Reconnoitering the effect of shallow groundwater on land surface temperature and surface energy balance using MODIS and SEBS

Abstract

Abstract. The possibility of observing shallow groundwater depth and areal extent using satellite measurements can support groundwater models and vast irrigation systems management. Besides, these measurements help bringing groundwater effect on surface energy balance within land surface models and climate studies. To inspect the MODIS capacity of detecting shallow groundwater effect on land surface temperature and surface energy balance in an area within Al-Balikh River basin in northern Syria, we investigated the interrelationship between in-situ measured water table depths and land surface temperatures of MODIS. Further, we used the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) to calculate surface energy fluxes, evaporative fraction and daily evaporation, and inspected their relationships with water table depths. In agreement with the findings of a companion paper (Alkhaier et al., 2011), we found that daytime temperature increased and nighttime temperature decreased with increasing water table depth. Where water table depth increased, net radiation, latent and ground heat fluxes, evaporative fraction and daily evaporation decreased, while sensible heat flux increased. The clear observed relationships resulted from meeting both conditions concluded in the companion paper, i.e. high potential evaporation and big contrast in air temperature. Moreover, the prevailing conditions in this study area helped SEBS producing accurate estimates. We conclude that MODIS is suitable for shallow groundwater effect detection since it has proper imaging times and appropriate sensor accuracy; nevertheless, its coarse spatial resolution is disadvantageous.