TY - JOUR
T1 - Observed relation between evapotranspiration and soil moisture in the North American monsoon region
AU - Vivoni, Enrique R.
AU - Moreno, Hernan A.
AU - Mascaro, Giuseppe
AU - Rodriguez, Julio C.
AU - Watts, Christopher J.
AU - Garatuza-Payan, Jaime
AU - Scott, Russell L.
PY - 2008/11/28
Y1 - 2008/11/28
N2 - Soil moisture control on evapotranspiration is poorly understood in ecosystems experiencing seasonal greening. In this study, we utilize a set of multi-year observations at four eddy covariance sites along a latitudinal gradient in vegetation greening to infer the ET-θ relation during the North American monsoon. Results reveal significant seasonal, interannual and ecosystem variations in the observed ET-θ relation directly linked to vegetation greening. In particular, monsoon-dominated ecosystems adjust their ET-θ relation, through changes in unstressed ET and plant stress threshold, to cope with differences in water availability. Comparisons of the observed relations to the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset reveal large biases that increase where vegetation greening is more significant. The analysis presented here can be used to guide improvements in land surface model parameterization in water-limited ecosystems.
AB - Soil moisture control on evapotranspiration is poorly understood in ecosystems experiencing seasonal greening. In this study, we utilize a set of multi-year observations at four eddy covariance sites along a latitudinal gradient in vegetation greening to infer the ET-θ relation during the North American monsoon. Results reveal significant seasonal, interannual and ecosystem variations in the observed ET-θ relation directly linked to vegetation greening. In particular, monsoon-dominated ecosystems adjust their ET-θ relation, through changes in unstressed ET and plant stress threshold, to cope with differences in water availability. Comparisons of the observed relations to the North American Regional Reanalysis dataset reveal large biases that increase where vegetation greening is more significant. The analysis presented here can be used to guide improvements in land surface model parameterization in water-limited ecosystems.
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U2 - 10.1029/2008GL036001
DO - 10.1029/2008GL036001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:60149087588
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 35
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 22
M1 - L22403
ER -