.

Effects of climate and forest age on the ecosystem carbon exchange of afforestation

Afforestation is believed to be an effective practice to reduce global warming by sequestering large amounts of carbon in plant biomass and soil.However,the factors that determine the rate of carbon sequestration with afforestation are still poorly understood.We analyzed ecosystem carbon exchange after afforestation based on eddy covariance measurements with the aim to identify factors responsible for the rate of carbon exchange following afforestation.The results indicated that afforestation in the tropical/subtropical and temperate climate zones had greater capacities for carbon sequestration than those in boreal zones.Net ecosystem production(NEP),gross primary production(GPP)and ecosystem respiration(RE)varied greatly with age groups over time.Specifically,NEP was initially less than zero in the\10 year group and then increased to its peak in the 10-20 year group.Afforestation of varied previous land use types and planting of diverse tree species did not result in different carbon fluxes.The general linear model showed that climate zone and age of afforestation were the dominant factors influencing carbon sequestration.These factors jointly controlled 51%,61%and 63%of the variation in NEP,GPP and RE,respectively.Compared to the strong regulation of climate on GPP and RE,NEP showed greater sensitivity to the age of afforestation.These results increase our understanding of the variation in ecosystem carbon exchange of afforestation and suggest that afforestation in subtropical and temperate areas after 20 years would yield greater carbon sink benefits than would afforestation of boreal regions.

Two energy balance closure approaches： applications and comparisons over an oasis-desert ecotone

Studies of energy balance that rely on eddy covariance（EC） are always challenged by energy balance closure, which is mainly caused by the underestimations of latent heat flux（LE） and sensible heat flux（Hs）. The Bowen ratio（BR） and energy balance residual（ER） approaches are two widely-used methods to correct the LE. A comprehensive comparison of those two approaches in different land-use types is essential to accurately correcting the LE and thus improving the EC experiments. In this study, two energy balance approaches（i.e., BR and ER） were compared to correct the LE measured at six EC sites（i.e., three vegetated, one mixed and two non-vegetated sites） in an oasis-desert ecotone of the Heihe River Basin, China. The influences of meteorological factors on those two approaches were also quantitatively assessed. Our results demonstrated that the average energy closure ratio（（LE＋Hs）/（Rn–Gs）; where Rn is the surface net radiation and Gs is the surface soil heat flux） was approximately close to 1.0 at wetland, maize and village sites, but far from 1.0 at orchard, Gobi and desert sites, indicating a significant energy imbalance at those three latter sites. After the corrections of BR and ER approaches that took into account of soil heat storage, the corrected LE was considerably larger than the EC-measured LE at five of six EC sites with an exception at Gobi site. The BR and ER approaches yielded approximately similar corrected LE at vegetated and mixed sites, but they generated dissimilar results at non-vegetated sites, especially at non-vegetated sites with low relative humidity, strong wind, and large surface-air temperature difference. Our findings provide insight into the applicability of BR and ER approaches to correcting EC-based LE measurements in different land-use types. We recommend that the BR-corrected and ER-corrected LE could be seriously reconsidered as validation references in dry and windy areas.

Strong controls of daily minimum temperature on the autumn photosynthetic phenology of subtropical vegetation in China

Background:Vegetation phenology research has largely focused on temperate deciduous forests,thus limiting our understanding of the response of evergreen vegetation to climate change in tropical and subtropical regions.Results:Using satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence(SIF)and MODIS enhanced vegetation index(EVI)data,we applied two methods to evaluate temporal and spatial patterns of the end of the growing season(EGS)in subtropical vegetation in China,and analyze the dependence of EGS on preseason maximum and minimum temperatures as well as cumulative precipitation.Our results indicated that the averaged EGS derived from the SIF and EVI based on the two methods(dynamic threshold method and derivative method)was later than that derived from gross primary productivity(GPP)based on the eddy covariance technique,and the time-lag for EGSsif and EGSevi was approximately 2 weeks and 4 weeks,respectively.We found that EGS was positively correlated with preseason minimum temperature and cumulative precipitation(accounting for more than 73%and 62%of the study areas,respectively),but negatively correlated with preseason maximum temperature(accounting for more than 59%of the study areas).In addition,EGS was more sensitive to the changes in the preseason minimum temperature than to other climatic factors,and an increase in the preseason minimum temperature significantly delayed the EGS in evergreen forests,shrub and grassland.Conclusions:Our results indicated that the SIF outperformed traditional vegetation indices in capturing the autumn photosynthetic phenology of evergreen forest in the subtropical region of China.We found that minimum temperature plays a significant role in determining autumn photosynthetic phenology in the study region.These findings contribute to improving our understanding of the response of the EGS to climate change in subtropical vegetation of China,and provide a new perspective for accurately evaluating the role played by evergreen vegetation in the regional carbon budget.

