Belfiore et al. (2026) Comparative assessment of two evapotranspiration models from earth observation data in arid agricultural regions

⚠️ Warning: This summary was generated from the abstract only, as the full text was not available.

Identification

• Journal: Irrigation Science
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-09-21
• Authors: Oscar Rosario Belfiore, Annemarie Klaasse, H. Pelgrum, Guido D’Urso
• DOI: 10.1007/s00271-026-01180-8

Research Groups

Not specified in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study compares the thermal-optical fusion-based WaPORv3 ET product with the fully optical SW-S2 model, finding strong operational consistency for total evapotranspiration and canopy transpiration in semi-arid agricultural regions.

Objective

• To evaluate whether the fully optical SW-S2 model can serve as a viable, low-latency alternative to thermal-based models (specifically WaPORv3) for estimating evapotranspiration (ET) and its components in irrigation management.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Regional extents and field-scale (specifically maize, potato, vineyards, and dense orchards), with a spatial resolution of 20 m for SW-S2.
• Temporal Scale: Daily, dekadal, monthly, and seasonal scales.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: WaPOR version 3.0 Level 3 (WaPORv3) and the Shuttleworth–Wallace Sentinel-2 (SW-S2) model (utilizing the OPTRAM water index).
• Data sources: Sentinel-2 (optical and Shortwave Infrared - SWIR) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) data.

Main Results

• High Agreement: Strong consistency was found between SW-S2 and WaPORv3 for total ET and canopy transpiration (Tc) across all analyzed temporal scales at the regional level.
• Field-Scale Validation: Seasonal ET values for maize, potato, vineyards, and orchards align with established literature benchmarks from lysimeters, flux towers, and energy balance models.
• Soil Evaporation (Es): Lower agreement was observed at the regional scale for Es, attributed to differences in LST downscaling and soil resistance parameterization.
• Operational Advantages: SW-S2 reduces data latency, simplifies harmonization, and eliminates spatial noise typically associated with thermal sharpening.

Contributions

• Validates a fully optical approach (SW-S2) for ET estimation, proving it is operationally consistent with thermal-optical fusion models.
• Provides a high-resolution (20 m), low-latency alternative for water management in fragmented agricultural landscapes where thermal data may be noisy or delayed.

Funding

Not specified in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Belfiore2026Comparative,
  author = {Belfiore, Oscar Rosario and Klaasse, Annemarie and Pelgrum, H. and D’Urso, Guido},
  title = {Comparative assessment of two evapotranspiration models from earth observation data in arid agricultural regions},
  journal = {Irrigation Science},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1007/s00271-026-01180-8},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-026-01180-8}
}