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Remote sensing and in situ-based estimates of evapotranspiration for subirrigated meadow, dry valley, and upland dune ecosystems in the semi-arid sand hills of Nebraska, USA

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Irrigation and Drainage Systems

Abstract

Water consumed through evapotranspiration (ET) impacts local and regional hydrologic regimes on various spatial and temporal scales. Estimating ET in the Great Plains is a prerequisite for effective regional water resource management of the Ogallala (High Plains) Aquifer, which supplies vital water resources in the form of irrigation for extensive agricultural production. The Sand Hills region of Nebraska is one of the largest grass-stabilized eolian (windblown) sand dune formations in the world, with an area of roughly 50,000–60,000 km2 that supports a system of five major land cover types: (1) lakes, (2) wetlands (with lakes, ~5%), (3) subirrigated meadows (water table is within ~1 m of surface; ~10%), (4) dry valleys (water table is 1–10 m below surface; ~20%), and (5) upland dunes (water table is more than 10 m below surface; ~65%). Fully understanding the hydrologic regime of these different ecosystems is a fundamental challenge in regional water resource assessment. The surface energy and water balances were analyzed using Bowen Ratio Energy Balance Systems (BREBS) at three locations: (1) a meadow, (2) a valley, and (3) an upland dune. Measurement of the energy budget by BREBS, in concert with Landsat remote sensing image processing for 2004 reveals strong spatial gradients between sites in latent heat flux that are associated with undulating topographic relief. We find that daily estimates of ET from BREBS measurements and remote sensing agree well, with an uncertainty within 1 mm, which is encouraging when applying remote sensing results across such a broad spatial scale and undulating topography.

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Abbreviations

GSRL :

Gudmundsen sand hills research laboratory

AWDN :

Automated weather data network

BREBS :

Bowen ration energy balance system

BREBS-Meadow :

Bowen ration energy balance system at the subirrigated meadow ecosystem

BREBS-Valley :

Bowen ration energy balance system at the dry valley ecosystem

BREBS-Upland :

Bowen ration energy balance system at the upland dune ecosystem

R n :

Net radiation (Wm−2)

H :

Sensible heat flux (Wm−2)

λE :

Latent heat flux (Wm−2)

G :

Soil heat flux (Wm−2)

Β :

Bowen ratio (unitless)

GDD :

Growing degree days (°C)

ET :

Actual evapotranspiration (mm day−1)

ET r :

Reference evapotranspiration for alfalfa (mm)

ET o :

Reference evapotranspiration for grass (mm)

ET r F :

Evaporative fraction or fraction of reference evapotranspiration

ET 24 :

Actual evapotranspiration for the entire 24-hour period (mm day−1)

ET inst :

Hourly instantaneous ET (mm hr−1)

LAI :

Leaf area index

NDVI :

Normalized difference vegetation index

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this study would like to thank all the Gudmundsen Sand Hills Research Laboratory for access to the study site and data acquisition. We thank Andy Applegarth at the GSRL for input on harvest timing of the subirrigated meadow. The Hydrologic Information Systems (HIS) team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (including Ian Ratcliffe, Dr. Sami Akasheh, Parikshit Ranade, and Baburao Kamble) was integral in image processing expertise and calibration dataset management. We also thank the University of Idaho for the ability to apply the METRIC™ model in this study and review support of applications that was partially supported by the Idaho NSF EPSCoR program. Lastly, we thank Dr. Tala Awada and Jessica Milby at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for their vegetative surveys.

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Mention of any trademark, vendor, commercial product, process, or service by trade name, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement. Any discussion of instrumentation is intended for informational purposes about this study only.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, 3310 Holdrege St., 243B Hardin Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Nathan C. Healey

  2. School of Natural Resources and Civil Engineering, University of Nebraska, 3310 Holdrege St., 311 Hardin Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Ayse Irmak

  3. Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, 106 Kiesselbach Crop Research Laboratory, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Timothy J. Arkebauer

  4. Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Nebraska, 157 L. W. Chase Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    David P. Billesbach

  5. School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, 3310 Holdrege St., 723 Hardin Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    John D. Lenters

  6. School of Natural Resources and High Plains Regional Climate Center (HPRCC), University of Nebraska, 3310 Holdrege St., 703 Hardin Hall, Lincoln, NE, 68583, USA

    Kenneth G. Hubbard

  7. College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Idaho, 3793 N. 3600 E. St., Kimberly, ID, 83341, USA

    Richard G. Allen

  8. Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering - Water Resources Institute, South Dakota State University, Box: 2120, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA

    Jeppe Kjaersgaard

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  1. Nathan C. Healey
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Correspondence to Nathan C. Healey.

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Healey, N.C., Irmak, A., Arkebauer, T.J. et al. Remote sensing and in situ-based estimates of evapotranspiration for subirrigated meadow, dry valley, and upland dune ecosystems in the semi-arid sand hills of Nebraska, USA. Irrig Drainage Syst 25, 151–178 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10795-011-9118-x

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