EGU22-12886
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12886
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Eddy-covariance measurements and surface energy balance in almond orchards. Results and challenges.

Juan Manuel Sánchez1, Llanos Simón2, Antonio Rodríguez1, Ramón López-Urrea2, José González1, Carolina Doña3, Joan Miquel Galve1, and Alfonso Calera1
Juan Manuel Sánchez et al.
  • 1Remote Sensing and GIS group, Regional Development Institute (IDR), University of Castilla-La Mancha, Av. España, s/n, 02071 Albacete, Spain (juanmanuel.sanchez@uclm.es)
  • 2Instituto Técnico Agronómico Provincial (ITAP) and FUNDESCAM, Parque Empresarial Campollano, 2ª Avda. Nº 61, 02007 Albacete, Spain
  • 3Dpto. de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Universitario, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain

This work is based on the energy flux measurements in almond orchards conducted in the framework of a research project focused on the water status monitoring of this crop in semi-arid environments. An eddy-covariance system was installed in a central location of a 11 ha young almond orchard in 2017 and data of the components of the energy balance equation were collected for 3 years. In 2020 the tower was moved to a nearby plot, to monitor a 10 ha mature almond orchard in this case. Both sites are located in Albacete (southeast Spain), and datasets are available through the European Fluxes Database Cluster.

The complex structure of the trees and the small size of the fields are a challenge for the characterization of the surface energy balance in almond orchards. This work analyzes the footprint area contributing to the turbulent flux measurements, as well as the energy balance closure as a function of the canopy height and the instruments deployment. Also, registered CO2 flux data allows a discussion on the behavior of the almond trees as carbon sinks in these environments.

Flux databases in woody crops are quite scarce in global networks. The measurement site introduced in this work will contribute with valuable flux data to the study of these expanding crops in semi-arid areas.

 

 

 

How to cite: Sánchez, J. M., Simón, L., Rodríguez, A., López-Urrea, R., González, J., Doña, C., Galve, J. M., and Calera, A.: Eddy-covariance measurements and surface energy balance in almond orchards. Results and challenges., EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-12886, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-12886, 2022.