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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Boise, Idaho » Northwest Watershed Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #65780
Title: ENERGY BALANCE DYNAMICS ON A SHRUB-DOMINATED WATERSHED

Author
item Wight, J
item Hanson, Clayton
item Flerchinger, Gerald

Submitted to: Wildland Shrub Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Energy fluxes vary significantly in time and space within arid and semiarid ecosystems. An understanding of these fluxes, their magnitude and dynamics, is important to the study of plant and animal dynamics and hydrological processes within these ecosystems. We measured growing season energy fluxes within a shrub-dominated watershed in southwestern Idaho, using a Bowen ratio-energy balance system. On clear days, net radiation averaged between 40 and 50 percent of the incoming solar radiation with the highest values occurring during spring and early summer before the grasses and forbs began to senesce. Albedo averaged between 13 and 17 percent with little seasonal or diurnal variation. The highest values were recorded on the A. tridentata wyomingensis site which was drier than the other sites. This site also contributed the most energy to downwind advection. Simulation energy fluxes using the SHAW model were in good agreement with field-measured values.