Silva, B.; Alava Nunez, P.; Strobl, S.; Beck, E. & Bendix, J. (2017): <b>Area-wide evapotranspiration monitoring at the crown level of a tropical mountain rain forest</b>. <i>Remote Sensing of Environment</i> <b>194</b>, 219–229.
Resource Description
Title:
Area-wide evapotranspiration monitoring at the crown level of a tropical mountain rain forest
email:
bendix <at> staff.uni-marburg.de
Deutschhausstraße 12
Room No. 02 A 48
35032 Marburg
Faculty of Geography
Germany
Abstract:
Ecosystem water regulation couples energy and water balance, depends on the integrity of the ecosystem, and<br/>
responds to changes in climate. Changes in tree-water relationships in the biodiversity hotspot of the tropical<br/>
Andes in southern Ecuador might be potentially observed at the level of individual trees, thus providing an efficient<br/>
ecosystem monitoring method with applications in forest management and conservation at the tree and<br/>
landscape levels. In this study,we combine area-average measurements froma laser scintillometer above the forestwith<br/>
optical satellite data at high spatial resolution to obtain area-wide evapotranspiration data. The processing<br/>
of field data includes the calculation of energy storage in forest biomass and the partitioning of<br/>
evapotranspiration into transpiration and evaporation. Satellite-based estimates are calibrated by using tower<br/>
flux measurements and meteorological data within periods of humid and less-humid atmosphere. The annual<br/>
evapotranspiration was 1316 mm, of which 1086 mm per year corresponds to the forest transpiration at the<br/>
study site. Average values of 4.7 and 4.1 mm d?1 per tree crown are observed under humid and less-humid atmospheric<br/>
conditions, respectively, when applying high-resolution area-wide evapotranspiration in individual<br/>
crown analysis. Approximately 24% of the observed crowns show a positive monthly change in ET, and 51% of<br/>
the crowns show a significant change in the daily ET, which can be considered sensitive individuals concerning<br/>
water relationships. The limitations in the area-wide evapotranspiration at the crown level can be explained<br/>
by considering the spectral responses of the crown individuals. The presented method can be robustly deployed<br/>
in the ecological monitoring of mountain forests.
Keywords:
| remote sensing | evapotranspiration |
Literature type specific fields:
ARTICLE
Journal:
Remote Sensing of Environment
Volume:
194
Page Range:
219–229
Publisher:
Elsevier
Metadata Provider:
Individual:
Jörg Bendix
Contact:
email:
bendix <at> staff.uni-marburg.de
Deutschhausstraße 12
Room No. 02 A 48
35032 Marburg
Faculty of Geography
Germany
