Combining remote sensing and modeling for estimating surface evaporation and biomass production

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A simple approach for simulation of daily regional evaporation and plant primary production is proposed. The approach is based on an existing plant growth model combined with a simple soil water balance equation for simulation of evaporation rates. The resulting model was specifically designed to incorporate periodic remotely‐sensed estimates of plant leaf area index (LAI) and daily surface evaporation (E). The model was evaluated based on spectral, meteorologic, agronomic and soils data acqired during a two‐year experiment in an alfalfa stand at the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory lysimeter field plots in Phoenix, Arizona. The remotely‐sensed inputs to the model (LAI and E) were obtained from measurements of surface reflectance and temperature, combined with measurements of air temperature. Then, the model was used to simulate daily values of E, LAI and biomass production using infrequently‐acquired remotely‐sensed information and routinely available meteorologic observations. These results illustrated the potential for use of ground‐ and satellite‐based spectral measurements as supplemental input for a simulation model to monitor, assess and forecast regional water and plant biomass resources.