evapoRe: An R-based application for exploratory data analysis of evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key climate indicator closely related to the water, energy, and carbon cycles. ET datasets are produced using various methods, including satellite-based observations, hydrological models, and reanalysis. However, relying on a single ET product might lead to high uncertainty due to the spatio-temporal inhomogeneity of the dataset, highlighting the crucial need for multiple available options. evapoRe addresses the pressing issue of inhomogeneous ET datasets. This package (available at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=evapoRe) is a pivotal tool in a landscape where diverse organizations and data providers implement varying criteria, resulting in inconsistent ET datasets. evapoRe facilitates the downloading, exploration, visualization, and analysis of ET data at monthly time step and 0.25 resolution (BESS v2.0, CAMELE, ERA5, ERA5-Land, GLEAM v3.7a, JRA-55, FLDAS, GLDAS-CLSM v2.1, GLDAS-NOAH v2.1, GLDAS-VIC v2.1, TerraClimate, MERRA-2, and ETMonitor). Further, with evapoRe, Potential ET (PET) can be calculated using temperature-based methods. In this way, evapoRe enhances ET and PET analysis by integrating diverse datasets, empowering researchers to understand water cycle change and refine models for predicting droughts and climate impacts, fundamentally advancing hydrological and climate science.