Analysis of evapotranspiration components of a rainfed olive orchard during three contrasting years in a semi-arid climate

Evapotranspiration is one of the most important fluxes of the water budget in semi-arid areas. The estimation of actual crop transpiration is a major issue in those regions due to its remarkable impacts on the precision of irrigation scheduling, crop growth and yield. Rainfed olive trees are adapted to the southern part of the Mediterranean basin even though they are vulnerable to an increased number of drought spells that might occur under current climate change scenarios. This present paper studies both water and energy exchanges over a rainfed olive grove in semi-arid conditions. The hydrological functioning of sparse olive trees is difficult to characterize because of its low LAI. To better understand water exchanges within the Soil Plant Atmosphere continuum and better evaluate the evapotranspiration and its components, we combine data arising from eddy covariance, soil water content measurements and the sap flow method. First, we check the consistency of the evapotranspiration partitioning and water balance over three contrasted years: one wet and two dry. Total evapotranspiration (ET) from eddy covariance method compares well with the sum of the evaporation (E) generated from the surface soil moisture measurements and the transpiration derived from the sap flow method. The top meter soil water balance corresponds roughly to ET during the wet year but for the dry years there is an evidence of extraction by roots below the first meter of soil. Inter-annual variations of the transpiration and associated water stress levels are analyzed by the combined use of different types of eco-physiological (sap flow) as well as remotely sensed variables that can be monitored through proxi-detection (albedo, surface temperature, surface soil moisture). The amount and timing of vegetation stress are consistent throughout the various indicators. Consequently, this consistent set of data can be used to constrain a SVAT land-surface model capable of representing the various features of the water and energy budget for this specific land cover.