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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #311912
Title: A thermal-based remote sensing modelling system for estimating crop water use and stress from field to regional scales

Author
item Kustas, William - Bill
item Anderson, Martha
item Semmens, Kathryn
item HAIN, C. - University Of Maryland
item CAMMALLERI, C. - Collaborator
item Alfieri, Joseph
item Gao, Feng

Submitted to: Acta Horticulturae
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/4/2015
Publication Date: 4/18/2016
Citation: Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Semmens, K.A., Hain, C., Cammalleri, C., Alfieri, J.G., Gao, F.N. 2016. A thermal-based remote sensing modelling system for estimating crop water use and stress from field to regional scales. Acta Horticulturae. (ISHS) 1112/71-80.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Thermal-infrared remote sensing of land surface temperature provides valuable information for quantifying root-zone water availability, evapotranspiration (ET) and crop condition. A thermal-based scheme, called the Two-Source Energy Balance (TSEB) model, solves for the soil/substrate and canopy temperatures that achieve a balance in the radiation and turbulent heat flux exchange with the lower atmosphere for the soil/substrate and vegetation elements. In doing so, the TSEB is applicable to a wide range in atmospheric and canopy cover conditions. A modelling framework will be described called the Atmosphere-Land Exchange Inverse (ALEXI) that couples the TSEB scheme with an atmospheric boundary layer model in time-differencing mode to routinely map regional-scale daily ET at 3 to 10-km resolution using geostationary satellites. A related algorithm (DisALEXI) spatially disaggregates ALEXI output down to 'ner spatial scales using polar orbiting satellites. This modelling system along with strategies for fusing information from multiple satellite platforms and wavebands is being used to generate daily ET maps from field to regional scales. A summary of recent validation studies applying this multi-scale and multi-temporal modelling system to experimental sites in agroecosystems will be presented.