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Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration

Received: Aug. 15, 2018    Accepted: Sep. 11, 2018    Published: Oct. 11, 2018
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Abstract

The estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) maps using complex equations and remotely sensed shortwave and thermal infrared imagery can be challenging and may require input data that are not available. There is an opportunity, therefore to create a simpler and faster method to generate ETa maps using fewer input parameters for situations where limited input data is available or greater uncertainty in the resulting ET estimates are acceptable. We compared the estimates of ETa produced by a crop coefficient and NDVI-based (Kc-NDVI) method to a full energy balance (EB) method. Clear sky images from Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 were processed and used for the ETa estimations from maize during two growing seasons in eastern South Dakota, USA. The results showed that the ETa values from the Kc-NDVI method were lower than the ETa values from the EB method by 18% for 2015 and 11% for 2016 growing season. During study period the accuracy of ETa estimation decreased 17% with the Kc-NDVI method. For both years the mean bias error was 0.81 mm day-1 and the root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.37 mm day-1. The average daily ETa of 5.3 mm day-1. The Kc-NDVI method performed acceptable for ETa estimations, indicating that this method can be used to estimate ETa with minimum input parameters at focused regional and field scales for short time periods.

DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14
Published in Earth Sciences ( Volume 7, Issue 5, October 2018 )
Page(s) 227-235
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Actual Evapotranspiration, Surface Energy Balance, NDV Crop Coefficient

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Arturo Reyes-González, Jeppe Kjaersgaard, Todd Trooien, Christopher Hay, Laurent Ahiablame. (2018). Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration. Earth Sciences, 7(5), 227-235. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14

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    ACS Style

    Arturo Reyes-González; Jeppe Kjaersgaard; Todd Trooien; Christopher Hay; Laurent Ahiablame. Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration. Earth Sci. 2018, 7(5), 227-235. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14

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    AMA Style

    Arturo Reyes-González, Jeppe Kjaersgaard, Todd Trooien, Christopher Hay, Laurent Ahiablame. Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration. Earth Sci. 2018;7(5):227-235. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14,
      author = {Arturo Reyes-González and Jeppe Kjaersgaard and Todd Trooien and Christopher Hay and Laurent Ahiablame},
      title = {Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {5},
      pages = {227-235},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20180705.14},
      abstract = {The estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) maps using complex equations and remotely sensed shortwave and thermal infrared imagery can be challenging and may require input data that are not available. There is an opportunity, therefore to create a simpler and faster method to generate ETa maps using fewer input parameters for situations where limited input data is available or greater uncertainty in the resulting ET estimates are acceptable. We compared the estimates of ETa produced by a crop coefficient and NDVI-based (Kc-NDVI) method to a full energy balance (EB) method. Clear sky images from Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 were processed and used for the ETa estimations from maize during two growing seasons in eastern South Dakota, USA. The results showed that the ETa values from the Kc-NDVI method were lower than the ETa values from the EB method by 18% for 2015 and 11% for 2016 growing season. During study period the accuracy of ETa estimation decreased 17% with the Kc-NDVI method. For both years the mean bias error was 0.81 mm day-1 and the root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.37 mm day-1. The average daily ETa of 5.3 mm day-1. The Kc-NDVI method performed acceptable for ETa estimations, indicating that this method can be used to estimate ETa with minimum input parameters at focused regional and field scales for short time periods.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessing Accuracy of Vegetation Index Method to Estimate Actual Evapotranspiration
    AU  - Arturo Reyes-González
    AU  - Jeppe Kjaersgaard
    AU  - Todd Trooien
    AU  - Christopher Hay
    AU  - Laurent Ahiablame
    Y1  - 2018/10/11
    PY  - 2018
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14
    T2  - Earth Sciences
    JF  - Earth Sciences
    JO  - Earth Sciences
    SP  - 227
    EP  - 235
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20180705.14
    AB  - The estimation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ETa) maps using complex equations and remotely sensed shortwave and thermal infrared imagery can be challenging and may require input data that are not available. There is an opportunity, therefore to create a simpler and faster method to generate ETa maps using fewer input parameters for situations where limited input data is available or greater uncertainty in the resulting ET estimates are acceptable. We compared the estimates of ETa produced by a crop coefficient and NDVI-based (Kc-NDVI) method to a full energy balance (EB) method. Clear sky images from Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 were processed and used for the ETa estimations from maize during two growing seasons in eastern South Dakota, USA. The results showed that the ETa values from the Kc-NDVI method were lower than the ETa values from the EB method by 18% for 2015 and 11% for 2016 growing season. During study period the accuracy of ETa estimation decreased 17% with the Kc-NDVI method. For both years the mean bias error was 0.81 mm day-1 and the root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.37 mm day-1. The average daily ETa of 5.3 mm day-1. The Kc-NDVI method performed acceptable for ETa estimations, indicating that this method can be used to estimate ETa with minimum input parameters at focused regional and field scales for short time periods.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agricolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Mexico City, México

  • Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Saint Paul, USA; Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA

  • Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, USA

  • Iowa Soybean Association, Ankeny, USA

  • University of California ANR, Oakland, USA

  • Section