Surface energy and water vapor fluxes observed on a megadune in the Badain Jaran Desert, China

The Badain Jaran Desert is the second-largest area of shifting sands in China. Our first measurements of the energy components and water vapor fluxes on a megadune using eddy covariance technology were taken from April 2012 to April 2013. The results indicate that the Iongwave and shortwave radiative fluxes exhibited large fluctuations and seasonal dynamics. The total radiative energy loss by Iongwave and shortwave radiation was greater on the megadune than from other underlying surfaces. The radiation partitioning was different in different seasons. The land-atmosphere interaction was primarily represented by the sensible heat flux. The average sensi- ble heat flux （40.1 W/m2） was much larger than the average latent heat flux （14.5 W/m2）. Soil heat flux played an important role in the energy balance. The mean actual evaporation was 0.41 mm/d, and the cumulative actual evaporation was approximately 150 mm/a. The water vapor would transport downwardly and appear as dew con- densation water. The amount of precipitation determined the actual evaporation. The actual evaporation was sup- posed to be equal to the precipitation on the megadune and the precipitation was difficult to recharge the ground- water. Our study can provide a foundation for further research on land-atmosphere interactions in this area.

Energy partitioning and evapotranspiration in a black locust plantation on the Yellow River Delta,China

Plantations of woody tree species play a crucial role in ecological security along coastal zones.Understanding energy partitioning and evapotranspiration can reveal land–atmosphere interaction processes.We investigated energy fluxes,evapotranspiration,and their related biophysical factors using eddy covariance techniques in a black locust(Robinia pseudoacacia L.)plantation in 2016,2018,and 2019 on the Yellow River Delta.Downward longwave radiation offsets 84–85%of upward longwave radiation;upward shortwave radiation accounted for 12–13%of downward shortwave radiation.The ratio of net radiation to downward radiation was 18–19%over the three years.During the growing season,latent heat flux was the largest component of net radiation;during the dormant season,the sensible heat flux was the dominant component of net radiation.The seasonal variation in daily evapotranspiration was mainly controlled by net radiation,air temperature,vapor pressure deficit,and leaf area index.Black locust phenology influenced daily evapotranspiration variations,and evapotranspiration was greater under sea winds than under land winds because soil water content at 10-cm depth was greater under sea winds during the day.Seasonal patterns of daily evaporative fraction,Bowen ratio,crop coefficient,Priestley–Taylor coefficient,surface conductance,and decoupling coefficient were mainly controlled by leaf area index.The threshold value of daily surface conductance was approximately 8 mm sover the plantation.

Radiation and energy balance on a hillslope forest: horizontal versus slope-parallel installation of radiometer

Radiation is a major driver to the carbon,water, and energy exchanges of an ecosystem. For local radiation balance measurements, one essential question is whether the measurement systems should be installed horizontally or parallel to inclined slope surface. With a case study over a temperate deciduous forest on a moderate inclined(9°) northwest-facing slope, we quantified the slope effect on net radiation(Rn) and its components and the energy balance closure measured by an eddy covariance(EC) system.Compared with the slope-parallel radiometer, the horizontal sensor overestimated the incident solar radiation(SR) by 7%, the incoming photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) by 1.5%, and the incoming near-infrared radiation(NIR) by 10%;while underestimated the reflected shortwave radiation(SR)by 4% and NIR by 5%. The influence of radiometerorientation on incoming longwave radiation(LR) was about 3%, while that on outgoing LR was negligible.Summing all these components, horizontal sensor overestimated the Rn by 9%. Converting the horizontally-measured incident radiation to slopesurface reduced a half of the biases on incoming SR and Rn. Measuring the Rn with slope-parallel radiometer and correcting the slope-effect on horizontally-measured incident SR improved the energy balance ratio(EBR) by 8% and 5%,respectively. A mini-review indicated that, the horizontal sensor underestimated(overestimated) the EBR on north-facing(south-facing) slopes in temperate zone in the Northern Hemisphere, with an inclination angular sensitivity of EBR as high as 1.17%per degree of inclination angle. We recommend measuring radiations on inclined terrains with slopeparallel radiometers, or correcting at least for the incident SR in energy balance studies.

