Lateral Flow across Multi-parallel Columns and Their Implications on Large-Scale Evapotranspiration Modeling

Evapotranspiration (ET, i.e., evaporation and plant transpiration) is an important component in hydrological cycle, especially for semi-arid and arid environments. The representation of soil hydrologic processes and parameters at scales different from the scale at which observations and measurements are made is a major challenge. Large scale evapotranspiration is often quantified through simulation of multiple columns of independent one-dimensional local scale vertical flow. The soil column used in each simulation is considered homogeneous for the purpose of modeling over short depths. A main limitation is that this purely one-dimensional modeling approach does not consider interaction between columns. Lateral flows might be significant for long and narrow tubes and heterogeneous hydraulic properties and plant characteristics. This study is to quantify the significance of lateral flow and examine whether using this one-dimensional modeling approach may introduce unacceptable errors for large scale evapotranspiration simulations using a three-dimensional modeling appraoch. Instead of using convenient parallel column models of independent hydrologic processes, this study simulates three-dimensional transpiration and evaporation in multiple columns which allow lateral interactions. Specifically, we examined the impact of plant rooting density, depth, pattern and other characteristics on the accuracy of this commonly used one-dimensional approximation of hydrological processes. In addition, the influence of spatial variability of hydraulic properties on the validity of the one-dimensional approach and the difference of wetting and drying processes are discussed. The results provide applicable guidance for applications of one-dimensional approach to simulate large scale evapotranspiration in a heterogeneous landscape.