Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121

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Agricultural Water Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat

Energy balance and canopy conductance for a cotton field under film
mulched drip irrigation in an arid region of northwestern China
Fuqiang Tian a , Pengju Yang a , Hongchang Hu a,∗ , Hui Liu b
a
Department of Hydraulic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b
China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, A1 Fuxing Road D505, Beijing, 100038, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Evapotranspiration (latent heat flux) is an important component of the water and energy balance in
Received 7 February 2016 agricultural ecosystems. Water and energy fluxes were measured for three years (2012–2014) by the
Received in revised form 27 June 2016 eddy covariance system at a cotton field under film-mulched drip irrigation in Xinjiang, an arid region
Accepted 28 June 2016
of northwestern China. This region produces over 50% of China’s cotton yield, and irrigation accounts for
Available online 10 July 2016
96.2% of the regional water consumption. The turbulent energy fluxes measured by the eddy covariance
accounted for approximately 60%–70% of the available energy. The latent energy (LE) comprised 86%–93%
Keywords:
of net radiation during the rapid growing season (June to early August); of this percentage range, 20%–30%
Drip irrigation
Energy partition
was induced by the higher sensible heat advection caused by agricultural irrigation. On the other hand,
Canopy conductance the sensible heat (H) decreased to very small values and even was negative in July and August, due to
Decoupling factor the increased evapotranspiration and growth of cotton leaves and thus the decline of surface tempera-
ture. The influence of canopy conductance on evapotranspiration showed a threshold effect. A positive
relationship between canopy conductance and the Priestley-Taylor coefficient was observed when the
canopy conductance was lower than 8 mm/s. Path analysis was used to quantify the direct and indirect
effects of meteorological factors (the net radiation Rn , wind speed Ws , air temperature Ta , and saturation
vapour pressure deficit (VPD) on LE and canopy conductance (Gc ). The variance of LE and Gc are both 0.15,
indicating that meteorology can explain 85% of LE andGc . On a weekly time scale, both Gc and LE were
significantly, directly, and positively affected by Rn and Ta and were significantly, directly, and negatively
affected by VPD.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction that a policy promoting more sustainable agriculture should be

