Estimation of Latent Heat Flux Using a Non-Parametric Method

The non-parametric (N-P) method proposed by Liu et al. (2012) expresses evapotranspiration as a function of net radiation, ground heat flux, air temperature, and surface temperature (Ts). This method is relatively new and attractive for estimating evapotranspiration, especially for Ts measurements from remote sensing. The purpose of this study is to investigate the limitations of this method and compare its performance with those of the Penman–Monteith (P–M) and Priestley–Taylor (P–T) equations. Field experiments were carried out to study the evapotranspiration rates and sensible heat fluxes above three different ecosystems: grassland, peat bog, and forest. The results show that above the grassland and peat bog, the evapotranspiration rates were close to the equilibrium evaporation. Though the forest is humid (average humidity » 89%; annual precipitation » 2600 mm), the evapotranspiration was only 69% of the equilibrium evaporation. In terms of model predictions, it was found that the P–M and P–T equations were able to predict the water vapor and sensible heat fluxes well (R2 » 0.60–0.92; RMSE » 30 W m−2) for all the three sites if the canopy resistance and the P–T constant of the ecosystem were given a priori. However, the N-P method only succeeded for the grassland and peat bog; it failed above the forest site (RMSE » 60 W m−2). Our analyses and field measurements demonstrated that for the N-P method to be applicable, the actual evapotranspiration of the site should be within 0.89–1.05 times the equilibrium evaporation.