Evapotranspiration Comparisons Between Eddy Covariance Measurements and Meteorological and Remote-Sensing-Based Models in Disturbed Ponderosa Pine Forests
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ECOHYDROLOGY Ecohydrol. (2014) Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/eco.1586 Evapotranspiration comparisons between eddy covariance measurements and meteorological and remote-sensing-based models in disturbed ponderosa pine forests Wonsook Ha,1 Thomas E. Kolb,2,3 Abraham E. Springer,1* Sabina Dore,4 Frances C. O’Donnell,1 Rodolfo Martinez Morales,5 Sharon Masek Lopez1 and George W. Koch5,6 1 School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 2 School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 3 Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 4 Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA 5 Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA 6 Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA ABSTRACT Evapotranspiration (ET) comprises a major portion of the water budget in forests, yet few studies have measured or estimated ET in semi-arid, high-elevation ponderosa pine forests of the south-western USA or have investigated the capacity of models to predict ET in disturbed forests. We measured actual ET with the eddy covariance (eddy) method over 4 years in three ponderosa pine forests near Flagstaff, Arizona, that differ in disturbance history (undisturbed control, wildfire burned, and restoration À thinning) and compared these measurements (415–510 mm year 1 on average) with actual ET estimated from five meteorological models [Penman–Monteith (P-M), P-M with dynamic control of stomatal resistance (P-M-d), Priestley–Taylor (P-T), McNaughton–Black (M-B), and Shuttleworth–Wallace (S-W)] and from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) ET product. The meteorological models with constant stomatal resistance (P-M, M-B, and S-W) provided the most accurate estimates of annual eddy ET (average percent differences ranged between 11 and À14%), but their accuracy varied across sites. The P-M-d consistently underpredicted ET at all sites. The more simplistic P-T model performed well at the control site (18% overprediction) but strongly overpredicted annual eddy ET at the restoration sites (92%) and underpredicted at the fire site (À26%). The MODIS ET underpredicted annual eddy ET at all sites by at least 51% primarily because of underestimation of leaf area index. Overall, we conclude that with accurate parameterization, micrometeorological models can predict ET within 30% in forests of the south-western USA and that remote sensing-based ET estimates need to be improved through use of higher resolution products. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. KEY WORDS evapotranspiration; latent heat; eddy covariance; forest ecosystems; ponderosa pine; Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Received 19 May 2014; Revised 16 September 2014; Accepted 20 November 2014 INTRODUCTION spruce (Picea mariana) forest (Arain et al., 2003), and more than 85% in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) Forests occur over approximately 31% of the land surface forest in Arizona (Dore et al., 2012). Consequently, the of the Earth (FAO, 2012) and are important regulators of magnitude and seasonality of forest ET are important terrestrial water balance (Arora, 2002; Ueyama et al., regulators of water resources available to humans and 2010). Evapotranspiration (ET) is the largest flux of annual ecosystems. precipitation from most forests except in cool and wet The question of how forest management affects ET is climate zones. For example, ET has been reported to use long standing (e.g. Bosch and Hewlett, 1982) but is still not approximately 70% of annual precipitation in a loblolly adequately answered for many forest types. This question pine (Pinus taeda) plantation in the south-eastern USA is increasingly relevant to current restoration projects in (Sun et al., 2002), more than 85% in a Canadian black semi-arid forests that use tree thinning to reduce the risk of wildfire (e.g. Covington et al., 1997; Agee and Skinner, 2005; McIver et al., 2013). Studies in other forest types *Correspondence to: Abraham E. Springer, School of Earth Sciences and report that reforestation generally increases ET (Bosch and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA. Hewlett, 1982; Trabucco et al., 2008), whereas deforesta- E-mail: [email protected] tion decreases ET (Nobre et al., 1991; Bala et al., 2007; Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. W. HA et al. Costa et al., 2010; Krishnaswamy et al., 2012; Lathuillière on ET (Law et al., 2000; Gordon and Famiglietti, 2004; et al., 2012; Bright et al., 2013). Impacts on ET of more Morales et al., 2005). Estimation of ET from remotely subtle changes in forest cover produced by tree thinning sensed spectral data, such as the Moderate Resolution have been investigated at only a few sites (Moreaux et al., Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite (Yuan et al., 2011; Dore et al., 2012). 