ECOSTRESS Captures the Daily But not Seasonal Behavior of Instantaneous Latent Heat Flux in the U.S. Corn Belt

ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) was launched in 2018 and provides a unique opportunity to differentiate the satellite’s latent heat flux (LE) between crops within a single farm due to its fine scale resolution of 70m. LE exhibits both a daily and seasonal cycle. Unfortunately, in the U.S. Corn Belt, cloud coverage significantly limits the usable data. Additionally, inadequate geolocation of ECOSTRESS granules and nighttime overpasses also limit the usable ECOSTRESS data. For example, fields near Ames, Iowa, U.S. are observed an average of only 12-17 times each year within the growing season of June-August. On the other hand, the variable ECOSTRESS overpass times can be combined to produce a "standard day" of LE if the seasonal variability is ignored. Given the limited data, we examine the usefulness of ECOSTRESS for observing LE in the Corn Belt for the growing seasons of 2019-2022. ECOSTRESS adequately captures the daily trend of LE, but the lack of data throughout the growing season prevents a comprehensive analysis of the seasonal trends.