The agricultural sector is the dominant consumer of fresh water,
accounting for up to 70% of the world’s usage (UNESCO, 2003) and
65% of China’s usage (Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, 2015). Agriculture is the main industry in north-
western China (Piao et al., 2010), and irrigation is the lifeblood of
agriculture in arid areas such as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region of China. The irrigated area has been significantly increasing
during the past 50 years in Xinjiang (Wang et al., 2004), drastically
increasing water consumption, which now accounts for 96.2% of
the total regional water consumption (Karthe et al., 2014). Regional
water resources are facing serious problems, including induced
ecological degradation (Yang et al., 2006; Hou et al., 2007), so
∗ Corresponding author at: Room 336, New Hydraulic Building, Tsinghua Univer-
sity, Beijing 10084, China.
E-mail address: huhongchang@tsinghua.edu.cn (H. Hu).
prescribed to maximize economic benefits while maintaining envi-
ronmental quality (Provenzano et al., 2013).
Large-scale irrigation alters the regional hydrological and
energy processes (Hossen et al., 2012; Zhu et al., 2014; Liu et al.,
2014; Masseroni et al., 2014; McGloin et al., 2014; Timm et al., 2014;
Kang et al., 2015). For example, in an oasis of an arid area, irrigation
leads to the horizontal advection of sensible heat (Potchter et al.,
2008; Zhou et al., 2012). The sensible heat will decrease and the
energy supply for evapotranspiration increase when dry surfaces
are wetted (Li and Yu, 2007; Ding et al., 2015a; Lei and Yang, 2010;
Jaksa and Sridhar, 2015).
The main cause of the consumption of irrigated water is
evapotranspiration (i.e., latent heat flux), which is an important
component of water and energy balance in agricultural ecosystems
(Burba and Verma 2005; Lei and Yang, 2010). The stomata of leaves
control the water loss and energy exchange of the plants and the
canopy conductance responses to environmental conditions such
as humidity, light, temperature, and soil water content (Tang et al.,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.06.029
0378-3774/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121
2006). Understanding the mechanisms affecting evapotranspira-
tion and energy balance at different temporal scales and under
various environmental conditions is crucial for the modelling of
ecosystem production and water balance (Burba and Verma, 2005).
Additionally, in-depth studies of evapotranspiration and energy
balance in agricultural lands are of great importance for sustainable
water resource management in arid areas.
A large body of studies have investigated the evapotranspiration
and energy balance of forest, wetland and agricultural ecosystems
(Burba and Verma, 2005; Lei and Yang, 2010; Cammalleri et al.,
2013; Ding et al., 2013b; Jaksa and Sridhar, 2015). However, very
few studies have focused on cotton under drip and sprinkler irriga-
tion (Howell et al., 2004; Farahani et al., 2008; Bezerra et al., 2012).
This study aims to improve our understanding of evapotranspira-
tion and energy processes through micrometeorological and eddy
covariance measurements in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fields
under film-mulched drip irrigation in the oases of the Kaidu-Kongqi
River Basin (a source basin of the Tarim River).
Field experiments were conducted in an experimental station in
the suburban area of Korla city, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
of China, from 2012 to 2014. The specific objectives of this study
are as follows: (i) to quantify the water/energy dynamics at diel and
seasonal scales in cotton fields under film-mulched drip irrigation,
(ii) to investigate the factors controlling evapotranspiration, and
(iii) to explore the influence of advection on evapotranspiration.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Experimental site
The study area is located in the Korla Oasis Eco-hydrology Exper-
imental Research station (86◦ 12 E, 41◦ 36 N), 22 km from Xiborni
town of Korla city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
(Zhang et al., 2014a,b,c). This location lies on the alluvial plain of the
Kaidu-Kongqi River under the southern foot of Tianshan Mountain.
The average elevation is 897–902 m. The study area has a conti-
nental desert climate with high temperature, scarce precipitation,
and intense potential evapotranspiration. Field experiments were
conducted during three years (2012–2014). The average relative
humidity, net radiation and wind speed during the cotton growth
periods of 2012–2014 were 40%, 110 w/m2 and 1.90 m/s, respec-
tively. During the years 1990–2008, the mean annual precipitation
was 58.5 mm, the mean annual temperature was 12.4 ◦ C, and the
mean annual accumulated temperature 10 ◦ C was 4100 ◦ C. The
mean annual sunshine duration was 3036 h, which is favourable for
cotton growth. The depth of frozen soil was approximately 60 cm.
Fig. 1. Irrigation schedule applied in the experimental fields from 2012 to 2014.
111
The texture of the soil is loam, consisting of 30% sand, 5% silt and
65% loam (Yang et al., 2016).
The experiments were conducted in a 3.48 ha area of the cot-
ton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) field under drip irrigation with plastic
mulch. The cotton planting and drip irrigation tape employed a
mode of “one film-one pipe-four rows”. The drip irrigation tape was
located beneath the middle of the film. Two rows of cotton were
distributed symmetrically on both sides of the tape. The film width
was 110 cm, and the inter-film zone width was 40 cm. The widths of
3 cotton-row-spaces between 4 cotton rows were 20, 44, and 20 cm,
respectively, and the cotton was planted in a uniform distribution
with a spacing of 10 cm (Zhang et al., 2014b; Tian et al., 2016). The
growth season of cotton is from late April to mid-September. The
total irrigation water amount of the experiment field was measured
using 8 water meters, and the irrigation depth was calculated by
dividing the measured irrigation water volumes by the total exper-
imental area (3.48 ha). The irrigation amounts were approximately
540, 591, and 434 mm in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively, as
shown in Fig. 1.
2.2. Micrometeorological and eddy covariance measurements
Micrometeorological and eddy covariance (EC) measurements
were conducted between April 2012 and September 2014. The EC
system and a micrometeorological tower were installed to col-
lect the data. The device placement and data processing programs
are described in detail in Zhang et al. (2014a). Daily energy was
measured using the EC system, which consisted of a 3D sonic
anemometer (CSAT3, Campbell Scientific Inc., Logan, UT, USA),
a fast-response open-path infrared gas (H2 O and CO2 ) analyser
(EC150; Campbell Scientific Inc., Logan, UT, USA), and temperature
and humidity sensors (HMP155A; Vaisala Inc., Woburn, MA, USA).
A net radiation sensor (LITF2; Kipp & Zonen, Delft, the Netherlands)
was installed at the height of 2.25 m above the ground and oriented
to the south (Zhang et al., 2014c; Yang et al., 2016). Models CSAT3
and EC150 were used to measure vertical fluctuations in wind,
temperature, and water vapour density at intervals of 0.1 s, and
the 10-min averages of temperature and humidity were calculated
(Yang et al., 2016). The 90% of the source area of flux footprint was
estimated using an approximate analytical footprint model devel-
oped by Hsieh et al. (2000) to estimate the 90% of the source area of
flux footprint. The distribution within the flux footprint area of the
dominant wind direction (southeast) for July and August is approx-
imately 150 m. In a radius of 150 m around the flux tower, only a
very small fraction of the ground surface (i.e., a field road) is cov-
ered by trees, indicating that the measured fluxes were primarily
contributed by the cotton field (Yang et al., 2016).
112 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121

Fig. 2. Dynamics of average weekly air temperature (Ta ), vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and Wind speed (Ws ).

