Magnitude and variability of land evaporation and its components at the global scale

D.G. Miralles, R.A.M. de Jeu, J.H.C. Gash, T.R.H. Holmes, A.J. Dolman

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    Abstract

    A process-based methodology is applied to estimate land-surface evaporation from multi-satellite information. GLEAM (Global Land-surface Evaporation: the Amsterdam Methodology) combines a wide range of remotely-sensed observations to derive daily actual evaporation and its different components. Soil water stress conditions are defined from a root-zone profile of soil moisture and used to estimate transpiration based on a Priestley and Taylor equation. The methodology also derives evaporationfrom bare soil and snow sublimation. Tall vegetation rainfall interception is independently estimated by means of the Gash analytical model. Here, GLEAM is applied daily, at global scale and a quarter degree resolution. Triple collocation is used to calculate the error structure of the evaporation estimates and test the relative merits of two different precipitation inputs. The spatial distribution of evaporation - and its different components - is analysed to understand the relative importance of each component over different ecosystems. Annual land evaporation is estimated as 67.9 × 10
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)967-981
    JournalHydrology and Earth System Sciences
    Volume15
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

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