Articles | Volume 25, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5175-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5175-2021
Research article
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24 Sep 2021
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 24 Sep 2021

Relative humidity gradients as a key constraint on terrestrial water and energy fluxes

Yeonuk Kim, Monica Garcia, Laura Morillas, Ulrich Weber, T. Andrew Black, and Mark S. Johnson

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Here, we present a novel physically based evaporation model to demonstrate that vertical relative humidity (RH) gradients from the land surface to the atmosphere tend to evolve towards zero due to land–atmosphere equilibration processes. Collapsing RH gradients on daily to yearly timescales indicate an emergent land–atmosphere equilibrium, making it possible to determine evapotranspiration using only meteorological information, independent of land surface conditions and vegetation controls.
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