O cafeeiro arábica é extensamente cultivado em regiões tropicais, sendo cultura de grande importância econômica para o Brasil. Atualmente, ele é cultivado em áreas com deficiência hídrica, para as quais a irrigação suplementar é necessária para aumentar a produtividade e a qualidade da bebida. O aumento da eficiência da prática irrigacionista exige em primeiro lugar informação sobre o consumo hídrico do cafezal. Tendo em vista a falta de informações sobre esse consumo e, também, o fato de que os plantios adensados têm tido grande avanço no país, o presente estudo foi realizado com a finalidade de determinar a evapotranspiração de um cafezal Mundo Novo Apuatã e sua partição em transpiração dos cafeeiros e evapotranspiração da entrelinha. O cafezal, localizado em Piracicaba/SP, tinha plantio adensado (2500plantas/ha) e era irrigado por gotejamento. A evapotranspiração do cafezal foi determinada pelo método da razão de Bowen, enquanto que a transpiração foi estimada pelo modelo de Penman-Monteith adaptado, sendo este comparado com medidas de fluxo de seiva pelo método do balanço de calor no caule. Nessa confrontação, verificou-se razoável concordância entre a transpiração diária pelo modelo e o fluxo de seiva, havendo discordância em duas da quatro plantas avaliadas, provavelmente devido à forma de determinação da energia radiante absorvida pelas plantas e à relação entre esta e a área foliar dos cafeeiros, bem como aos erros introduzidos pela estimativa da condutância foliar à difusão de vapor. Observou-se que a transpiração dos cafeeiros representou 90% da evapotranspiração do cafezal no período em que a entrelinha da cultura tinha solo sem vegetação viva e 69% no período subseqüente, quando a entrelinha tinha vegetação desenvolvida. Com a separação da evapotranspiração em seus dois componentes, foi possível determinar que o coeficiente basal foi igual a 0,8 e que o coeficiente evaporativo igual 0,2, com um coeficiente de cultura global próximo da unidade. / Coffee arabica plants are extensively cultivated in tropical regions and it is a crop of great economic importance for Brazil. Currently, it is cultivated in areas with water deficits for which the irrigation is necessary to increase yields and drink quality. To increase irrigation efficiency one needs to know the water consumption of coffee plantation, information that is not easyly get specially in high density coffee plantations. The present study was carried out in order to determine the evapotranspiration of a coffee plantation Novo Mundo Apuatã and its partition in transpiration of coffee plants and interrow evapotranspiration. The coffee plantarion had a high density (2500 plants/ha) and drip irrigation. Evapotranspiration of coffee plantation was determined by Bowen ratio method, while transpiration was obtained by Penman-Monteith model, where this last one was compared with sap flow measures by heat balance method in stem. The comparison showed reasonable agreement between daily transpiration by model and sap flow data, with major disagreement in two of four evaluated plants wich was probably due to technique of determination of radiant energy absorbed by coffee plants. Moreover, the relation between the amount of absorbed radiant energy and leaf area of plants seems to contribute to discrepances between sap flow and estimated transpiration. The leaf resistance also introduced some error in estimated transpiration by Penman-Monteith model. It was verified that coffee plants transpiration represented 90% of total evapotranspiration of coffee plantation in the period when interrows had no living vegetation. In the subsequent period, when vegetation was developed, transpiration decrease to 69% of total evapotranspiration. Dividing evapotranspiration in its two components, it was determined that basal crop coefficient and evaporative coefficient were equal to 0,8 and 0,2, respectively, with a global crop coefficient next to unit.

O cafeeiro arábica é extensamente cultivado em regiões tropicais, sendo cultura de grande importância econômica para o Brasil. Atualmente, ele é cultivado em áreas com deficiência hídrica, para as quais a irrigação suplementar é necessária para aumentar a produtividade e a qualidade da bebida. O aumento da eficiência da prática irrigacionista exige em primeiro lugar informação sobre o consumo hídrico do cafezal. Tendo em vista a falta de informações sobre esse consumo e, também, o fato de que os plantios adensados têm tido grande avanço no país, o presente estudo foi realizado com a finalidade de determinar a evapotranspiração de um cafezal Mundo Novo Apuatã e sua partição em transpiração dos cafeeiros e evapotranspiração da entrelinha. O cafezal, localizado em Piracicaba/SP, tinha plantio adensado (2500plantas/ha) e era irrigado por gotejamento. A evapotranspiração do cafezal foi determinada pelo método da razão de Bowen, enquanto que a transpiração foi estimada pelo modelo de Penman-Monteith adaptado, sendo este comparado com medidas de fluxo de seiva pelo método do balanço de calor no caule. Nessa confrontação, verificou-se razoável concordância entre a transpiração diária pelo modelo e o fluxo de seiva, havendo discordância em duas da quatro plantas avaliadas, provavelmente devido à forma de determinação da energia radiante absorvida pelas plantas e à relação entre esta e a área foliar dos cafeeiros, bem como aos erros introduzidos pela estimativa da condutância foliar à difusão de vapor. Observou-se que a transpiração dos cafeeiros representou 90% da evapotranspiração do cafezal no período em que a entrelinha da cultura tinha solo sem vegetação viva e 69% no período subseqüente, quando a entrelinha tinha vegetação desenvolvida. Com a separação da evapotranspiração em seus dois componentes, foi possível determinar que o coeficiente basal foi igual a 0,8 e que o coeficiente evaporativo igual 0,2, com um coeficiente de cultura global próximo da unidade. / Coffee arabica plants are extensively cultivated in tropical regions and it is a crop of great economic importance for Brazil. Currently, it is cultivated in areas with water deficits for which the irrigation is necessary to increase yields and drink quality. To increase irrigation efficiency one needs to know the water consumption of coffee plantation, information that is not easyly get specially in high density coffee plantations. The present study was carried out in order to determine the evapotranspiration of a coffee plantation Novo Mundo Apuatã and its partition in transpiration of coffee plants and interrow evapotranspiration. The coffee plantarion had a high density (2500 plants/ha) and drip irrigation. Evapotranspiration of coffee plantation was determined by Bowen ratio method, while transpiration was obtained by Penman-Monteith model, where this last one was compared with sap flow measures by heat balance method in stem. The comparison showed reasonable agreement between daily transpiration by model and sap flow data, with major disagreement in two of four evaluated plants wich was probably due to technique of determination of radiant energy absorbed by coffee plants. Moreover, the relation between the amount of absorbed radiant energy and leaf area of plants seems to contribute to discrepances between sap flow and estimated transpiration. The leaf resistance also introduced some error in estimated transpiration by Penman-Monteith model. It was verified that coffee plants transpiration represented 90% of total evapotranspiration of coffee plantation in the period when interrows had no living vegetation. In the subsequent period, when vegetation was developed, transpiration decrease to 69% of total evapotranspiration. Dividing evapotranspiration in its two components, it was determined that basal crop coefficient and evaporative coefficient were equal to 0,8 and 0,2, respectively, with a global crop coefficient next to unit.

