Energy balance measurements in a suburban vegetated area in Mexico City

A series of energy balance measurements were carried out in a suburban natural vegetated area on a lava bed (1.24 km2) in the south of Mexico City. These measurements were made in May (end of the dry season), and June–July (begining of the wet season) in 1995. During the dry season, net radiation (QN) was mainly dissipated by sensible (QH) and latent (QE) heat, 69 and 25%, respectively. Sensible heat increased during the day up to 400 W m−2 at the end of the dry season. QN was dissipated by QH and QE by 27 and 70%, and QE had a maximum value of 300 W m−2 during the day in the wet season. The calculated Bowen ratio was 1.92 and 0.04 during the dry and wet season, respectively. Probably, seasonal differences are due to water availability and plant phenology.