Reflective bands of Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper satellite imagery were used to facilitate the estimation of basal crop evapotranspiration (ETcb), or potential crop water use, in San Joaquin Valley fields during 2008. A ground-based digital camera measured green fractional cover (Fc) of 49 commercial fields planted to 18 different crop types (row crops, grains, orchard, vineyard) of varying maturi...

Daily evapotranspiration (ET) rates are needed for irrigation scheduling. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining accurate field measurements, ET rates are commonly estimated from weather parameters. A few empirical or semi–empirical methods have been developed for assessing daily reference crop ET, which is converted to actual crop ET using crop coefficients. The FAO Penman–Monteith method, which...

Dryland river basins frequently support both irrigated agriculture and riparian vegetation and remote sensing methods are needed to monitor water use by both crops and natural vegetation in irrigation districts. We developed an algorithm for estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on...

A stand of five conifers (Pinus sp.) bordering a gasoline service station was studied to estimate the methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) emission rate from gasoline-impacted groundwater. Groundwater was impacted with gasoline oxygenates MTBE and tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) at combined concentrations exceeding 200,000 microg/L. Condensate from trees was collected in sealed environmental chambers and an...

Modified Bellani plate atmometer has been offered as an alternative and simpler technique to combination-based equations to estimate evapotranspiration ~ET! rate from green grass surface. However, there is a lack of information on its’ accuracy in humid climates. The evaporation rate sEAd from one type of atmometer marketed under the brand name ETgage® ~or ETG! with a Number 30 green canvas cov...

Incoming solar radiation derived from GOES-8 satellite observations, in combination with local meteorological measurements, were used to model evapotranspiration from a wetland. The wetland experiment was conducted in the Paynes Prairie Preserve, North Central Florida during a growing season characterized by significant convective activity. The satellite solar radiation measurements generally a...