Remote sensing estimation of land surface evapotranspiration of typical river basins in China

Land surface evapotranspiration (LET) from typical river basins in China in the years 1991, 1995 and 1999, was modelled with a quantitative remote sensing method, which is based on a modified version of the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) model. LET simulations were conducted on several river basins, and validations demonstrated good agreement with observational data on all basins, except the Yellow River. In the Yangtze River basin for example, the study analysed the change in LET corresponding to land use and land cover change from 1991 to 1999. Results showed that the average LET decreased when paddy fields, dry land, grassland, and built-up lands were transformed to other land cover types, and increased when forest land was transformed to dry land and grassland.