Improved conditioning of SVAT models with observations of infrared surface temperatures

This paper reports on the use of an observed record of infrared surface temperature in conditioning SVAT model predictions of evapotranspiration. An investigation into whether such a time series can be employed to provide information on the dynamics of the land surface is presented. It is shown that calibration of modelled fluxes to observed responses of latent and sensible heat provides some constraint on model predictions. Significantly, calibrating the model to observations of the surface temperature showed constraint in estimates of cumulative evapotranspiration and also in the reproduction of the observed latent heat record. This result demonstrates that measurements of infrared temperature have some potential in improving the ability of land surface models to characterize surface heat fluxes. Using the infrared surface temperature records required some modification and the concept of a temperature difference approach is examined.