ECOSTRESS: NASA’s next generation mission to measure evapotranspiration from the International Space Station

Authors: FISHER, JOSHUA - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; LEE, BRIAN - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; PURDY, ADAM - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; HALVERSON, GREGORY - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; DOHLEN, MATTHEW - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; CAWSE-NICHOLSON, KERRY - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; WANG, AUDREY - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Anderson, Raymond - Ray; ARAGON, BRUNO - King Abdullah University Of Science And Technology; ARAIN, M. ALTAF - McMaster University; BALDOCCHI, DENNIS - University Of California; Baker, John; BARRAL, HELENE - University Of Montpellier; Bernacchi, Carl; BERNHOFER, CHRISTIAN - Technical University Dresden; BIRAUD, SEBASTIEN - Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; BOHRER, GIL - The Ohio State University; BRUNSELL, NATHANIEL - University Of Kansas; CAPPELAERE, BERNARD - University Of Montpellier; CASTRO-CONTRERAS, SAULO - University Of Alberta; CHUN, JUNGHWA - National Institute Of Forest Science; CONRAD, BRYAN - University Of Kansas; CREMONESE, EDOARDO - Environmental Protection Agency Of Aosta Valley; DEMARTY, JEROME - University Of Montpellier; DESAI, ANKUR - University Of Wisconsin; LIGNE, ANNE - University Of Liege; FOLTÝNOVÁ, LENKA - Czech Academy Of Sciences; GOULDEN, MICHAEL - University Of California; GRIFFIS, TIMOTHY - University Of Minnesota; GRUNWALD, THOMAS - Technical University Dresden; JOHNSON, MARK - University Of British Columbia; KANG, MINSEOK - National Center For Agrometeorology; KELBE, DAVE - Xerra Earth Observation Institute; KOWALSKA, NATALIA - Czech Academy Of Sciences; LIM, JONG-HWAN - National Institute Of Forest Science; MAINASSARA, IBRAHIM - University Of Montpellier; MCCABE, MATTHEW - King Abdullah University Of Science And Technology; MISSIK, JUSTINE - Washington State University; MOHANTY, BINAYAK - Texas A&M University; MOORE, CAITLIN - University Of Illinois; MORILLAS, LAURA - University Of British Columbia; MORRISON, ROSS - Centre For Ecology & Hydrology; MUNGER, J. WILLIAM - Harvard University; POSSE, GABRIELA - Instituto De Clima Y Agua (INTA); RICHARDSON, ANDREW - Northern Arizona University; RUSSELL, ERIC - Washington State University; RYU, YOUNGRYEL - Seoul National University; SANCHEZ-AZOFEIFA, ARTURO - University Of Alberta; SCHMIDT, MARIUS - Institute Of Bio- And Geosciences: Agrosphere (IBG-3); SCHWARTZ, EFRAT - Weizmann Institite Of Science; SHARP, IAIN - University Of Alberta; ŠIGUT, LADISLAV - Czech Academy Of Sciences; TANG, YAO - Georgia Institute Of Technology; HULLEY, GLYNN - Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Anderson, Martha; HAIN, CHRISTOPHER - Nasa Marshall Space Flight Center; French, Andrew; WOOD, ERIC - Princeton University; HOOK, SIMON - Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Submitted to: Water Resources Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2020
Publication Date: 4/6/2020
Publication URL: https://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/7019787
Citation: Fisher, J.B., Lee, B., Purdy, A.J., Halverson, G.H., Dohlen, M.B., Cawse-Nicholson, K., Wang, A., Anderson, R.G., Aragon, B., Arain, M., Baldocchi, D.D., Baker, J.M., Barral, H., Bernacchi, C.J., Bernhofer, C., Biraud, S.C., Bohrer, G., Brunsell, N., Cappelaere, B., Castro-Contreras, S., Chun, J., Conrad, B.J., Cremonese, E., Demarty, J., Desai, A.R., Ligne, A.D., Foltýnová, L., Goulden, M.L., Griffis, T.J., Grunwald, T., Johnson, M.S., Kang, M., Kelbe, D., Kowalska, N., Lim, J., Mainassara, I., McCabe, M.F., Missik, J.E., Mohanty, B.P., Moore, C.E., Morillas, L., Morrison, R., Munger, J., Posse, G., Richardson, A.D., Russell, E.S., Ryu, Y., Sanchez-Azofeifa, A., Schmidt, M., Schwartz, E., Sharp, I., Šigut, L., Tang, Y., Hulley, G., Anderson, M.C., Hain, C., French, A.N., Wood, E., Hook, S. 2020. ECOSTRESS: NASA’s next generation mission to measure evapotranspiration from the International Space Station. Water Resources Research. 56(4). Article e2019WR026058. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026058.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2019WR026058

Interpretive Summary: High resolution observations of evapotranspiration (ET) are needed for accurate agricultural water management and the most accurate regional ET observations come from satellites that include infrared imagery. However, current satellites with high resolution thermal imagery (such as Landsat) have long revisit times greater than two weeks, which limits their usefulness for within season water management. Recently, the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) mission was launched on the International Space Station. ECOSTRESS has high spatial thermal resolution (<100 m) and a short revisit interval (4 days) which makes it potentially very useful for field and regional scale agricultural water management. However, ECOSTRESS’s ability to observe ET needs validation. In this work, the ET algorithm for ECOSTRESS was compared to ET observations from a network of eddy covariance ET observations around the world, including numerous agricultural sites. ECOSTRESS accurately predicted ET with a strong correlation and low bias for different climatic regions and times of day. This research benefits irrigation managers, farmers, and consultants who need frequent, high-resolution data for accurate agricultural water management.

Technical Abstract: The ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) was launched to the International Space Station on 29 June 2018 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The primary science focus of ECOSTRESS is centered on evapotranspiration (ET), which is produced as Level-3 (L3) latent heat flux (LE) data products. These data are generated from the Level-2 land surface temperature and emissivity product (L2_LSTE), in conjunction with ancillary surface and atmospheric data. Here, we provide the first validation (Stage 1, preliminary) of the global ECOSTRESS clear-sky ET product (L3_ET_PT-JPL, Version 6.0) against LE measurements at 82 eddy covariance sites around the world. Overall, the ECOSTRESS ET product performs well against the site measurements (clear-sky instantaneous/time of overpass: r2 = 0.88; overall bias = 8%; normalized root-mean-square error, RMSE = 6%). ET uncertainty was generally consistent across climate zones, biome types, and times of day (ECOSTRESS samples the diurnal cycle), though temperate sites are overrepresented. The 70-m-high spatial resolution of ECOSTRESS improved correlations by 85%, and RMSE by 62%, relative to 1-km pixels. This paper serves as a reference for the ECOSTRESS L3 ET accuracy and Stage 1 validation status for subsequent science that follows using these data.