Inversion of the surface-energy-budget (SEB) for evapotranspiration using directional temperatures is susceptible to thermal-radiation-directionality. Here, we apply the SPARSE/SPARSE4 schemes for directionality analyses using ‘synthetic references’ from SCOPE: experiments from sparsely-vegetated/water-stressed to fully-vegetated/sufficiently-watered canopies. The SCOPE simulations were then used to invert/evaluate the aforementioned SEB methods. Since, oblique-versus-nadir-based retrievals should ideally be equivalent, analyses to check the angular retrieval consistency were performed. Within sparsely/densely vegetated surfaces, where anisotropy is usually low due to uniformity, little oblique-nadir retrieval inconsistencies were observed. Relatively larger inconsistencies were however observed at intermediate LAIs. With regard to other characteristics, the incoming-radiation (particularly around noon) appeared to be the main driver of the observed inconsistencies, with wind speed and vegetation water status also contributing to some of the mismatches. Influences from the soil water status were mostly in sparsely-vegetated surface experiments. SPARSE4, which discriminates illuminated from shaded elements, was nonetheless observed to reduce the retrieval inconsistencies in most of the scenarios (especially with increasing view and canopy-cover).