Air temperature (Ta ), relative humility (RH), wind speed (u), pre- Aerodynamic conductance, Ga (m/s), was calculated by the
cipitation (P), net radiation (Rn ), latent heat flux (LE), sensitive heat Monteith-Unsworth equation (Zhu et al., 2014; Rodrigues et al.,
flux (H), irrigation amount and crop traits were measured during 2014), as follows:
the three consecutive years (Fig. 2).
The surface energy balance is expressed as follows: 1
Ga =   (3)
Rn − G = H + LE Ws 1
(1) + 6.2
2
∗
2/3
∗
where Rn is the net radiation (W/m2 ), G is the ground heat flux
(W/m2 ), H is the sensible heat flux (W/m2 ), and LE is the latent heat Where Ws is the wind speed (m/s), and ∗ is the frictional velocity
flux (W/m2 ). Rn is measured by a net radiometer, G is measured by (m/s).
soil heat flux plates, and H and LE are measured by an EC system. The decoupling coefficient (), which is a measurement of the
degree of coupling between the ecosystem surface and the atmo-
2.3. Calculation of diagnostic parameters spheric boundary layer, was calculated according to Jarvis and
McNaughton (1986), as follows:
The canopy conductance [Gc (ms−1 )] was calculated by invert-
ing the Penman-Monteith equation (Zhu et al., 2014; Rodrigues +
et al., 2014) and reflects the control of the biosphere on LE. Its mean =  Ga
 (4)
+ 1+ Gc
value was obtained from the micrometeorological data and EC data
recorded between 11:00 and 17:00 (Beijing standard time):
LEGa The value of  ranges from 0 to 1. Values approaching 0 indicate
Gc = (2) that the canopy is entirely coupled to the overlying atmosphere and
 (Rn − G) + a Cp Ga VPD − LE ( + )
the LE is largely controlled by VPD, whereas values approaching 1
where Ga is the aerodynamic conductance (m/s),  is the psychro- mean that LE is largely controlled by Rn (Zhou et al., 2010; Rodrigues
metric constant (kPa/ ◦ C),  is the slope of the saturation vapour et al., 2014; Jia et al., 2016).
pressure curve (kPa/ ◦ C), a is the air density (kg/m3 ), Cp is the air The Priestley-Taylor coefficient was calculated as the ratio of LE
heat capacity at constant pressure (J/kgK), and VPD is the saturation to ETeq (equilibrium evaporation) (Priestley and Taylor, 1972; Lei
vapour pressure deficit (kPa). and Yang, 2010), and LE + H was substituted for Rn − G to avoid
 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121
the issue of energy balance misclosure (Barr et al., 2001; Zhu et al.,
2014):

ETeq = (Rn − G) (5)
+
 LE
˛= (6)
 +  LE + H
where ˛ often exceeds 1 on well-watered croplands or wet ecosys-
tems, with a widely accepted value of 1.26. However, the value
is often below 1 in arid and semi-arid ecosystems (Wilson and
Baldocchi, 2000).
2.4. Path analysis
Path analysis can decompose the influence of the independent
variables on the dependent variables. It is similar to multivari-
ate statistical analysis methods but is more suitable for situations
where the relationships between variables are either known or
hypothesized and/or when the statistical independence between
variables is uncertain (Huxman et al., 2003; Rodrigues et al., 2014;
Xing et al., 2015). It is frequently adopted to analyse the direct and
indirect effects of meteorological factors on LE and Gc . Three regres-
sion models were developed for the path analysis (Rodrigues et al.,
2014), i.e.,
LEorGc = f (average weeklyRn , Ta , Ws , VPD) (7)
VPD = f (average weeklyWs , Ta , Rn ) (8)
Ta = f (averageweeklyRn ) (9)
The variables were standardized as follows:
 
