Premium
Discrimination of Soil Physical Parameters, Thermal Inertia, and Soil Moisture from Diurnal Surface Temperature Fluctuations
Author(s) -
Van De Griend A. A.,
Camillo P. J.,
Gurney R. J.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr021i007p00997
Subject(s) - water content , environmental science , soil science , moisture , soil thermal properties , thermal inertia , transpiration , flux (metallurgy) , groundwater recharge , heat flux , sensible heat , atmospheric sciences , hydrology (agriculture) , field capacity , thermal , soil water , groundwater , heat transfer , geology , geotechnical engineering , materials science , meteorology , geography , mechanics , biology , photosynthesis , aquifer , physics , metallurgy , botany
A coupled heat and moisture flux model was used to study the influence of soil physical parameters and moisture content on diurnal surface temperature fluctuations. The study was performed for a grass cover under summer and autumn conditions for four soil types, ranging from sand to clay. The results show that it may be possible to use the daily maximum and minimum surface temperature measurements to discriminate several soil physical characteristics, including soil moisture. Further, ignoring the lower boundary heat flux, as is usually done in thermal inertia mapping but which can vary substantially in relation to different hydrological recharge and discharge areas, may lead to significant errors in the interpretation of soil moisture, thermal inertia, and transpiration.