• Energy Research
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Drought and heat events, such as the 2018 European drought, interact with the exchange of energy between the land surface and the atmosphere, potentially affecting albedo, sensible and latent heat fluxes, as well as CO 2 exchange. Each of these quantities may aggravate or mitigate the drought, heat, their side effects on productivity, water scarcity and global warming. We used measurements of 56 eddy covariance sites across Europe to examine the response of fluxes to extreme drought prevailing most of the year 2018 and how the response differed across various ecosystem types (forests, grasslands, croplands and peatlands). Each component of the surface radiation and energy balance observed in 2018 was compared to available data per site during a reference period 2004–2017. Based on anomalies in precipitation and reference evapotranspiration, we classified 46 sites as drought affected. These received on average 9% more solar radiation and released 32% more sensible heat to the atmosphere compared to the mean of the reference period. In general, drought decreased net CO 2 uptake by 17.8%, but did not significantly change net evapotranspiration. The response of these fluxes differed characteristically between ecosystems; in particular, the general increase in the evaporative index was strongest in peatlands and weakest in croplands. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale’.

Abstract Terrestrial evapotranspiration (ET) is thermodynamically expected to increase with increasing atmospheric temperature; however, the actual constraints on the intensification of ET remain uncertain due to a lack of direct observations. Based on the FLUXNET2015 Dataset, we found that relative humidity (RH) is a more important driver of ET than temperature. While actual ET decrease at reduced RH, potential ET increases, consistently with the complementary relationship (CR) framework stating that the fraction of energy not used for actual ET is dissipated as increased sensible heat flux that in turn increases potential ET. In this study, we proposed an improved CR formulation requiring no parameter calibration and assessed its reliability in estimating ET both at site-level with the FLUXNET2015 Dataset and at basin-level. Using the ERA-Interim meteorological dataset for 1979–2017 to calculate ET, we found that the global terrestrial ET showed an increasing trend until 1998, while the trend started to decline afterwards. Such decline was largely associated with a reduced RH, inducing water stress conditions that triggered stomatal closure to conserve water. For the first time, this study quantified the global-scale implications of changes in RH on terrestrial ET, indicating that the temperature-driven acceleration of the terrestrial water cycle will be likely constrained by terrestrial vegetation feedbacks.

Abstract The eddy covariance is a powerful technique to estimate the surface-atmosphere exchange of different scalars at the ecosystem scale. The EC method is central to the ecosystem component of the Integrated Carbon Observation System, a monitoring network for greenhouse gases across the European Continent. The data processing sequence applied to the collected raw data is complex, and multiple robust options for the different steps are often available. For Integrated Carbon Observation System and similar networks, the standardisation of methods is essential to avoid methodological biases and improve comparability of the results. We introduce here the steps of the processing chain applied to the eddy covariance data of Integrated Carbon Observation System stations for the estimation of final CO2, water and energy fluxes, including the calculation of their uncertainties. The selected methods are discussed against valid alternative options in terms of suitability and respective drawbacks and advantages. The main challenge is to warrant standardised processing for all stations in spite of the large differences in e.g. ecosystem traits and site conditions. The main achievement of the Integrated Carbon Observation System eddy covariance data processing is making CO2 and energy flux results as comparable and reliable as possible, given the current micrometeorological understanding and the generally accepted state-of-the-art processing methods.