−M 
¯ = (10)
 
where ␪¯ is the standardized form of ␪, M  is the mean value
of ␪, and ␴ is the variance of ␪, here ␪ represents the parameters
(Gc , LE, Rn , Ta , Ws , VPD).
The direct effects of the average weekly Rn , Ta , Ws and VPD
values on LE and Gc were estimated as the standardized partial
regression coefficients quantified from Eq. (7), while indirect effects
of the variables were calculated by summing the standardized par-
tial regression coefficients across each possible path (Huxman et al.,
2003, Rodrigues et al., 2014).
Daily averages and/or totals were summarized as the mean val-
ues calculated over weekly intervals unless specified. Diel (24 h)
averages of energy flux density, micrometeorological factors and
conductance were calculated over seasonal intervals, by averaging
each 30 min datum for a particular period (Rodrigues et al., 2014).
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Meteorological conditions and energy balance
The average weekly Ta during the experimental period ranged
from 15 ◦ C–30 ◦ C. The VPD ranged from 1 to 3 kPa, and its dynamics
showed a pattern similar to Ta . The range of Ws is approximately
1–3 m/s and it decreases with time. The wind speed reaches its
maximum value in April and May (Wang et al., 2011).
The linear regression of the energy balance closure was used to
assess the system performance (Wilson et al., 2002; Rodrigues et al.,
2014). The statistical regression of turbulent energy fluxes (LE + H)
against available energy (Rn − G) shows that the former accounts
for approximately 60%–70% of the latter. At the time step of a half-
hour (Fig. 3(a)), and averaging half-hours over a month (Fig. 3(d)),
LE + H accounts for approximately 66% of Rn − G, and the coeffi-
cients of determination (R2 ) are 0.84 and 0.94, respectively. For the
113
daily and weekly time steps, LE + H accounts for approximately
61% and 72% of Rn − G, and the R2 values are 0.68 and 0.83. The
daily and average half-hour values for each month did not improve
the energy balance closure (Rodrigues et al., 2014). The energy bal-
ance misclosure can be attributed to the film mulch used in the
field as well as to the energy interception in the rows. Our EC sys-
tem was erected in a film-mulched drip irrigation cotton field. The
cotton was cropped in rows and film mulched, and both processes
intensified the misclosure. Our energy balance closure is consistent
with other studies conducted in cotton fields under mulched drip
irrigation conditions (Bai et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2012).
3.2. The seasonal variation of energy components
The monthly and weekly energy components for the three
consecutive years are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The Rn is approxi-
mately 80 W/m2 in April, May, and September, and approximately
150 W/m2 in June, July, and August. The ground heat flux is less
than 10% of net radiation and decreases to zero or even negative
values in July and August. As the cotton grows, the ground is cov-
ered by leaves, more energy is consumed by LE, and ground heat
flux decreases significantly. This phenomenon is consistent with
previous researches in irrigated fields (Zhou et al., 2012).
The value of LE/Rn is 0.75–0.76 during the growth period (from
April to September) and reaches 0.86–0.93 during the rapid grow-
ing season (June, July, and August) (Fig. 4). The value of LE/Rn
throughout the entire growth period is higher than that has been
reported in other studies. For example, a value of 0.59 has been
reported in a winter wheat/summer maize rotation cropland in the
North China Plain (Lei and Yang, 2010) and a value of 0.24 in a
Tibetan meadow ecosystem (Song et al., 2005). Our value is similar
to the one reported by a cotton field study in Brazil (0.72 ∼ 0.74)
by Bezerra et al. (2015). LE and H are nearly equal in April and
May. Then, LE increases rapidly after the onset of drip irrigation,
reaching more than 90% of the Rn from June to September. The H
term decreases to a very low level, with negative values in July and
August, because the increased evapotranspiration of cotton leaves
reduces the surface temperature (Fig. 8) (Haddeland et al., 2006).
The weekly diagnostic parameters for three consecutive years are
shown in Fig. 6, revealing that Gc , , and ˛ have the same varia-
tion tendency as LE. The control of Gc over evapotranspiration can
be indicated by 1 −  (McNaughton and Jarvis, 1983; Jarvis and
McNaughton, 1986). The value of 1 −  is 0.9 during the planting
period (from April to late May) and 0.8 during the maturity period
(from early September to October), showing the strong controlling
effect of Gc on LE, i.e., plant physiological factors such as stomata
control the crop evapotranspiration. During the midseason (from
early July to late August), the value of 1 −  is 0.4, indicating a
weak controlling effect of Gc on LE, i.e., equilibrium evapotran-
spiration is dominant, and radiation is the main driver of cotton
evapotranspiration (Kumagai et al., 2004; Lei and Yang, 2010). This
result is similar to the findings reported for a corn field investi-
gated by Ding et al. (2013a), although the control of the stomata
over evapotranspiration is weaker for corn in the midseason.
The value of ˛ can be used to diagnose the limiting factors
of evaporation. A value of ˛ > 1 means a wet surface, indicating
that water supply is unrestricted and the available energy limits
evaporation (Lei and Yang, 2010). From April to June, the actual
evapotranspiration increases faster than the equilibrium evapo-
transpiration (Fig. 7), and ˛ shows an increasing trend during
this period (Fig. 6c). The Priestley-Taylor coefficient remains con-
stant from June to August. In August and September, the actual
evapotranspiration decreases faster than the equilibrium evapo-
transpiration, resulting in a decreasing trend of ˛.
114 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121

