Yann Nouvellon, Jean-Paul Laclau, Elias de Melo Virginio Filho, Céline Blitz-Frayret, Fabien Charbonnier, Olivier Roupsard, José Luiz Stape, Denis Loustau, Belinda E. Medlyn, Carlos Borgonovo, Rémi Vezy, Alain Rocheteau, Maxime Soma, Mathias Christina, Jean-Marc Bonnefond, Guerric Le Maire, Frederic C. Do, Remko A. Duursma, Delphine Picart, Bruno Rapidel, Interactions Sol Plante Atmosphère (UMR ISPA), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agronomiques de Bordeaux-Aquitaine (Bordeaux Sciences Agro), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad), Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Enseñanza (CATIE), Ecologie fonctionnelle et biogéochimie des sols et des agro-écosystèmes (UMR Eco&Sols), Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo [Ouagadougou] (UJZK), Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Ecologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes (URFM), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología [Mexico] (CONACYT), Suzano S/A, Fonctionnement et conduite des systèmes de culture tropicaux et méditerranéens (UMR SYSTEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes - Institut Agronomique Méditerranéen de Montpellier (CIHEAM-IAMM), Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM)-Centre International de Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM)-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro)-Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement (Institut Agro), Cafetalera Aquiares, MACACC project ANR-13-AGRO-0005, ANR-10-LABX-0004, ANR-13-AGRO-0005,MACACC,Modélisation pour l'accompagnement des ACteurs, vers l'Adaptation des Couverts pérennes ou agroforestiers aux Changements globaux(2013), and ANR-10-LABX-0004,CeMEB,Mediterranean Center for Environment and Biodiversity(2010)
International audience; Evapotranspiration and energy partitioning are complex to estimate because they result from the interaction of many different processes, especially in multi-species and multi-strata ecosystems. We used MAESPA model, a mechanistic, 3D model of coupled radiative transfer, photosynthesis, and balances of energy and water, to simulate the partitioning of energy and evapotranspiration in homogeneous tree plantations, as well as in heterogeneous multi-species, multi-strata agroforests with diverse spatial scales and management schemes. The MAESPA model was modified to add (1) calculation of foliage surface water evaporation at the voxel scale; (2) computation of an average within-canopy air temperature and vapour pressure; and (3) use of (1) and (2) in iterative calculations of soil and leaf temperatures to close ecosystem-level energy balances. We tested MAESPA model simulations on a simple monospecific Eucalyptus stand in Brazil, and also in two complex, heterogeneous Coffea agroforests in Costa Rica. MAESPA satisfactorily simulated the daily and seasonal dynamics of net radiation (RMSE = 29.6 and 28.4 W m−2; R2 = 0.99 and 0.99 for Eucalyptus and Coffea sites respectively) and its partitioning between latent-(RMSE = 68.1 and 37.2 W m−2; R2 = 0.87 and 0.85) and sensible-energy (RMSE = 54.6 and 45.8 W m−2; R2 = 0.57 and 0.88) over a one-year simulation at half-hourly time-step. After validation, we use the modified MAESPA to calculate partitioning of evapotranspiration and energy between plants and soil in the above-mentioned agro-ecosystems. In the Eucalyptus plantation, 95% of the outgoing energy was emitted as latent-heat, while the Coffea agroforestry system’s partitioning between sensible and latent-heat fluxes was roughly equal. We conclude that MAESPA process-based model has an appropriate balance of detail, accuracy, and computational speed to be applicable to simple or complex forest ecosystems and at different scales for energy and evapotranspiration partitioning.