DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Observation and Estimation of Evapotranspiration from an Irrigated Green Roof in a Rain-Scarce Environment

Abstract

While the rain-driven evapotranspiration (ET) process has been well-studied in the humid climate, the mixed irrigation and rain-driven ET process is less understood for green roof implementations in dry regions, where empirical observations and model parameterizations are lacking. This paper presents an effort of monitoring and simulating the ET process for an irrigated green roof in a rain-scarce environment. Annual ET rates for three weighing lysimeter test units with non-vegetated, sedums, and grass covers were 2.01, 2.52, and 2.69 mm d-1, respectively. Simulations based on the three Penman–Monteith equation-derived models achieved accuracy within the reported range of previous studies. Compared to the humid climate, the overestimation of high ET rates by existing models is expected to cause a larger error in dry environments, where the enhanced ET process caused by repeated irrigations overlapped with hot, dry conditions often occurs during summer. The studied sedum species did not show significantly lower ET rates than native species, and could not effectively take advantage of the deep moisture storage. Therefore, native species, instead of the shallow-rooted species commonly recommended in humid climates, might be a better choice for green roofs in rain-scarce environments.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  3. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF); Univ. of Utah (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
1457773
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-132939
Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4441; PII: w10030262
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830; IIA-1208732
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Water (Basel)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Water (Basel); Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2073-4441
Publisher:
MDPI
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; stormwater management; green roof; evapotranspiration; sedum; irrigation; rain-scarce environments; weighing lysimeter

Citation Formats

Feng, Youcan, Burian, Steven, and Pardyjak, Eric. Observation and Estimation of Evapotranspiration from an Irrigated Green Roof in a Rain-Scarce Environment. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.3390/w10030262.
Feng, Youcan, Burian, Steven, & Pardyjak, Eric. Observation and Estimation of Evapotranspiration from an Irrigated Green Roof in a Rain-Scarce Environment. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030262
Feng, Youcan, Burian, Steven, and Pardyjak, Eric. Fri . "Observation and Estimation of Evapotranspiration from an Irrigated Green Roof in a Rain-Scarce Environment". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030262. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1457773.
@article{osti_1457773,
title = {Observation and Estimation of Evapotranspiration from an Irrigated Green Roof in a Rain-Scarce Environment},
author = {Feng, Youcan and Burian, Steven and Pardyjak, Eric},
abstractNote = {While the rain-driven evapotranspiration (ET) process has been well-studied in the humid climate, the mixed irrigation and rain-driven ET process is less understood for green roof implementations in dry regions, where empirical observations and model parameterizations are lacking. This paper presents an effort of monitoring and simulating the ET process for an irrigated green roof in a rain-scarce environment. Annual ET rates for three weighing lysimeter test units with non-vegetated, sedums, and grass covers were 2.01, 2.52, and 2.69 mm d-1, respectively. Simulations based on the three Penman–Monteith equation-derived models achieved accuracy within the reported range of previous studies. Compared to the humid climate, the overestimation of high ET rates by existing models is expected to cause a larger error in dry environments, where the enhanced ET process caused by repeated irrigations overlapped with hot, dry conditions often occurs during summer. The studied sedum species did not show significantly lower ET rates than native species, and could not effectively take advantage of the deep moisture storage. Therefore, native species, instead of the shallow-rooted species commonly recommended in humid climates, might be a better choice for green roofs in rain-scarce environments.},
doi = {10.3390/w10030262},
journal = {Water (Basel)},
number = 3,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Fri Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 15 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Investigation of thermal benefits of rooftop garden in the tropical environment
journal, February 2003


Investigating soil moisture–climate interactions in a changing climate: A review
journal, May 2010


Modelling evapotranspiration in a Scots pine stand under Mediterranean mountain climate using the GLUE methodology
journal, September 2007


Modeling impacts of roof reflectivity, integrated photovoltaic panels and green roof systems on sensible heat flux into the urban environment
journal, December 2011


A recommendation on standardized surface resistance for hourly calculation of reference ETo by the FAO56 Penman-Monteith method
journal, March 2006

  • Allen, Richard G.; Pruitt, William O.; Wright, James L.
  • Agricultural Water Management, Vol. 81, Issue 1-2
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2005.03.007

Quantifying Evapotranspiration from Urban Green Roofs: A Comparison of Chamber Measurements with Commonly Used Predictive Methods
journal, August 2014

  • Marasco, Daniel E.; Hunter, Betsy N.; Culligan, Patricia J.
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 48, Issue 17
  • DOI: 10.1021/es501699h

Understanding, management and modelling of urban hydrology and its consequences for receiving waters: A state of the art
journal, January 2013


Potential of green infrastructure to restore predevelopment water budget of a semi-arid urban catchment
journal, November 2016


Bayesian Estimation of Uncertainty in Runoff Prediction and the Value of Data: An Application of the GLUE Approach
journal, July 1996

  • Freer, Jim; Beven, Keith; Ambroise, Bruno
  • Water Resources Research, Vol. 32, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1029/95WR03723

Green roof seasonal variation: comparison of the hydrologic behavior of a thick and a thin extensive system in New York City
journal, July 2016


Sensitivity and predictive uncertainty of the ACASA model at a spruce forest site
journal, January 2010


Independent Validation of the SWMM Green Roof Module
journal, September 2017


A review on effectiveness of best management practices in improving hydrology and water quality: Needs and opportunities
journal, December 2017


Parameterizing a Water-Balance Model for Predicting Stormwater Runoff from Green Roofs
journal, December 2016


