2011 Volume 5 Pages 88-92
Evapotranspiration over forest surfaces is mainly constrained by environmental and forest structural components through their influence on surface conductance (Gs) and aerodynamic conductance (Ga). Tower based eddy covariance data from 16 forest sites in East Asia (2°S to 64°N) were used to examine the sensitivity of Matsumoto and Nakai models for predicting Gs and Ga, respectively. Daytime dry-canopy data for the growing season were used in this study. Comparisons between model predictions and observed Gs and Ga showed good agreement, suggesting that the models were suitable for predicting Gs and Ga with reasonable accuracy. However, the model for Gs was unable to predict Gs accurately when soil water content was low (∼10%). In this circumstance, effective soil water content and a more comprehensive method for modelling the soil water content function must be used. Gs in East Asia was largely depended on vapour pressure deficit and secondarily on soil water content. Ga was largely affected by leaf area index compared with stand density.
