Estimating latent heat flux of subtropical forests using machine learning algorithms

Abstract Latent heat flux (LE) is a measure of the water exchange between Earth's surface and atmosphere, also known as evapotranspiration. It is a fundamental component in the Earth's energy budget and hydrological cycle and plays an important role in regulating the weather and climate. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) offers a gap‐filled biophysical product for LE at 8‐day temporal and 500‐meter spatial resolutions. Nonetheless, validation against the in situ eddy covariance measurement reveals significant errors in MODIS LE estimation. Our study integrates ground‐measured, reanalysis and satellite data to predict LE by leveraging the advantage of the data‐driven method. The study draws upon flux data derived from the AsiaFlux database, alongside reanalysis datasets from the Indian Monsoon Data Assimilation and Analysis (IMDAA) and the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ERA5) products, as well as biophysical measurements from the MODIS satellite. An analysis of the annual water budget, based on ERA5 precipitation data, highlights net positive water balances across the study sites. By harnessing diverse datasets, we employ various machine learning regression algorithms. We find the support vector regression superior to linear, lasso, random forest, adaptive boosting and gradient boosting algorithms. This study highlights the robustness of support vector regression and accentuates the impact of climatic and environmental conditions on model performance, ultimately contributing to more precise predictions of latent heat flux.