Fig. 3. Energy balance closure for latent plus sensible heat fluxes (H+LE) versus net radiation minus ground heat flux (Rn -G) during the three years (2012-2014) (a) half-hour
average values, (b) average daily values, (c) average weekly values, (d) half-hour average values for each month. The equation of best fit, coefficient of determination (R2 ),
and the numbers of samples are included in the regression.

Fig. 4. Energy components at monthly time step.

3.3. Average diel trends in energy components and diagnostic
parameters
The energy components and diagnostic parameters at the diel
scale are shown in Fig. 9(a-c). The maximum daily Rn is approxi-
mately 500 W/m2 in April, May and September, whereas it reaches
900 W/m2 in June, July and August. The maximum of H in April is
approximately 300 W/m2 , but it decreases to below 100 W/m2 in
June, July and August. The maximum value of LE in April is approx-
imately 100 W/m2 , but it reaches 200 ∼ 300 W/m2 in June, July,
August and September. The LE is the dominant turbulent flux, which
is ten times H. Our results agree with previous research in corn
fields in Gansu Province of China (Ding et al., 2010), whereas the
research in the sub-alpine spruce forest underlying Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau shows that H dominates the energy budget even during
 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121 115

Fig. 5. Dynamics of energy components at weekly time step.

summer (Zhu et al., 2014). Irrigation supplies enough water for
evapotranspiration and thus increases LE.
The energy component and diagnostic parameter at the diel
scale are shown in Fig. 9(d-f). Gc and LE drop at approximately 14:00
(BST). The restriction of Gc and LE at this time is obvious from June
to September. During the hot and sunny summer, the temperature
and illumination intensity are high at noon, causing the reduction
or even closure of stomata to prevent excessive water loss and
thus decreasing LE (Raschke, 1970; Hamerlynck and Knapp, 1996;
Schymanski et al., 2013; Zhu et al., 2014).
The Priestley-Taylor coefficient shows a similar trend to LE on
the weekly scale, but it shows an inverse trend on the daily scale.
The value of ˛ is minimum at 14:00 and reaches its maximum in
the morning and evening. The equilibrium evapotranspiration has
its maximum at noon, resulting in the minimum value of ˛ at noon.
3.4. Environmental and biological controls on evapotranspiration
LE increases with Gc , but this relationship becomes invalid when
Gc ≥ 8 mm/s. Gc provides seasonal information on the biosphere’s
control over LE. There is a significant positive relationship between
˛ and Gc when Gc is smaller than 8 mm/s (Fig. 10). The existence of
a threshold Gc is consistent with the observations in winter wheat-
summer maize rotation fields (15–20 mm/s) (Lei and Yang, 2010),
maize fields (20 mm/s) (Ding et al., 2013b), maize-soybean rota-
tion fields (10–15 mm/s) (Suyker and Verma, 2008), and grassland
(12 mm/s) (Ryu et al., 2008). The value ˛ is larger than 1 on the diel
and daily scale, indicating no water limitations; the plastic mulch
and drip irrigation provide sufficient water.
The value of ˛ is larger during the growth period, especially
during the midseason, which means that most available energy is
converted to latent heat (Lei and Yang, 2010; Ding et al., 2015b).
The sensible heat is negative during July and August because of
116 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121

Fig. 6. Dynamics of diagnostic parameters at weekly scale.

