Abstract: | Sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat fluxes, soil moisture (SM) and surface temperatures (Ts) were analyzed from seven sites at FIFE to evaluate relationships among the spatial variability of evaporative fraction, EF, SM, and the diurnal surface temperature range (Tdr). Intersite correlations between EF and Tdr were significantly negative for regional average soil moisture SMr < 20 percent, insignificant for 20 < SMr < 27 percent, and slightly positive for SMr > 27 percent. Statistical analysis of the pooled correlation coefficient between EF and Tdr for SMr < 20 percent indicates that it is less than zero at a very high level of significance, while the pooled correlation coefficient for regional SMr > 27 percent is greater than zero at the 10 percent level. The positive EF:Tdr correlations are attributed to increased surface vapor pressure at warmer sites under nearly potential conditions. These results suggest that to characterize the spatial variability of the energy budget partitioning, a variable representing the thermal response of the site should be included. An important application of these findings relates to modeling the subgrid variability of a region by subdividing the region into a few classes within which surface variables and parameters are assumed invariant. The thermal response of the surface should be included as a variable in defining these classes. |