Comparable water use of two contrasting riparian forests in the lower Heihe River basin, Northwest China

Understanding forest ecosystem evapotranspiration（ET） is crucial for water-limited environments,particularly those that lack adequate quantified data such as the lower Heihe River basin of northwest China which is primarily dominated by Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.and Populus euphratica Oliv.forests.Accordingly,we selected the growing season for 2 years （2012 and 2014） of two such forests under similar meteorological conditions to compare ET using the eddy covariance（EC） technique.During the growing seasons,daily ET of T.ramosissima ranged from 0.3 to 8.0 mm day^（-1） with a mean of 3.6 mm day^（-1）,and daily ET of P.euphratica ranged from 0.9 to 7.9 mm day^（-1） with a mean of 4.6 mm day^（-1） for a total of 548 and 707 mm,respectively.The significantly higher ET of the P.euphratica stand was directly linked to high soil evaporation rates under sufficient water availability from irrigation.When the soil evaporation was disregarded,water use was comparable to two contrasting riparian forests,a P.euphratica forest with a total transpiration of 465 mm and a T.ramosissima forest with 473 mm.Regression analysis demonstrated that climate factors accounted for at least 80% of ET variation in both forest types.In conclusion,water use of the riparian forests was low and comparable in this arid region,that suggest the long-term plant adaptation to the local climate and conditions of water availability.

Exploring the influence of environmental factors in partitioning evapotranspiration along an elevation gradient on Mount Gongga, eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Platea, China

Evapotranspiration(ET) is a crucial part of the global hydrological cycle, and quantifying ET components is significant for understanding the global water cycle and energy balance. However, there is no consensus on the value of ET components, especially in topographic abrupt change zone, such as eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Platea, where values of ET changes along the altitudinal gradients. Our aim is to explore the influencing factors in partitioning evapotranspiration and how ET components change with increasing elevations. A novel approach was proposed to estimate ET components by adding net solar radiation(Rn) instead of the vapor pressure deficit(VPD) into the underlying water use efficiency(u WUE) model based on one-year continuous measurements of flux data along the elevation gradient on Mount Gongga. Correlation analysis shows that the u WUE model's performance can be improved significantly by considering Rn instead of VPD, with correlation coefficients increasing by 35%-64%. The ratios of transpiration(T) to ET(T/ET) were 0.47, 0.48, 0.50 and 0.35 for the deciduous broadleaf forest(BF), mixed coniferous and deciduous broadleaf forest(MF), evergreen needle forest(ENF) and shrub land(SL), respectively. Leaf area index(LAI) and air temperature(Ta) were the two main controlling factors in determining T/ET during the growing season and at an annual scale, while Rn and Ta played more important roles during the dormant season. This study highlights the importance of incorporating Rn in partitioning evapotranspiration by using the water use efficiency(WUE) method in a humid mountainous region, which can improve the estimation of T/ET on a global scale.

Reciprocal Analysis of Sensible and Latent Heat Fluxes in a Forest Region Using Single Height Temperature and Humidity Based on the Bowen Ratio Concept

Evapotranspiration in forests has been researched for a long time because it serves an important role in water resource issues and biomass production. By applying the reciprocal analysis based on the Bowen ratio concept to the canopy surface, the sum result of sensible and latent heat fluxes, i.e., actual evapotranspiration (ET), is estimated from engineering aspect using the net radiation (Rn) and heat flux into the ground (G). The new method uses air temperature and humidity at a single height by determining the relative humidity (rehs) using the canopy temperature (Ts). The validity of the method is confirmed by the latent heat flux (lE) and sensible heat flux (H) observed by mean of eddy covariance method. The heat imbalance is corrected by multiple regression analysis. The temporal change of lE and H at the canopy surface is clarified using hourly and yearly data. Furthermore, the observed and estimated monthly evapotranspiration of the sites are compared. The research is conducted using hourly data and the validation of the method is conducted using observed covariance at five sites in the world using FLUXNET.