INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY,

KHARAGPUR
(SCHOOL OF WATER RESOURCES)
(WM60007)

Remote sensing based Evapotranspiration estimation at various

spatio-temporal scale and uncertainties for hydrological
model inputs.
SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY-
Dr. Bhabagrahi Sahoo Supriya Singh
(19WM60R04)
 Table of content
1. Introduction
2. Data sources
3. Surface energy balance models
4. Surface energy balance systems(SEBS)
5. Uncertainties in hydrological model inputs
6. Result and conclusion
 • Evapotranspiration (ET), including
surface evaporation and plant
transpiration, is required to
understand both hydrological and
ecological processes between the
land surface and the atmosphere
(Hwang and Choi, 2013).
• Remote sensing techniques in
recent years opens a new era of
INTRODUCTION retrieval and monitoring of land
surface parameters (such as land
surface temperature, energy
fluxes, vegetation variables, and
soil moisture)—from the local to
global scales—with different
temporal frequency and spatial
resolution. It also provides a vital
way to get land surface ET spatial
and temporal distribution.
 Reliable spatio-temporal distribution
of ET is crucial to demonstrate the
hydrological status of complex
landscapes for water resources
planning and monitoring, efficient
irrigation scheduling and climate
change research (Choi et al., 2009;
Matin and Bourque, 2013). Because of
INTRODUCTION complex land–plant–atmosphere
interactions and natural variability in
topography, soil moisture and
vegetation type, estimation of ET is
the most challenging among all of the
components of the hydrologic cycle,
especially in regions where water is
scarce or fluctuates seasonally (Xu and
Singh, 2005; Cao et al., 2014).
 • Satellite data from TERRA-MODIS
products provided by NASA’s Earth
Observation System Data and
Information System.
• Hourly and daily atmospheric data
from meteorological stations’
DATA observations provided by the
Climate Data Online (CDO) of
SOURCES National Climatic Data Centre
(NCDC).
• Assimilation products provided by
the Global Land Data Assimilation
System (GLDAS).
SATELLITE DATA FROM TERRA MODIS IN ARC GIS
 • https://earthdata.nasa.gov/
• http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/
DATA • http://disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/hydrology/
data-holdings
SOURCES
 SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE MODELS

• SURFACE ENERGY BALANCE

The surface energy balance at the land-air interface ,
𝑅𝑛 = 𝐺 + H + 𝐿𝐸
where, G is the soil heat flux (W·m−2), H is the sensible heat flux (W·m−2) and LE is
the latent heat flux (W·m−2).

• NET RADIATION
According to the radiation balance, the net radiation can be considered as a balance
between incoming and outgoing short-wave and long-wave radiation under steady
atmospheric condition,
Rn = Rs ↓ + Rs ↑ + RL ↓ - RL ↑
where, Rn is the net radiation (W·m−2), Rs↓ is the incoming short-wave radiation
(W·m−2), and Rs↑ is the outgoing short-wave radiation (W·m−2), while RL↓ is the
incoming long-wave radiation (W·m−2), and RL↑ is the outgoing long-wave radiation
(W·m−2).
• SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX (H)
ⅆ𝑇
𝐻 = 𝜌𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝐶𝑝 𝑟
𝑎ℎ

where, ρair is the density of air (kg·m−3), Cp is the air specific heat (=1004 J·kg−1·K−1),
while dT is the difference between the air temperature and the aerodynamic
temperature near the surface and rah is the aerodynamic resistance.