2010; Mu et al., 2011; Goulden et al., 2012), is another More information on impacts to ET of forest restoration approach that has potential application in investigations of thinning and of intense wildfire, which often occurs in forest water balance, but more site-specific comparisons to dense semi-arid forests in the absence of thinning (e.g. eddy ET are needed to assess accuracy. Although the Finney et al., 2005), is needed for upland forest landscapes. spatial resolution of MODIS ET products (1 km2) often These forests are critical for supplying water to downslope does not match the flux tower footprint coverage (Goulden ecosystems and human settlements (e.g. Troendle, 1983) et al., 2012), MODIS provides spatially and temporally and are the targets of major new management initiatives. continuous data of land surface and atmosphere interac- Landscape-scale forest restoration treatments (e.g. Coving- tions (Wan, 2008). ton et al., 1997) are planned for 1.5 million ha of semi-arid, The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy dense ponderosa pine forests in upland watersheds of of ET predictions from five meteorological models and the Arizona (USDA Forest Service, 2012). Because the impact MODIS ET product over 4 years at three sites in the of vegetation manipulation on ET is highly variable in ponderosa pine forest region of northern Arizona that have semi-arid regions (Bosch and Hewlett, 1982; Stednick, different types of recent disturbance. We compare ET 1996; Brown et al., 2005; Huxman et al., 2005), better predictions from these models with ET measured directly understanding of the coupled land management and at each site by the eddy covariance approach (Dore et al., hydrological response processes is needed. 2012). The sites consist of (1) a dense, unmanaged forest, A major challenge to understanding impacts of forest (2) a similar forest treated with restoration thinning, and management actions on ET arises from the difficulty in (3) a former forest that was converted to grassland by estimating ET accurately over large areas. Forest ET can be intense wildfire. The meteorological models that we used measured by numerous methods, such as site water have shown potential for accurate ET prediction (e.g. balance, lysimeters, sap flow, Bowen ratio, and plant Fisher et al., 2005; Morales et al., 2005), yet they have not chambers (Jackson et al., 2000; Moncrieff et al., 2000), but been adequately evaluated for the ponderosa pine region of the eddy covariance (eddy) approach is considered to be the south-western USA where landscape-scale forest accurate (Wilson et al., 2001; Baldocchi and Ryu, 2011; restoration treatments are being implemented and intense Barr et al., 2012). Despite advances in ET measurement by wildfires are common. The meteorological models that we the eddy approach, accurate estimation of annual ET in investigated are Penman–Monteith (P-M), P-M with forests using this approach remains challenging over broad dynamic stomatal resistance (P-M-d), Priestley–Taylor landscapes because of the difficulty of establishing and (P-T), McNaughton–Black (M-B), and Shuttleworth– maintaining eddy systems in remote locations and the Wallace (S-W). influence of complex topography that can prevent adequate measurement of energy balance closure (Baldocchi et al., 1988; Foken, 2008; Reba et al., 2009). To overcome these MATERIAL AND METHODS challenges, models that predict ET from site and climate data have been used, and ET predictions from these models Study sites have been compared with eddy ET for coniferous forests in We used three study sites located within the ponderosa- several studies (e.g. Federer et al., 1996; Cienciala et al., pine-dominated forest region of northern Arizona that 1998; Sun et al., 2002; Fisher et al., 2005). differ in disturbance and for which ET was measured with Comparisons of modelled and measured ET have the eddy covariance method over several years by Dore generally used only short time series, have neither et al. (2008, 2010, 2012). The three sites (control, fire, and included multiple years nor included recently disturbed restoration) were located less than 35 km apart near forests (e.g. Fisher et al., 2005) nor focused on forests Flagstaff, AZ, USA. Site characteristics were described in with complex climatic influences on the seasonality of ET, detail by Dore et al. (2010). In brief, the control site was a such as is the case in the south-western