The Penman-Monteith (PM) equation is a state-of-the-art modelling approach to simulate evapotranspiration (ET) at site and local scale. However, its practical application is often restricted by the availability and quality of required parameters. One of these parameters is the canopy conductance. Long term measurements of evapotranspiration by the eddy-covariance method provide an improved data basis to determine this parameter by inverse modelling. Because this approach may also include evaporation from the soil, not only the ‘actual’ canopy conductance but the whole surface conductance (gc) is addressed. Two full cycles of crop rotation with five different crop types (winter barley, winter rape seed, winter wheat, silage maize, and spring barley) have been continuously monitored for 10 years. These data form the basis for this study. As estimates of gc are obtained on basis of measurements, we investigated the impact of measurements uncertainties on obtained values of gc. Here, two different foci were inspected more in detail. Firstly, the effect of the energy balance closure gap (EBCG) on obtained values of gc was analysed. Secondly, the common hydrological practice to use vegetation height (hc) to determine the period of highest plant activity (i.e., times with maximum gc concerning CO2-exchange and transpiration) was critically reviewed. The results showed that hc and gc do only agree at the beginning of the growing season but increasingly differ during the rest of the growing season. Thus, the utilisation of hc as a proxy to assess maximum gc (gc,max) can lead to inaccurate estimates of gc,max which in turn can cause serious shortcomings in simulated ET. The light use efficiency (LUE) is superior to hc as a proxy to determine periods with maximum gc. Based on this proxy, crop specific estimates of gc,maxcould be determined for the first (and the second) cycle of crop rotation: winter barley, 19.2 mm s−1 (16.0 mm s−1); winter rape seed, 12.3 mm s−1 (13.1 mm s−1); winter wheat, 16.5 mm s−1 (11.2 mm s−1); silage maize, 7.4 mm s−1 (8.5 mm s−1); and spring barley, 7.0 mm s−1 (6.2 mm s−1).

The Penman-Monteith (PM) equation is a state-of-the-art modelling approach to simulate evapotranspiration (ET) at site and local scale. However, its practical application is often restricted by the availability and quality of required parameters. One of these parameters is the canopy conductance. Long term measurements of evapotranspiration by the eddy-covariance method provide an improved data basis to determine this parameter by inverse modelling. Because this approach may also include evaporation from the soil, not only the ‘actual’ canopy conductance but the whole surface conductance (gc) is addressed. Two full cycles of crop rotation with five different crop types (winter barley, winter rape seed, winter wheat, silage maize, and spring barley) have been continuously monitored for 10 years. These data form the basis for this study. As estimates of gc are obtained on basis of measurements, we investigated the impact of measurements uncertainties on obtained values of gc. Here, two different foci were inspected more in detail. Firstly, the effect of the energy balance closure gap (EBCG) on obtained values of gc was analysed. Secondly, the common hydrological practice to use vegetation height (hc) to determine the period of highest plant activity (i.e., times with maximum gc concerning CO2-exchange and transpiration) was critically reviewed. The results showed that hc and gc do only agree at the beginning of the growing season but increasingly differ during the rest of the growing season. Thus, the utilisation of hc as a proxy to assess maximum gc (gc,max) can lead to inaccurate estimates of gc,max which in turn can cause serious shortcomings in simulated ET. The light use efficiency (LUE) is superior to hc as a proxy to determine periods with maximum gc. Based on this proxy, crop specific estimates of gc,maxcould be determined for the first (and the second) cycle of crop rotation: winter barley, 19.2 mm s−1 (16.0 mm s−1); winter rape seed, 12.3 mm s−1 (13.1 mm s−1); winter wheat, 16.5 mm s−1 (11.2 mm s−1); silage maize, 7.4 mm s−1 (8.5 mm s−1); and spring barley, 7.0 mm s−1 (6.2 mm s−1).