Spatial precipitation and evapotranspiration in the typical steppe of Inner Mongolia, China – A model based approach using MODIS data

Variability and distribution of spatial evapotranspiration in semi arid Inner Mongolian grasslands from 2002 to 2011

“…For this study, we used BROOK90 (Federer 2002 Federer et al 2003 ), a sophisticated and process-oriented hydrological model that simulates the components of the total ET, transpiration (T), evaporation from intercepted rain (E i ) and soil evaporation (E), by a physically-based two-layer model (Shuttleworth and Wallace 1985 ), as well as vertical soil water movement and streamflow for a certain location at a daily time-step. BROOK90 has been applied for a variety of water balance related studies, e.g., Combalicer et al ( 2010 ), Armbruster et al ( 2004 ), Schwärzel et al ( 2007 2009 ), Vilhar et al ( 2010 ) and Schaffrath et al ( 2013 ). The model is parameter-rich: soil hydraulic parameters and root density are parameterised for several layers below ground, since matrix potential and hydraulic conductivity are essential for the simulation of soil water movement.…”

“…A more detailed background on the initial parameterisation of BROOK90 for the grasslands of the study area, validation and simulated results at the experimental field sites of MAGIM are summarised by Vetter et al ( 2012 ) and Schaffrath et al ( 2013 ). This study is based on the initial parameterisation of the model with several modifications for the application in a much larger area.…”

“…Local P was estimated for more than 3000 grid cells in this remote area based on the linear relationship between MODIS LAI gain and measured P around six gauging stations (R 2 = 0.76, n = 90) (cp. Schaffrath et al 2013 ). In this paper we tested the robustness of this approach with a larger dataset (270 observations).…”

“…Hence, the objective of this study is the identification of the spatial and temporal variability of ET and T in the grasslands of the Xilin river catchment over a longer period and the spatial pattern of long-term ET. Therefore, we applied the approach of Schaffrath et al ( 2013 ), which allows for the spatial application of the hydrological model BROOK90 (Federer 2002 ) and thus, the calculation of ET and its components (E, T and E i ) during the vast bulk of the rainy season and vegetation period. The approach of Schaffrath et al ( 2013 ) clearly showed the capability of detecting the spatial and temporal distribution of P and ET in this area in 1 km and 8-day resolution with only a few additional ground-based data, mainly needed for model calibration.…”

Grazing intensity effects on the partitioning of evapotranspiration in the semiarid typical steppe ecosystems in Inner Mongolia

“…The partitioning of ET is believed to be one of the most important challenges in understanding ecosystem dynamics in semiarid and arid areas (Huxman et al , ). Models have been used to address the partitioning of ET in the typical steppes over several growing seasons (Hu et al, ; Huang et al, ; Vetter et al, ; Schaffrath et al, ). However, strong agreement between simulated ET and measurements cannot ensure the accuracy of ET partitioning.…”