ABSTRACT
Where human populations exist, water and its proper management remain a critical and important issue across diverse regions of the world. This is particularly acute in semiarid regions. The proper allocation and management of limited water resources in locations that are vast in spatial extent necessitate important surface and meteorological information in order to accurately estimate evapotranspiration (ET) at relevant spatial and temporal resolutions. This chapter focuses on quantifying and understanding the surface energy balance (SEB) for an irrigated cotton field in a semiarid environment because of the unique case where irrigated (wet) surfaces are surrounded by vast dry surfaces. And thus represent an ideal condition to study the effects of advected warm dry air moving over a wet surface and imparting additional energy in the form of a saturation deficit that enhances ET in addition to the available energy fluxes.
