Post-processed data and graphical tools for a CONUS-wide eddy flux evapotranspiration dataset

Large sample datasets of in situ evapotranspiration (ET) mea-surements with well documented data provenance and qual-ity assurance are critical for water management and many fields of earth science research. We present a post-processed ET oriented dataset at daily and monthly timesteps, from 161 stations, including 148 eddy covariance flux towers, that were chosen based on their data quality from nearly 350 stations across the contiguous United States. In addition to ET, the data includes energy and heat fluxes, meteorologi-cal measurements, and reference ET downloaded from grid -MET for each flux station. Data processing techniques were conducted in a reproducible manner using open-source soft-ware. Most data initially came from the public AmeriFlux network, however, several different networks (e.g., the USDA -Agricultural Research Service) and university partners pro-vided data that was not yet public. Initial half-hourly en-ergy balance data were gap-filled and aggregated to daily fre-quency, and turbulent fluxes were corrected for energy bal-ance closure error using the FLUXNET2015/ONEFlux energy balance ratio approach. Metadata, diagnostics of energy bal-ance, and interactive graphs of time series data are included for each station. Although the dataset was developed primar-ily to benchmark satellite-based remote sensing ET models of the OpenET initiative, there are many other potential uses, such as validation for a range of regional hydrologic and at-mospheric models.Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)