Comparative Analysis of Evapotranspiration Estimates: Applying Data from Meteorological Ground Station, ERA5-Land, and MODIS with ECOSTRESS Observations across Grasslands in Central-Western Poland

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze and compare evapotranspiration estimates obtained from different data sources over grassland regions in central-western Poland during the vegetation seasons in the years 2021 and 2022. The dataset provided includes evapotranspiration (ET) estimates derived from three sources: (1) evapotranspiration measurements from the ECOSTRESS satellite; (2) evapotranspiration estimates calculated using the energy balance method based on ERA5-Land meteorological data with land surface temperature (LST) from MODIS; and (3) evapotranspiration estimates with meteorological data derived from ground measurements replacing ERA5-Land data and using MODIS LST for the surface temperature. For the second and third sources, where the energy balance method (Penman–Monteith) was applied, the data used for the ET calculation were obtained from the nearest ground-based meteorological station to the test fields, with the most distant fields being up to 40 km away in a straight line. In addition, for comparison, the MOD16 global evapotranspiration product was added. In a study conducted in the central-western region of Poland, specifically in Wielkopolska (NUTS2–PL41), 18 grassland plots ranging in size from 0.36 to 21.34 ha were studied, providing valuable insights into the complex relationships between environmental parameters and evapotranspiration processes. The evapotranspiration derived from different sources was tested by applying correlation with soil moisture and the height of the grass obtained from ground measurements. It was found that the evapotranspiration data derived from ECOSTRESS had the best correlation with soil moisture (r = 0.46, p < 0.05) and the height of the grass (r = 0.45, p < 0.05), both of which were statistically significant. The values of the ground measurements (soil moisture and vegetation height were considered as verification for the evapotranspiration precision). In addition, the information about precipitation and air temperature during the time of measurements was considered as the verification for the evapotranspiration conditions. Comparisons between ECOSTRESS data and other sources suggest that ECOSTRESS measurements may offer the most precise estimates of evapotranspiration in the studied region.