Thermal radiation and energy closure assessment in evapotranspiration estimation for remote sensing validation

Where human populations exist, water and its proper management remain a critical and important issue across diverse regions of the world. This is particularly acute in semiarid regions. The proper allocation and management of limited water resources in locations that are vast in spatial extent necessitate important surface and meteorological information in order to accurately estimate evapotranspiration (ET) at relevant spatial and temporal resolutions. The need for an accurate accounting of consumptive water use continues to dominate ET research, largely because in many regions throughout the world, available water resources are insufficient to meet all water use demands. Thus, an accurate accounting of consumptive water use (or ET) through evaporation (soil and/or plant surfaces) is indispensible (Brutsaert 1982) and is at the core of many hydrologic studies.