Analysis of surface energy balance closure over heterogeneous surfaces

Abstract

Surface energy balance closure has been examined using eddy covariance measurements and other observations at one industrial and three agricultural sites near the Nakdong River during daytime. Energy balance closure was evaluated by calculating the long-term averaged energy balance ratio (EBR), the ratio of turbulent energy fluxes to available energy, and the statistical regression of turbulent energy fluxes against available energy using half-hourly data. The EBR of all sites ranges from 0.46 to 0.83 while the coefficient of determination (R2) ranges from 0.37 to 0.77. The energy balance closure was relatively poor compared to homogeneous sites, indicating the influence of surface heterogeneity. Unmeasured heat storage terms also seem to play a role in the surface energy budget at the industrial and irrigated sites. The energy balance closure was better in conditions of high wind speed, low downward short wave radiation, and high friction velocity, which suggests the role of heat storage term and surface heterogeneity in surface energy balance at these sites. Spectrum analysis shows a sharp roll-off at the low frequency in co-spectrum, which indicates that low-frequency motions do not significantly contribute to turbulent fluxes. Both the spectra and cospectra in unstable conditions show a broad peak indicating the influence of multiple sizes of large eddies over heterogeneous sites. Most of ogive curves for the kinematic latent and sensible heat fluxes reach an asymptote within 30 minutes regardless of the EBR value, indicating that low frequency motion is not a main factor for energy imbalance. However, stationary eddies due to landscape heterogeneity still remains as a possible cause for energy imbalance.