Senay et al. (2026) On-demand global Landsat evapotranspiration product: development, evaluation, and dissemination

Identification

• Journal: Remote Sensing of Environment
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-29
• Authors: Gabriel Bogale Senay, Gabriel E.L. Parrish, Kul Bikram Khand, Lei Ji, Ray Dittmeier, MacKenzie O. Friedrichs, John Volk, Charles Morton, Leonardo Laipelt, Stefanie Kagone, Sheila M.V. Cochrane, Jordan Dornbierer, Saeed Arab, Calli Jenkerson, Anderson Ruhoff, Michael Budde
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115633

Research Groups

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center
• KBR, Contractor to USGS EROS Center
• ASRC Federal Data Solutions, Contractor to USGS EROS Center
• Desert Research Institute (DRI)
• Institute of Hydraulic Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Short Summary

This study presents the development, evaluation, and dissemination of a global on-demand Landsat evapotranspiration product using the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model. The product provides field-scale actual evapotranspiration data for cloud-free Landsat overpasses starting in 1982 with Landsat 4 through the current Landsat 9.

Objective

• To present the development, evaluation, and maturity of the Landsat Remote Sensing-based Evapotranspiration (RSET) model using SSEBop.
• To introduce the ESPA system for providing historical on-demand RSET data worldwide since 1982.
• To demonstrate the readiness, capacity, and competency of current ESPA RSET for serving the next-generation of operational field-scale products globally.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Global coverage with a spatial resolution of 30-m.
• Temporal Scale: Daily to seasonal time scales.

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model.
• Data sources: Landsat Collection 2 Level-2 surface temperature product, climatology alfalfa reference ET, and the temperature difference parameter.

Main Results

• The ESPA system has enabled the ordering and distribution of three SSEBop products: ET fraction, daily overpass ET, and uncertainty ET.
• The total number of orders by various users around the world since the launching of on-demand ET in June 2020 is 1,206,015 scenes.
• The spatial distribution of orders shows a global coverage with all continents, with the larger orders dominated by North America (mainly the U.S.), Europe, Middle East, and Central Asia.

Contributions

• This study provides a global on-demand Landsat evapotranspiration product using SSEBop, which can help estimate field-scale consumptive water use and assess historical water use, allocation, and budget to inform water management under changing environments.
• The ESPA system enables land and water resource managers and researchers to access a first-order ET product without requiring advanced knowledge of remote sensing technology or evapotranspiration modeling.

Funding

• This research was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.
• The study also acknowledges support from KBR, ASRC Federal Data Solutions, Desert Research Institute (DRI), and Institute of Hydraulic Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).

Citation

@article{Senay2026Ondemand,
  author = {Senay, Gabriel Bogale and Parrish, Gabriel E.L. and Khand, Kul Bikram and Ji, Lei and Dittmeier, Ray and Friedrichs, MacKenzie O. and Volk, John and Morton, Charles and Laipelt, Leonardo and Kagone, Stefanie and Cochrane, Sheila M.V. and Dornbierer, Jordan and Arab, Saeed and Jenkerson, Calli and Ruhoff, Anderson and Budde, Michael},
  title = {On-demand global Landsat evapotranspiration product: development, evaluation, and dissemination},
  journal = {Remote Sensing of Environment},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.rse.2026.115633},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2026.115633}
}