The effect of cloud cover on the radiation-, energy- and carbon balance of a seasonally dry tropical forest in Brazil (Caatinga)

<p>The Caatinga is a seasonally dry tropical forest, which is the dominant vegetation type in the northeastern region of Brazil. Its many plant species have adapted to the semiarid climate through different biophysical and physiological traits and drought survival strategies. In recent years, this region has endured a number of prolonged droughts that have adversely affected this already severely water-limited region. Despite the relatively small amounts of rainfall (with annual rainfall ranging approximately between 100–800 mm/year), there is an almost perpetual occurrence of clouds due to the regional atmospheric circulation; broadly speaking cumulus or cumulonimbus in the rainy season, and mostly stratocumulus during the transition from wet to dry, and dry seasons.  We studied the effect of cloud cover on the radiation balance, as well on the surface energy- and carbon balance of a pristine Caatinga area from 2011 to 2018.</p><p>This study used radiation and weather data obtained from a SONDA BSRN radiation station, as well from a flux tower installed in the study area; both were near the urban areaofPetrolina, Brazil. Furthermore, radio-sounding data collected nearby were employed to obtain column integrated atmospheric water vapour, to estimate atmospheric emissivity.</p><p>We derived cloudiness from a number of indirect methods (using shortwave- and longwave incoming radiation) at diurnal, seasonal and multi-year timescales. We also employed observed cloud cover data, including those from sky-cameras, for verification.</p><p>Estimates of clear-sky atmospheric emissivity were required to determine cloud cover.  These were obtained from well-known equations (e.g., Brunt, Brutsaert and Prata) using tower air temperature and/or vapour pressure; calibration of the constants in these equations was required and their performance varied considerably. Occasionally, there were large differences between column integrated atmospheric water vapour and near-surface humidity; this had implications for estimates of atmospheric emissivity and hence of cloud cover.</p><p>Seasonal variations in turbidity varied by a factor of 2. Clear-sky conditions occurred for between 8-18% of the time, with the lowest percentage occurring for the wettest year (2011).</p><p>Despite its considerable effect on the radiation balance, the variation in cloud cover had a relatively modest effect only on the energy- and carbon balance fluxes. This has implications for our understanding of the Caatinga vegetation functioning, as well as for the development and testing of land surface models for this ecosystem.</p><p>This work has been supported by The Natural Environment Research Council (NE/N012488/1) and Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (Caatinga-FLUX Phase 2 APQ 0062-1.07/15).</p>

The influence of observed and modelled net longwave radiation on the rate of estimated potential evapotranspiration

Longwave radiation, as part of the radiation balance, is one of the factors needed to estimate potential evapotranspiration (PET). Since the longwave radiation balance is rarely measured, many computational methods have been designed. In this study, we report on the difference between the observed longwave radiation balance and modelling results obtained using the two main procedures outlined in FAO24 (relying on the measured sunshine duration) and FAO56 (based on the measured solar radiation) manuals. The performance of these equations was evaluated in the April–October period over eight years at the Liz experimental catchment and grass surface in the Bohemian Forest (Czech Republic). The coefficients of both methods, which describe the influence of cloudiness factor and atmospheric emissivity of the air, were calibrated. The Penman-Monteith method was used to calculate the PET. The use of default coefficient values gave errors of 40–100 mm (FAO56) and 0–20 mm (FAO24) for the seasonal PET estimates (the PET was usually overestimated). Parameter calibration decreased the FAO56 error to less than 20 mm per season (FAO24 remained unaffected by the calibration). The FAO56 approach with calibrated coefficients proved to be more suitable for estimation of the longwave radiation balance.

Evaluation of methods for estimating atmospheric emissivity in Mato-Grossense Cerrado

This study analyzed the performance of the Brunt (1932), Swinbank, (1963), Idso and Jackson (1969), Brutsaert (1975), Idso (1981), and Bignami et al. (1995) methods to estimate atmospheric emissivity under grass-dominated savannas (known as campo sujo Cerrado), in the region of Baixada Cuiabana. The estimates were compared with data obtained by energy balance equation in two seasons, dry season (May to August), and wet season (September to December) of 2009. The Swinbank and Idso and Jackson methods, that consider only air temperature, show better performances for the wet season. However, methods that consider water vapor pressure and air temperature (Brunt, Brutsaert, Bignami and Idso) show good performances for the dry season. The Idso and Brutsaert methods show the highest index of agreement and are recommended to estimate atmospheric emissivity for the region.

Parameterization of atmospheric longwave emissivity in a mountainous site for all sky conditions

Longwave radiation is an important component of the energy balance of the Earth's surface. The downward component, emitted by the clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere, is rarely measured, and is still not well understood. In mountainous areas, direct observations are even scarcer and the fitting of existing models is often subjected to local parameterization in order to surplus the particular physics of the atmospheric profiles. The influence of clouds makes it even harder to estimate for all sky conditions. This work presents a long-time continuous dataset of high-resolution longwave radiation measured in a weather station at a height of 2500 m a.s.l. in Sierra Nevada, Spain, together with the parameterization of the apparent atmospheric emissivity for clear and cloudy skies resulting from three different schemes. We evaluate the schemes of Brutsaert, and Crawford and Duchon with locally adjusted coefficients and compare them with a completely parametric expression adjusted for these data that takes into account three possible significant atmospheric states related to the cloud cover: clear, completely covered, and partly covered skies. All the parametric expressions are related to the screen-level values of temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation, which can be frequently found in standard weather stations. Unobserved cloudiness measurements needed for Brutsaert scheme for cloudy sky are also parameterized from screen-level measurements. The calibration performed for a 6-yr period at the study site resulted in satisfactory estimations of emissivity for all the analyzed schemes thanks to the local fitting of the parameterizations, with the best achievement found for the completely parametric expression. Further validation of the expressions in two alternative sites showed that the greater accuracy of the latter can also be found in very close sites, while a better performance of the Brutsaert scheme, with a more physical background and the successful parameterization of the clouds effect, is found in nearby sites outside the initial mountain range. The results show the feasibility for the local calibration of expressions to estimate instantaneous atmospheric emissivity for all sky conditions only using surface data, either with a completely parametric scheme if longwave data are available, or through obtaining of locally fitted coefficients for Brutsaert and derived schemes. Nevertheless, the best performance of the first approach would be at the expense of a reduced local applicability.

Parameterization of atmospheric long-wave emissivity in a mountainous site for all sky conditions

Long-wave radiation is an important component of the energy balance of the Earth's surface. The downward component, emitted by the clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere, is rarely measured, and is still not well understood. In mountainous areas, the models existing for its estimation through the emissivity of the atmosphere do not give good results, and worse still in the presence of clouds. In order to estimate this emissivity for any atmospheric state and in a mountainous site, we related it to the screen-level values of temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation. This permitted the obtaining of: (1) a new set of parametric equations and (2) the modification of the Brutsaert's equation for cloudy skies through the calibration of C factor to 0.34 and the parameterization of the cloud index N. Both fitted to the surface data measured at a weather station at a height of 2500 m a.s.l. in Sierra Nevada, Spain. This study analyzes separately three significant atmospheric states related to cloud cover, which were also deduced from the screen-level meteorological data. Clear and totally overcast skies are accurately represented by the new parametric expressions, while the intermediate situations corresponding to partly clouded skies, concentrate most of the dispersion in the measurements and, hence, the error in the simulation. Thus, the modeling of atmospheric emissivity is greatly improved thanks to the use of different equations for each atmospheric state.