Monthly evapotranspiration variability in May 2019 and May 2020 over Europe
Evapotranspiration (ET) accounts for the flux of water evaporated at the Earth-atmosphere interface (soil + vegetation + water bodies) and transpired by vegetation through stomata in its leaves as a consequence of photosynthetic processes. ET plays a crucial role in the recycling of precipitation, in soil water availability and in modelling the hydrological cycle components, especially in arid regions.
LSA SAF Derived Land Surface Temperatures (DLST; LSA-003) are obtained every ten days from all available 15 minute Meteosat LST (LSA-001) within that period. Temporal compositing and modelling of the diurnal temperature cycle results in representative and spatially continuous maps of LST, which are a very helpful indicator of past weather conditions, e.g. allowing to identify regions affected by heat waves and droughts.
Improved Monitoring in Specific Synoptic Situations by LSA SAF LST
A case of temperature inversion in complex terrain
In winter cold-air pools in the lowest layers of the atmosphere are frequently formed due to night-time cooling. This can result in significant temperature inversion in valleys and basins. A typical weather situation with a pronounced temperature inversion developed in late December over Slovenia.
Several factors (e.g. urban areas have different thermal characteristics than surrounding non-urban areas and district heating in the winter) contribute that urban heat islands occur inside cities, i.e., part of the city with higher land surface temperature than its outlying areas.