A Study of Energy Budget at the Air-Ground Interface

Abstract

Energy budget at the air-ground interface over bare soil on a fine summer day was studied by the direct measurement of each component. Net radiation and sensible and latent heat fluxes were measured at the height of about 2m, and heat transfer into the ground was measured as the sum of the rate of time change of heat storage in the skin layer of the ground and heat conduction through the bottom of the skin layer. The results shows that, on the whole day, the net incoming radiation of 406 ly is balanced by the sensible heat flux of 79 ly, latent heat flux of 212 ly and heat transport into the ground of 107 ly. However, the energy budget in a short time period is not balanced, which may be caused by the underestimation of heat storage in the surface skin layer of the ground.