Estimation of surface energy fluxes from remotely sensed data over Akure, Nigeria

Abstract

The spatial variation and composition of surface energy fluxes across different land use over Akure, Nigeria has been investigated using the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) approach. In 1984, built up area had the lowest net radiation with a mean value of 472.56 W/m2, while the highest net radiation was over the forested area (mean value of 528.93 W/m2). For sensible heat flux, the highest values were observed over the built-up areas with a mean of 245.5 W/m2 and the lowest values over the forested areas (mean value of 160.5 W/m2). Latent heat flux was highest over the forested area with a mean value of 304.1 W/m2 while the built-up area had the lowest latent heat (mean value of 164.3 W/m2). Similar spatial distribution of the surface energy fluxes was observed in 2014. This shows that the distribution of the surface energy fluxes across Akure varies based on the features of the different land covers. Error analysis showed poor estimation of soil heat flux from SEBAL. SEBAL model can be applied for the estimation of surface energy fluxes in areas of sparse ground station data and can also reveal the spatial variation of the energy fluxes.