scholarly journals Evaporation suppression and energy balance of water reservoirs covered with self-assembling floating elements

Author(s):  
Milad Aminzadeh ◽  
Peter Lehmann ◽  
Dani Or

Abstract. The growing pressure on natural fresh water resources and projected climate variability would expand the need for water storage during rainy periods. Evaporative losses present a challenge to efficient water storage reservoirs, especially in arid regions with chronic water shortages. Among the various methods for suppressing evaporative losses, the use of self-assembling floating elements offers a simple and scalable solution especially for small reservoirs. The use of floating elements is not new, yet the science behind the design and the resulting performance including other effects on the water body remain empirical. We propose a systematic approach for modeling the energy balance and fluxes from covered water surfaces considering element geometry, radiative properties and local conditions. The water energy balance equation was linked to the energy balance of floating discs on the surface of reservoir to consider the effect of surface coverage and cover properties on radiative energy storage within the water body and surface heat fluxes. The modeling results demonstrated significant drop in evaporative losses from covered reservoirs where incoming radiative flux is primarily intercepted by the cover surface and released into the atmosphere in form of long wave radiation and sensible heat fluxes yielding much higher Bowen ratio over covered relative to uncovered water reservoirs. The theoretical approach provides a scientific basis for an important water resource protection strategy and a predictive framework for design purposes.

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 4015-4032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milad Aminzadeh ◽  
Peter Lehmann ◽  
Dani Or

Abstract. The growing pressure on natural freshwater resources and the projected climate variability are expected to increase the need for water storage during rainy periods. Evaporative losses present a challenge for the efficiency of water storage in reservoirs, especially in arid regions with chronic water shortages. Among the available methods for suppressing evaporative losses, self-assembling floating elements offer a simple and scalable solution, especially for small reservoirs. The use of floating elements has often been empirically based; we thus seek a framework for systematic consideration of floating element properties, local climate and reservoir conditions to better predict evaporative loss, energy balance and heat fluxes from covered water reservoirs. We linked the energy balance of the water column with energy considerations of the floating elements. Results suggest significant suppression of evaporative losses from covered reservoirs in which incoming radiative energy is partitioned to sensible and long wave fluxes that reduce latent heat flux and thus increase the Bowen ratio over covered water reservoirs. Model findings were consistent with laboratory-scale observations using an uncovered and covered small basin. The study offers a physically based framework for testing design scenarios in terms of evaporation suppression efficiency for various climatic conditions; it hence strengthens the science in the basis of this important water resource conservation strategy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 901-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Langer ◽  
S. Westermann ◽  
S. Muster ◽  
K. Piel ◽  
J. Boike

Abstract. Permafrost thawing is essentially determined by the surface energy balance, which potentially triggers the activation of a massive carbon source, if previously frozen organic soils are exposed to microbial decomposition. In this article, we present the first part of a comprehensive annual surface energy balance study performed at a polygonal tundra landscape in northeast Siberia, realized between spring 2007 and winter 2009. This part of the study focuses on the half year period from April to September 2007–2008, during which the surface energy balance is obtained from independent measurements of the radiation budget, the turbulent heat fluxes and the ground heat flux at several sites. The short-wave radiation is the dominant factor in the surface energy balance during the entire observation period. About 50% of the available net radiation is consumed by latent heat flux, while the sensible and the ground heat flux are both on the order of 20 to 30%. The ground heat flux is mainly consumed by active layer thawing, where 60% of soil energy storage are attributed to. The remainder is used for soil warming down to a depth of 15 m. The controlling factors for the surface energy partitioning are in particular the snow cover, the cloud cover and the soil temperature gradient. Significant surface temperature differences of the heterogeneous landscape indicate spatial variabilities of sensible and latent heat fluxes, which are verified by measurements at different locations. However, differences in the partition between sensible and latent heat flux for the different sites only exist during conditions of high radiative forcing, which only occur occasionally.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juditha Undine Schmidt ◽  
Bernd Etzelmüller ◽  
Thomas Vikhamar Schuler ◽  
Florence Magnin ◽  
Julia Boike ◽  
...  

Abstract. Permafrost degradation in steep rock walls and associated slope destabilization have been studied increasingly in recent years. While most studies focus on mountainous and sub-Arctic regions, the occurring thermo-mechanical processes play an important role also in the high Arctic. A more precise understanding is required to assess the risk of natural hazards enhanced by permafrost warming in high Arctic rock walls. This study presents rock surface temperature measurements of coastal and non-coastal rock walls in a high Arctic setting on Svalbard. We applied the surface energy balance model CryoGrid 3 for evaluation, including adjusted radiative forcing to account for vertical rock walls. Our measurements and model results show that rock surface temperatures at coastal cliffs are up to 1.5 °C higher than non-coastal rock walls when the fjord is ice-free in the winter season, resulting from additional energy input due to higher air temperatures at the coast and radiative warming by relatively warm seawater. An ice layer on the fjord counteracts this effect, leading to similar rock surface temperatures as in non-coastal settings. Our results include a simulated surface energy balance with short-wave radiation as the dominant energy source during spring and summer, and long-wave radiation being the main energy loss. While sensible heat fluxes can both warm and cool the surface, latent heat fluxes are mostly insignificant. Simulations for future climate conditions result in a warming of rock surface temperatures and a deepening of active layer thickness for both coastal and non-coastal rock walls. Our field data present a unique data set of rock surface temperatures in steep high Arctic rock walls, while our model can contribute towards the understanding of factors influencing coastal and non-coastal settings and the associated surface energy balance.


