GOES surface insolation to estimate wetlands evapotranspiration

Incoming solar radiation derived from GOES-8 satellite observations, in combination with local meteorological measurements, were used to model evapotranspiration from a wetland. The wetland experiment was conducted in the Paynes Prairie Preserve, North Central Florida during a growing season characterized by significant convective activity. The satellite solar radiation measurements generally agreed with pyranometer data gathered at the site. The satellite net radiation estimates were in good agreement with the 30-min averages of measured net radiometer data. Satellite derived net radiation estimates were used in the Penman–Monteith and Priestley–Taylor models to calculate evapotranspiration. The calculated instantaneous evaporative fluxes were in good agreement with 30-min average ground-based eddy correlation system measurements. The daily averages of modeled evapotranspiration were in very good agreement (r2=0.90) with reference eddy flux measurements.