Objective Various aspects of the measurement and modelling of surface energy fluxes have been studied with particular emphasis on the use of satellite data for the monitoring of fluxes and on their representation in large scale atmospheric models. The main objective was to carry out a small field experiment in the Sahelian region of the Republic of Niger which would contribute to the design of much larger international experiments in semiarid environments. The influence of local minor surface irregularities on the surface energy fluxes and on their measurement was investigated. At the same time measurements of the radiative properties of the different surface types which characterise the area were made to allow the interpretation of satellite data over this region. The experiment showed that even gradients of only a few percent gave rise to significant changes in the local surface energy fluxes and caused problems with some of the techniques commonly used to measure heat fluxes. The measurements of the radiative properties of the different soils showed that in the thermal infrared band the split window techniques should be used with extreme caution. In the visible and near visible bands a large variation in the reflectivity of the soil is found. This is important when using satellite data to estimate amount of vegetation in the conditions of sparse cover typical of the Sahel. The work has cast some new light on the problems of area measurements of the surface energy budget and the results are being incorporated into the design of the large international experiments which will take place in southern Europe and Africa in the next few years. Fields of science engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringsatellite technologyengineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringremote sensingsocial sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systems Programme(s) FP1-STIMULATION 1C - Plan (EEC) to stimulate European scientific and technical cooperation and interchange, 1985-1988 Topic(s) Data not available Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator UNIVERSITY OF READING Address Whiteknights, whiteknights house, palmer building RG6 6AH Reading / silchester United Kingdom See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Kaiserswertherstrasse 16-18 Berlin See on map Links Website Opens in new window NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF ITALY Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via giovanni caproni 8 50145 Firenze See on map UNIVERSITAET HANNOVER Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Welfengarten 1 b 30167 Hannover See on map UNIVERSITE LOUIS PASTEUR, STRASBOURG 1 France EU contribution € 0,00 Address Rue blaise pascal 4 67070 Strasbourg See on map
