Energy balance and evapotranspiration biophysical control in Caatinga under intense drought conditions

Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine seasonal variation in energy balance components and to evaluate the biophysical control of evapotranspiration in a preserved Caatinga area, under intense drought conditions. The experiment was conducted in 2012, using the eddy covariance system, installed at 16.9 m above soil surface. In addition, temperature, humidity, solar radiation, net radiation, soil heat flux, and soil temperature were measured. Data on the sensible and latent heat fluxes were processed with the Alteddy software and analyzed on daily and seasonal scales. Using the latent heat flux data, the evapotranspiration rates were determined, as well as the indicators of their sensitivity to environmental conditions: decoupling factor, and aerodynamical and surface resistances. The net radiation showed a strong seasonality, with behavior dependent on solar radiation. The partition of the energy balance components revealed that the occurrence of intense drought maximizes the destination of the available energy to sensible heat flux, and that evapotranspiration under this condition is specifically dependent on the vapor pressure deficit and on the surface resistance.