Spatial and temporal variation of evapotranspiration estimated by MODIS data over South Asia

Evapotranspiration (ET) is an important part of land surface water cycle and plays a key role in water resource management. Because of economy development and climate change, water resource shortage has become a looming crisis threatening the countries´ security and social stability. Therefore, understanding the spatial and temporal pattern of ET change in South Asia has a significant impact. In this study, time series daily ET was estimated for South Asia in 2008 by using MODIS data combined with station observations and GLDAS data with SEBS energy balance model. Monthly ET estimation was calculated based on daily ET. Spatial and temporal analysis was conducted to analyze the daily ET temporal change for different land cover types located at different part of South. The results showed that the temporal change of rainfall has large impart on ET temporal variation. Quantification of ET in South Asia also suggested that the water availability is the major limitation to the evaporation and transpiration processes.