D. Courault et al., ANALYSIS OF DROUGHTS IN FRANCE FROM 1988 TO 1990 USING NOAA-AVHRR DATA AND AN AGROMETEOROLOGICAL MODEL, Agronomie, 14(1), 1994, pp. 41-56
The study reported here aimed at proposing an operational methodology
to estimate actual evaporation on a large scale, using AVHRR images of
the NOAA satellite and an agrometeorological model. The method was ap
plied to detect drought effects for 3 yr (1988-1989-1990) over all of
France. For each year, 48 cloud-free images were selected on a 5-d bas
is. Surface temperatures obtained from AVHRR images were combined with
the output data of an agrometeorological model using ground data from
20 stations. The simplified relationship, based on an energy budget r
elating midday surface-air temperature difference to daily evaporation
and net radiation was used for this study. A new local split-window m
ethod was applied to the images in order to get a better accuracy of s
urface temperature. Analysis of the cumulative surface-air temperature
difference revealed a regional climatic effect. Evaporation maps prov
ided a global evaluation of droughts in all of France for the 3 yr stu
died.