Estimating and partitioning evapotranspiration in a film mulched cropland with shallow groundwater by the improved dual source model

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a key link in terrestrial water cycle and influenced by complex environmental factors in cropland. Accurate assessment of crop ET over heterogeneous underlying surfaces remains challenging. In this study, the dual source Shuttleworth-Wallace (SW) model was modified to estimate λET (latent heat corresponding to ET) through incorporating the effects of film mulching and shallow groundwater. λET and latent heat from transpiration (λT) were measured in a maize field in northwest China during 2017 and 2018 to assess the performance of the original (SW) and modified (SWM) models. Results indicate that the overestimation of latent heat from soil evaporation (λE) due to ignoring film mulching could be obviously mitigated by SWM. Besides, considering capillary rise from shallow groundwater in SWM improved not only λET estimates but also the accuracy of canopy resistance parameter. The SWM model outperformed the SW model that the slopes of fitting lines for λET and λT increased from 0.60 to 0.79 to 0.77–0.99 at daily scale and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency coefficient exceeded 0.86. Relative error and RMSE were decreased to below 0.15 and 19.88 W m−2, respectively. The estimations of λET and λT by SWM were also improved at hourly scale. Seasonal variation and partition of λET between two years were comparable and average T/ET for the entire growing season was about 78 %-84 %, which was largest at the heading stage. Path analysis on the responses of λET to the environmental factors recognized the greatest direct effect of crop height or leaf area index, and identified the significantly direct control of shallow groundwater on λT in this area. The study presented an improved dual source model to better quantify λET, which would benefit water resources management for film mulched croplands with shallow groundwater.