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Radiation and energy flux characteristics of tea canopies in Kenya

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This paper discusses the results of an experiment whereby all the major radiation and energy fluxes were measured/estimated for a mature tea canopy at Kericho, Kenya. The fluxes include incoming short-wave radiation, terrestrial radiation, latent heat flux and the sensible heat fluxes between the canopy and the air and that into and out of the soil. The pertinent data were simultaneously collected by use of 21X microloggers. Global radiation varied from 40 Wm−2 to 1160 Wm−2 depending on sky conditions. High α values were observed early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Net radiation varied between — 100 Wm−2 at night and 600 Wm−2during the daytime. The largest proportion of net radiation was consumed by the latent heat flux. Advection was found to be minimal.

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Kairu, E.N. Radiation and energy flux characteristics of tea canopies in Kenya. GeoJournal 29, 351–358 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00807536

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