• LATENT HEAT FLUX (LE)

𝐿𝐸 = 𝑅𝑛 − 𝐺 − 𝐻
where, Rn is the net radiation (W·m-2), G is the soil heat flux (W·m−2) and H is the
sensible heat flux (W·m−2)
 Different remote sensing ET models
ALGORITHMS INPUT PARAMETERS ASSUMPTIONS
SEBI < T >pbl, hpbl, v, Ts, Rn, G (ET)dry limit = 0;
(ET)wet limit → evaporates
potentially
SEBS Tair, ha, v, Ts, Rn, G (ET)dry limit = 0;
(ET)wet limit → takes place at a
potential rate
S-SEBI Ts, αs, Rn, G (EF)α = (TH − TS)/(TH − TLE)
TH = (LE)min
TLE = (LE)max
SEBAL v, ha, Ts, VI, Rn, G dT = cTs + d
(ET)dry pixel = 0;
(ET)wet → considered as the
surface available energy
METRIC v, ha, Ts, VI, Rn, G (ET)hot pixel = 0
(LE)wet pixel = 1.05ETr
TSM v, ha, Tair, Ts, Tc, Fr or LAI, Rn, G Component fluxes are
parallel to each other;
Priestly-Taylor equation is
used to compute canopy
transpiration.
SURFACE ENERGY
BALANCE SYSTEM
(SEBS)
 Sources of data acquisition for Surface Energy Balance System algorithm
DATA TYPE SOURCE VARIABLES SPATIAL TEMPORAL
RESOLUTION RESOLUTION
(km)

Satellite LST/Emissivity 1 Instantane-

MODIS (MOD11A1) ous
land Albedo (MCD43B3) 1 8 – day
surface LAI (MCD15A2) 1 8 – day
data NDVI (MOD13A2) 1 16 – day

Meteoro- DEM 1 -
GTOPO30 Wind speed (m/sec) 25 3h
logical GLDAS Air pressure (Pa)
data Air temperature (K)
(NOAH) Specific humidity
(kg/kg)
Short-wave
radiation(W/m^2)
Long-wave
radiation(W/m^2)
• Residual surface energy budget equation,
𝜆𝐸 = 𝑅𝑛 − 𝐺 − 𝐻
• The difference between short-wave and longwave radiation fluxes at the
land surface gives an RN value as follows,
𝑅𝑛 = 1 − 𝛼 ⋅ 𝑅𝑠𝑑 + 𝑅𝑙𝑑 − 𝑅𝑙𝑢
𝑅𝑙𝑢 = 𝜀 ⋅ 𝜎 ⋅ 𝑇𝑠4

• Limiting conditions,
Hwet = Rn – G - 𝜆𝐸
Hdry = Rn – G

• Relative Evaporation,
𝐻−𝐻𝜔𝑒𝑡
𝛬𝑟 = 1 −
𝐻𝑑𝑟𝑦 −𝐻𝜔𝑒𝑡

• Evaporative fraction,
𝜆𝐸
𝛬=
𝑅𝑛 −𝐺
ⅆ𝑡×86400×103
• Evapotranspiration, 𝐸𝑇 = ⋅ 𝛬 ⋅ 𝑅𝑛24𝑡
𝜆𝜌𝑤
Spatial distribution of relative evapotranspiration as a ratio of ETa/ETp in the Indus Basin
Irrigation System
Spatio-temporal distribution of actual evapotranspiration in IBIS
 UNCERTAINTIES FOR HYDROLOGICAL
MODEL INPUTS
• Problems Associated with Surface Temperature
Obtained from Remote Sensing
• Limitations of Satellite Coverage Uncertainties in
Remotely Sensed Data
• Uncertainties in Solar Parameters Estimation
• Uncertainties in Land Surface Variables
• Inconsistency in Remote Sensing ET Models
• Inadequate Near-Surface Meteorological Variables
Measurements
• Nocturnal Transpiration and Dew
 RESULT AND CONCLUSION

• The results of the present study showed that the

publically available remote sensing, MODIS and GLDAS
data are useful for tracking aerial changes in water
consumption (ETa) and water stress (RET) when in situ
surface or near surface measurements are incomplete
or not reliable.
• Accurate data inputs and careful processing are
essential to take full advantage of SEBS, as basic
climatic variables involved in its algorithm composition
are sensitive to various energy budget parameters.
Thank you