On the importance of plant phenology in the evaporative process of a semi-arid woodland: could it be why satellite-based evaporation estimates in the miombo differ?

作者：Henry Zimba, Miriam Coenders‐Gerrits, Kawawa Banda, Petra Hulsman, Nick van de Giesen, Imasiku Nyambe, H. H. G. Savenije · 发表于：Hydrology and earth system sciences · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.5194/hess-28-3633-2024 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics、Remote Sensing in Agriculture、Hydrology and Watershed Management Studies

Abstract. The miombo woodland is the largest dry woodland formation in sub-Saharan Africa, covering an estimated area of 2.7–3.6 million km2. Compared to other global ecosystems, the miombo woodland demonstrates unique interactions between plant phenology and climate. For instance, it experiences an increase in the leaf area index (LAI) during the dry season. However, due to limited surface exchange observations in the miombo region, there is a lack of information regarding the effect of these properties on miombo woodland evaporation. It is crucial to have a better understanding of miombo evaporation for accurate hydrological and climate modelling in this region. Currently, the only available regional evaporation estimates are based on satellite data. However, the accuracy of these estimates is questionable due to the scarcity of field estimates with which to compare. Therefore, this study aims to compare the temporal dynamics and magnitudes of six satellite-based evaporation estimates – the Topography-driven Flux Exchange (FLEX-Topo) model, Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM), Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) MOD16 product, operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model, Thornthwaite–Mather climatic Water Balance (TerraClimate) dataset, and Water Productivity through Open access of Remotely sensed derived data (WaPOR) – during different phenophases in the miombo woodland of the Luangwa Basin, a representative river basin in southern...