Department of Earth Science, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Research Article
Evaluation of the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) Evaporative Stress Index at Micro and Macro Climate Levels Using Field Measurements in the San Francisco Bay Area
Author(s): Marisol Zepeda and Christopher Potter*
Ecosystems in northern California have experienced repeated and prolonged droughts over the past 20 years. To improve predictive capabilities for impending hot and dry periods, the ratio of Actual Evapotranspiration (AET) to Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) has been shown to be a useful index for monitoring the moisture of vegetation. The main objective of this study was to “ground truth” the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) from NASA’s ECOSTRESS sensor across eight different county parks within the San Francisco Bay Area using field measurements of soil moisture and leaf stomatal conductance collected in the summer of 2020. To initially validate ECOSTRESS ESI image data, daily PET rates from stations in the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) were used for comparison at the meso-climate level of >10 km. Correlation results showed that ESI .. View more»