Ground heat flux estimated from surface soil temperature

This paper presents a novel method that allows the diurnal variation of gro und heat flux to be computed from the corresponding time series measurement of surface soil temperature. Soil temperature and soil heat flux over time at one location are uniquely related through a half-order derivative/integ ral operator when heat transfer in a soil matrix is described by a one-dime nsional diffusion equation with a constant diffusivity parameter. Both simu lated and observed data have been used to test the method. The case study s uggests that the derived relationships between soil heat flux and soil temp erature under idealized conditions provide satisfactory approximations for practical purposes. Close agreement of the estimated variables with observa tions indicates chat this proposed method is promising. Its potential appli cations include the estimation of the regional energy balance at the land s urface using remote sensing observations. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.