Uncertainty analysis for satellite derived sensible heat fluxes and scintillometer measurements over Savannah environment and comparison to mesoscale meteorological simulation results

Three methods for estimating instantaneous sensible heat flux (H) over Savannah environment in West Africa were compared: first, satellite derived estimations using the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) method [Bastiaanssen, W.G.M., Menenti, M., Feddes, R.A., Holtslag, A.A.M., 1998a. A remote sensing energy balance algorithm for land, SEBAL: 1. Formulation. J. Hydrol. 212–213, 198–212]; secondly, measurements at two test sites in Ghana with a large-aperture scintillometer (LAS); third, high resolution mesoscale meteorological simulations using the MM5 (5th-Generation Penn State/NCAR) mesoscale modelling system. Satellite-derived sensible heat flux was based on seven NOAA-16 AVHRR images that were processed for a 2-week period in December 2001 (dry season) and were compared to LAS-data and MM5 simulation results.