Multiple time scale evaluation of the energy balance during the maize growing season, and a new reason for energy imbalance

Abstract

Energy imbalance is a common problem associated with the measurement of surface energy using the eddy covariance method. In the evaluation of the energy balance, people usually pay more attention to the statistical result that the effective energy (the sum of sensible and latent heat) is systematically lower than the available energy (the difference of net radiation and ground heat flux). However, little attention has been paid to the existence of the reversed situation when the effective energy is larger than the available energy or their contribution to the overall energy closure rate. In this paper, based on the analysis of the energy balance on multiple time scales across the maize growth season, we conclude that the non-synchronization of energy components is the main reason for the existence of the reversed case. By shifting the phase of the effective energy components half an hour ahead, the rates of energy closure over all time scales are improved and dramatically reduce the number of the half-hourly samples when the energy ratio exceeds 1 or is below 0.5. According to the characteristics of the energy distribution and transformation over multiple time scales, latent heat is always the main type of energy cost, and the residual of the energy balance increases with the growth of the maize plant surpassing the sensible heat for seventy days. It is suggested that the heat storage and photosynthetic energy play an important role in the energy balance during the growing period of maize.