Evapotranspiration in the Amazon: spatial patterns, seasonality, and recent trends in observations, reanalysis, and climate models

Baker, Jessica C. A.; Garcia-Carreras, Luis; Gloor, Manuel; Marsham, John H.; Buermann, Wolfgang; da Rocha, Humberto R.; Nobre, Antonio D.; de Araujo, Alessandro Carioca; Spracklen, Dominick V.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2279-2021

Articles | Volume 25, issue 4

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2279-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2279-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 4

Research article

|

28 Apr 2021

Research article |

| 28 Apr 2021

Evapotranspiration in the Amazon: spatial patterns, seasonality, and recent trends in observations, reanalysis, and climate models

Jessica C. A. Baker, Luis Garcia-Carreras, Manuel Gloor, John H. Marsham, Wolfgang Buermann, Humberto R. da Rocha, Antonio D. Nobre, Alessandro Carioca de Araujo, and Dominick V. Spracklen

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-2279-2021-supplement

Data sets

The climate hazards infrared precipitation with stations – a new environmental record for monitoring extremes (https://data.chc.ucsb.edu/products/CHIRPS-2.0/global_monthly/netcdf/) Chris Funk, Pete Peterson, Martin Landsfeld, Diego Pedreros, James Verdin, Shraddhanand Shukla, Gregory Husak, James Rowland, Laura Harrison, Andrew Hoell, and Joel Michaelsen https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2015.66

JPL GRACE and GRACE-FO Mascon Ocean, Ice, and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height Coastal Resolution Improvement (CRI) Filtered Release 06 Version 02 (https://podaac-opendap.jpl.nasa.gov/opendap/allData/tellus/L3/mascon/RL06/JPL/v02/CRI/netcdf/) D. N. Wiese, D.-N. Yuan, C. Boening, F. W. Landerer, and M. M. Watkins https://doi.org/10.5067/TEMSC-3JC62

MODIS Global Terrestrial Evapotranspiration (ET) Product (MOD16A2/A3 and Year-End Gap-Filled MOD16A2GF/A3GF) NASA Earth Observing System MODIS Land Algorithm (For Collection 6) (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/ mod16a2v006/) S. W. Running, Q. Mu, M. Zhao, and A. Moreno https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD16A2.006

A continuous satellite-derived global record of land surface evapotranspiration from 1983 to 2006 (http://files.ntsg.umt.edu/data/ET_global_monthly/Global_8kmResolution/) Ke Zhang, John S. Kimball, Ramakrishna R. Nemani, and Steven W. Running https://doi.org/10.1029/2009wr008800

GLEAM v3: satellite-based land evaporation and root-zone soil moisture (https://www.gleam.eu/#downloads) Brecht Martens, Diego G. Miralles, Hans Lievens, Robin van der Schalie, Richard A. M. de Jeu, Diego Fernández-Prieto, Hylke E. Beck, Wouter A. Dorigo, and Niko E. C. Verhoest https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-1903-2017

ERA5 monthly averaged data on single levels from 1979 to present (https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/cdsapp#!/dataset/reanalysis-era5-single-levels-monthly-means?tab=overview) H. Hersbach, B. Bell, P. Berrisford, G. Biavati, A. Horányi, J. Muñoz Sabater, J. Nicolas, C. Peubey, R. Radu, I. Rozum, D. Schepers, A. Simmons, C. Soci, D. Dee, and J.-N. Thépaut https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.f17050d7

An Overview of CMIP5 and the Experiment Design (https://esgf-index1.ceda.ac.uk/search/cmip5-ceda/) K. E. Taylor, R. J. Stouffer, and G. A. Meehl https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-11-00094.1

Overview of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) experimental design and organization (https://esgf-index1.ceda.ac.uk/search/cmip6-ceda/) Veronika Eyring, Sandrine Bony, Gerald A. Meehl, Catherine A. Senior, Bjorn Stevens, Ronald J. Stouffer, and Karl E. Taylor https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-1937-2016

CLARA-A1: CM SAF cLouds, Albedo and Radiation dataset from AVHRR data, Edition 1 – Monthly Means / Daily Means / Pentad Means / Monthly Histograms (https://wui.cmsaf.eu/safira/action/viewProduktDetails?fid=2&eid=20506) Karl-Göran Karlsson, Aku Riihelä, Richard Müller, Jan Fokke Meirink, Joseph Sedlar, Martin Stengel, Maarit, Lockhoff, Jörg Trentmann, Frank Kaspar, Rainer Hollmann, and Erwin Wolters https://doi.org/10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/CLARA_AVHRR/V001

MOD15A2H MODIS/Terra Leaf Area Index/FPAR 8-Day L4 Global 500m SIN Grid V006 (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/mod15a2hv006/) R. Myneni, Y. Knyazikhin, and T. Park https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD15A2H.006

LBA-ECO CD-32 Flux Tower Network Data Compilation, Brazilian Amazon: 1999–2006 (https://daac.ornl.gov/cgi-bin/dsviewer.pl?ds_id=1174) S. R. Saleska, H. R. da Rocha, A. R. Huete, A. D. Nobre, P. E. Artaxo, and Y. E. Shimabukuro https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1174

Catchment-scale estimates of Amazon evapotranspiration Jessica C. A. Baker https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4271331

Error estimates of Amazon catchment-balance evapotranspiration Jessica C. A. Baker https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4580292

amazon_et: Amazon evapotranspiration scripts for HESS Jessica C. A. Baker https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4580447

Short summary

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a vital part of the Amazon water cycle, but it is difficult to measure over large areas. In this study, we compare spatial patterns, seasonality, and recent trends in Amazon ET from a water-budget analysis with estimates from satellites, reanalysis, and global climate models. We find large differences between products, showing that many widely used datasets and climate models may not provide a reliable representation of this crucial variable over the Amazon.