Energy Imbalance and Evapotranspiration Hysteresis Under an Advective Environment: Evidence From Lysimeter, Eddy Covariance, and Energy Balance Modeling

Surface energy imbalance problems have been underexplored especially under advective environments. Here, we present a novel analysis of surface energy fluxes from three distinct approaches—weighing lysimeter, eddy covariance (EC), and surface energy balance modeling for the 2014 sorghum and 2016 corn crop seasons in Bushland, Texas. Our results suggest that energy imbalance problems in the EC system were evidently associated with two opposite evapotranspiration (ET) hysteresis patterns with respect to net radiation and water vapor pressure deficit (VPD). The lysimeter ET had the smallest ET hysteresis while the eddy covariance ET results indicated the strongest hysteresis with respect to net radiation. Conversely, the lysimeter ET hysteresis related to water VPD was stronger than that of the eddy covariance method. This study provides understanding of ET hysteresis patterns, energy imbalance, and advective conditions associated with turbulent flux dynamics for both diel and crop growing seasonal timescales in Bushland, Texas.