Estimation of Evapotranspiration Based on a Modified Penman–Monteith–Leuning Model Using Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture

Abstract

Most of the current parameterization schemes for the Penman–Monteith–Leuning evapotranspiration (ET) model (PML) consider meteorological and energy factors and land use types, but the analysis of the effect of soil moisture (SM) changes on ET processes lacks sufficient attention. This paper proposes a parameterization scheme for the sensitive parameters of the PML model considering soil water content, i.e., coupling the land surface SM in the calculation of soil evaporation coefficient f and coupling the SM of the root zone layer in the calculation of maximum stomatal conductance gsx, respectively. The new parameterization scheme is validated at 13 flux sites worldwide and showed significant improvements in improving the correlation with measured values. Moreover, based on the analysis of the spatial distribution of soil evaporation and vegetation transpiration, and the correlation between SM and ET, the regional characteristics of the effect of SM on ET are further revealed. This study provides a new idea for conducting the fusion simulation of SM based on a PML model, which is useful for the subsequent development of the model.