Golden Day Comparison of Methods to Retrieve ET (Kc‐NDVI, Kc‐analytical, MSSEBS, METRIC)

This works presents the results from the application of four different remote sensing‐based evapotranspiration models to an agricultural area of Castilla‐La Mancha, Spain. The models that were analyzed are: (1) the K_c‐NDVI approach, (2) the K_c‐analytical method, (3) the Multi Scale Surface Energy Balance System, MSSEBS, and (4) the Mapping Evapotranspiration at High Resolution and with Internalized Calibration, METRIC, procedure. Models (1) and (2) provide daily maps of crop water requirements, and do not require the use of a thermal image. Whereas models (3) and (4) are surface energy balance models that supply instantaneous and daily calculations of actual evapotranspiration, and require a thermal image in addition to short wave images. A Landsat 5 image of the studied area for July 15, 2003 was used to derive the various products, together with weather and ground vegetation data. The comparison between models was performed in terms of crop coefficients and demonstrated the agreement between methods according to theory. Quantitative description of the differences between models for land uses of the area is provided. This research illustrates the potential of these approaches for routine and operational estimation of water demand and water consumption on a daily scale.