Fig. 7. Dynamics of latent heat flux (LE) and equilibrium evaporation (ETeq ) at weekly time step.

sensible heat advection. In arid/semiarid regions, the irrigation in
oases induces an underlying spatial heterogeneity and thus leads
to the occurrence of sensible heat advection (Prueger et al., 1996).
The sensible heat can be used for evapotranspiration, raising the
actual evapotranspiration above the equilibrium evapotranspira-
tion (Petrone et al., 2006). The experimental cotton field is located
in an inland arid oasis in northwestern China. The surrounding area
is the desert, and the sensible heat advection is significant with
large-scale irrigation and incident energy. The drip irrigation is
approximately 500–600 mm/a, which leads to higher sensible heat
advection. The actual evapotranspiration is 20%-30% higher than
the equilibrium evapotranspiration, which is significant in July and
August.
Path analysis was used to quantify the direct and indirect effects
of meteorological factors (Rn , Ta , Ws and VPD) on LE and Gc (Table 1).
The path diagram illustrates the effects of different parameters on
LE and Gc (Fig. 11). The statistical test showed the statistical signifi-
cant (p < 0.05) of the parameters on LE and Gc . The variance values of
LE and Gc are both 0.15, showing that meteorology can explain 85%
of LE and Gc . On the weekly time scale, Gc and LE are significantly,
directly, and positively affected by Rn and Ta , and they are signifi-
cantly, directly, and negatively affected by VPD. The negative effect
 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121 117

Fig. 8. Dynamics of leaf area index (LAI) during the growth periods.

Fig. 9. Dynamics of energy components and diagnostic parameters at diel time step (Beijing standard Time).

of VPD on Gc is expected given the close coupling of the canopy (Giambelluca et al., 2009; Rodrigues et al., 2014) and from an irri-
and atmosphere and the importance of VPD to stomatal conduc- gated maize field (Ding et al., 2015a). The influence of VPD on Gc is
tance (Dalmagro et al., 2013; Rodrigues et al., 2014). This result is small when VPD is below 4.0 kPa (Agam et al., 2010). The indirect
consistent with the findings from a tropical savannah ecosystem effect of Rn on Gc and LE is smaller than the direct effect, while the
118 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121

Fig. 10. Effects of Gc on ␣ and ..

Table 1 4. Conclusion
Path Coefficients of the direct and indirect effects of average weekly net radiation
(Rn ), air temperature (Ta ), wind speed (Ws ) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on LE
and Gc. The water and energy fluxes were measured using eddy covari-
ance technology during the growth seasons of 2012–2014 in a
Variable LE Gc
cotton field under film-mulched drip irrigation in an arid region
Direct Indirect Direct Indirect in northwestern China. We analysed the seasonal variation of the
Rn 0.508 0.306 0.395 0.295 energy components, the average diel trends in energy components
Ta 0.700 −0.493 0.956 −0.959 and diagnostic parameters, and the environmental and biological
Ws −0.056 −0.107 0.013 −0.209 controls on evapotranspiration. The main findings are summarized
VPD −0.483 NA −0.940 NA as follows.
Variance 0.15 0.15
1) The value of LE/Rn was 0.86–0.93 during the rapid growing
season, and H decreased to very low, even negative values in July
and August. The high temperature and intense illumination at noon
restricted the cotton stomata, occurring frequently from June to
indirect and direct effects of Ta on Gc are similar. Furthermore, the September.
indirect effect of Ws on Gc is larger than the direct effect. The value
of Ws directly affects VPD and indirectly affects Gc .
 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121 119

Fig. 11. Path diagram that illustrates the direct/indirect effects of meteorology on LE and Gc.
120 F. Tian et al. / Agricultural Water Management 179 (2017) 110–121
2) During the planting and mature growth stages, 1 − ˝ was
0.9 and 0.8, respectively, which shows the strong control of Gc
over LE. The value of 1 − ˝ was 0.4 at midseason, when equilib-
rium evapotranspiration was dominant, and radiation was the main
driver of cotton evapotranspiration. Values of ˛ > 1 were observed
during the drip irrigation period from late June to August, ˛ hav-
ing increased continually from May, when the leaves started to
grow. After the end of irrigation, in early September, the ˛ values
decreased to below 1.
3) LE increased with Gc ≥ 8 mm/s. A significant positive rela-
tionship was found between ˛ and Gc . The higher sensible heat
advection induced by large-scale irrigation increased the actual
evapotranspiration by approximately 20%–30% compared to the
equilibrium evapotranspiration. Path analysis was used to quan-
tify the direct and indirect effects of meteorology (Rn , Ta , Ws and
VPD) on LE and Gc . On the weekly scale, Gc and LE were significantly,
directly, and positively affected by Rn and Ta and were significantly,
directly, and negatively affected by VPD.
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