Evapotranspiration partition using the multiple energy balance version of the ISBA-A-gs land surface model over two irrigated crops in a semi-arid Mediterranean region (Marrakech, Morocco)

Abstract. The main objective of this work is to question the representation of the energy budget in soil–vegetation–atmosphere transfer (SVAT) models for the prediction of the turbulent fluxes in the case of irrigated crops with a complex structure (row) and under strong transient hydric regimes due to irrigation. To this end, the Interaction between Soil, Biosphere, and Atmosphere (ISBA-A-gs) is evaluated at a complex open olive orchard and, for the purposes of comparison, on a winter wheat field taken as an example of a homogeneous canopy. The initial version of ISBA-A-gs, based on a composite energy budget (hereafter ISBA-1P for one patch), is compared to the new multiple energy balance (MEB) version of ISBA that represents a double source arising from the vegetation located above the soil layer. In addition, a patch representation corresponding to two adjacent, uncoupled source schemes (hereafter ISBA-2P for two patches) is also considered for the olive orchard. Continuous observations of evapotranspiration (ET), with an eddy covariance system and plant transpiration (Tr) with sap flow and isotopic methods were used to evaluate the three representations. A preliminary sensitivity analyses showed a strong sensitivity to the parameters related to turbulence in the canopy introduced in the new ISBA–MEB version. For wheat, the ability of the single- and dual-source configuration to reproduce the composite soil–vegetation heat fluxes was very similar; the root mean square error (RMSE) differences between ISBA-1P, ISBA-2P and ISBA–MEB did not exceed 10 W m−2 for the latent heat flux. These results showed that a composite energy balance in homogeneous covers is sufficient to reproduce the total convective fluxes. The two configurations are also fairly close to the isotopic observations of transpiration in spite of a light underestimation (overestimation) of ISBA-1P (ISBA–MEB). At the olive orchard, contrasting results are obtained. The dual-source configurations, including both the uncoupled (ISBA-2P) and the coupled (ISBA–MEB) representations, outperformed the single-source version (ISBA-1P), with slightly better results for ISBA–MEB in predicting both total heat fluxes and evapotranspiration partition. Concerning plant transpiration in particular, the coupled approach ISBA–MEB provides better results than ISBA-1P and, to a lesser extent, ISBA-2P with RMSEs of 1.60, 0.90, and 0.70 mm d−1 and R2 of 0.43, 0.69, and 0.70 for ISBA-1P, ISBA-2P and ISBA–MEB, respectively. In addition, it is shown that the acceptable predictions of composite convective fluxes by ISBA-2P for the olive orchard are obtained for the wrong reasons as neither of the two patches is in agreement with the observations because of a bad spatial distribution of the roots and a lack of incoming radiation screening for the bare soil patch. This work shows that composite convection fluxes predicted by the SURFace EXternalisée (SURFEX) platform and the partition of evapotranspiration in a highly transient regime due to irrigation is improved for moderately open tree canopies by the new coupled dual-source ISBA–MEB model. It also points out the need for further local-scale evaluations on different crops of various geometry (more open rainfed agriculture or a denser, intensive olive orchard) to provide adequate parameterisation to global database, such as ECOCLIMAP-II, in the view of a global application of the ISBA–MEB model.