1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1359-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. N. FLERCHINGER ◽  
J. M. BAKER ◽  
E. J. A. SPAANS

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1817-1831 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Alkhaier ◽  
G. N. Flerchinger ◽  
Z. Su

Abstract. Understanding when and how groundwater affects surface temperature and energy fluxes is significant for utilizing remote sensing in groundwater studies and for integrating aquifers within land surface models. To investigate the shallow groundwater effect under bare soil conditions, we numerically exposed two soil profiles to identical metrological forcing. One of the profiles had shallow groundwater. The different responses that the two profiles manifested were inspected regarding soil moisture, temperature and energy balance at the land surface. The findings showed that the two profiles differed in three aspects: the absorbed and emitted amounts of energy, the portioning out of the available energy and the heat fluency in the soil. We concluded that due to their lower albedo, shallow groundwater areas reflect less shortwave radiation and consequently get a higher magnitude of net radiation. When potential evaporation demand is sufficiently high, a large portion of the energy received by these areas is consumed for evaporation. This increases the latent heat flux and reduces the energy that could have heated the soil. Consequently, lower magnitudes of both sensible and ground heat fluxes are caused to occur. The higher soil thermal conductivity in shallow groundwater areas facilitates heat transfer between the top soil and the subsurface, i.e. soil subsurface is more thermally connected to the atmosphere. For the reliability of remote sensors in detecting shallow groundwater effect, it was concluded that this effect can be sufficiently clear to be detected if at least one of the following conditions occurs: high potential evaporation and high contrast between day and night temperatures. Under these conditions, most day and night hours are suitable for shallow groundwater depth detection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Imukova ◽  
J. Ingwersen ◽  
M. Hevart ◽  
T. Streck

Abstract. The energy balance of eddy covariance (EC) flux data is typically not closed. The nature of the gap is usually not known, which hampers using EC data to parameterize and test models. In the present study we cross-checked the evapotranspiration data obtained with the EC method (ETEC) against ET rates measured with the soil water balance method (ETWB) at winter wheat stands in southwest Germany. During the growing seasons 2012 and 2013, we continuously measured, in a half-hourly resolution, latent heat (LE) and sensible (H) heat fluxes using the EC technique. Measured fluxes were adjusted with either the Bowen-ratio (BR), H or LE post-closure method. ETWB was estimated based on rainfall, seepage and soil water storage measurements. The soil water storage term was determined at sixteen locations within the footprint of an EC station, by measuring the soil water content down to a soil depth of 1.5 m. In the second year, the volumetric soil water content was additionally continuously measured in 15 min resolution in 10 cm intervals down to 90 cm depth with sixteen capacitance soil moisture sensors. During the 2012 growing season, the H post-closed LE flux data (ETEC =  3.4 ± 0.6 mm day−1) corresponded closest with the result of the WB method (3.3 ± 0.3 mm day−1). ETEC adjusted by the BR (4.1 ± 0.6 mm day−1) or LE (4.9 ± 0.9 mm day−1) post-closure method were higher than the ETWB by 24 and 48 %, respectively. In 2013, ETWB was in best agreement with ETEC adjusted with the H post-closure method during the periods with low amount of rain and seepage. During these periods the BR and LE post-closure methods overestimated ET by about 46 and 70 %, respectively. During a period with high and frequent rainfalls, ETWB was in-between ETEC adjusted by H and BR post-closure methods. We conclude that, at most observation periods on our site, LE is not a major component of the energy balance gap. Our results indicate that the energy balance gap is made up by other energy fluxes and unconsidered or biased energy storage terms.


2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1365-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Antonio Costa dos Santos ◽  
Bernardo Barbosa da Silva ◽  
Tantravahi Venkata Ramana Rao ◽  
Christopher Michael Usher Neale

The objective of this work was to evaluate the reliability of eddy covariance measurements, analyzing the energy balance components, evapotranspiration and energy balance closure in dry and wet growing seasons, in a banana orchard. The experiment was carried out at a farm located within the irrigation district of Quixeré, in the Lower Jaguaribe basin, in Ceará state, Brazil. An eddy covariance system was used to measure the turbulent flux. An automatic weather station was installed in a grass field to obtain the reference evapotranspiration (ET0) from the combined FAO-Penman-Monteith method. Wind speed and vapor pressure deficit are the most important variables on the evaporative process in both growing seasons. In the dry season, the heat fluxes have a similar order of magnitude, and during the wet season the latent heat flux is the largest. The eddy covariance system had acceptable reliability in measuring heat flux, with actual evapotranspiration results comparing well with those obtained by using the water balance method. The energy balance closure had good results for the study area, with mean values of 0.93 and 0.86 for the dry and wet growing seasons respectively.


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