Moisture content behaviour in extensive green roofs during dry periods: The influence of vegetation and substrate characteristics
journal, April 2014


Bayesian estimation of uncertainty in land surface-atmosphere flux predictions
journal, October 1997

  • Franks, Stewart W.; Beven, Keith J.
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 102, Issue D20
  • DOI: 10.1029/97JD02011

Analysis of the green roofs cooling potential in buildings
journal, April 1998


Green roofs; building energy savings and the potential for retrofit
journal, October 2010


Simulation of green roof test bed runoff: Simulation of Green Roof Test Bed Runoff
journal, July 2015

  • Krebs, Gerald; Kuoppamäki, Kirsi; Kokkonen, Teemu
  • Hydrological Processes, Vol. 30, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/hyp.10605

Economic comparison of white, green, and black flat roofs in the United States
journal, March 2014


4 Living roofs in 3 locations: Does configuration affect runoff mitigation?
journal, May 2013


Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of green roofs
journal, July 2007


Life-cycle cost–benefit analysis of extensive vegetated roof systems
journal, May 2008


Transpiration coefficients for three Great Basin shrubs
journal, November 2001

  • Steinwand, Aaron L.; Harrington, Robert F.; Groeneveld, David P.
  • Journal of Arid Environments, Vol. 49, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1006/jare.2001.0794

A review of energy aspects of green roofs
journal, July 2013


Using Watered Landscapes to Manipulate Urban Heat Island Effects: How Much Water Will It Take to Cool Phoenix?
journal, December 2009

  • Gober, Patricia; Brazel, Anthony; Quay, Ray
  • Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 76, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1080/01944360903433113

Green Roof Stormwater Retention
journal, January 2005

  • VanWoert, Nicholaus D.; Rowe, D. Bradley; Andresen, Jeffrey A.
  • Journal of Environment Quality, Vol. 34, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.2134/jeq2004.0364

Life cycle implications of urban green infrastructure
journal, August 2011


Green roof vegetation for North American ecoregions: A literature review
journal, June 2010


Evaluation of common evapotranspiration models based on measurements from two extensive green roofs in New York City
journal, November 2015


Advectively-assisted evapotranspiration from irrigated urban vegetation
journal, September 1979


Experimental measurements and numerical modelling of a green roof
journal, December 2005


Vegetated Roof Water-Balance Model: Experimental and Model Results
journal, August 2012


Theoretical evaluation of thermal and energy performance of tropical green roofs
journal, May 2011


Water uptake in green roof microcosms: Effects of plant species and water availability
journal, June 2008


Photosynthesis and water use by two Sedum species in green roof substrate
journal, November 2014


Watering our cities: The capacity for Water Sensitive Urban Design to support urban cooling and improve human thermal comfort in the Australian context
journal, November 2012

  • Coutts, Andrew M.; Tapper, Nigel J.; Beringer, Jason
  • Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, Vol. 37, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1177/0309133312461032

Green roofs for a wide brown land: Opportunities and barriers for rooftop greening in Australia
journal, January 2010

  • Williams, Nicholas S. G.; Rayner, John P.; Raynor, Kirsten J.
  • Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Vol. 9, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.ufug.2010.01.005

Modeling the impact of land use and climate change on neighborhood-scale evaporation and nighttime cooling: A surface energy balance approach
journal, November 2011


Green roof performance towards management of runoff water quantity and quality: A review
journal, April 2010


Evapotranspiration from a Green-Roof Storm-Water Control Measure
journal, December 2013


Easy Leaf Area: Automated Digital Image Analysis for Rapid and Accurate Measurement of Leaf Area
journal, July 2014

  • Easlon, Hsien Ming; Bloom, Arnold J.
  • Applications in Plant Sciences, Vol. 2, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.3732/apps.1400033

Quantifying Evapotranspiration Rates for New Zealand Green Roofs
journal, June 2010


Sensitivity, uncertainty and time dependence of parameters in a complex land surface model
journal, February 2008


A Bootstrap-VIP approach for selecting wavelength intervals in spectral imaging applications
journal, January 2010

  • Gosselin, Ryan; Rodrigue, Denis; Duchesne, Carl
  • Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, Vol. 100, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1016/j.chemolab.2009.09.005

The future of distributed models: Model calibration and uncertainty prediction
journal, July 1992


Uncertainty assessment of a stochastic groundwater flow model using GLUE analysis
journal, November 2008


The effects of rooftop garden on energy consumption of a commercial building in Singapore
journal, May 2003


On the Assessment of Surface Heat Flux and Evaporation Using Large-Scale Parameters
journal, February 1972


Parameters influencing the regeneration of a green roof’s retention capacity via evapotranspiration
journal, April 2015


Multiple sources of predictive uncertainty in modeled estimates of net ecosystem CO2 exchange
journal, December 2009


Green Roof Mitigation Potential for a Proxy Future Climate Scenario in Chicago, Illinois
journal, March 2011

  • Smith, Kathryn R.; Roebber, Paul J.
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, Vol. 50, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1175/2010JAMC2337.1

The Interpretation of the Variations in Leaf Water Potential and Stomatal Conductance Found in Canopies in the Field
journal, February 1976

  • Jarvis, P. G.
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 273, Issue 927
  • DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1976.0035

River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I — A discussion of principles
journal, April 1970


Green Roofs as Urban Ecosystems: Ecological Structures, Functions, and Services
journal, November 2007

  • Oberndorfer, Erica; Lundholm, Jeremy; Bass, Brad
  • BioScience, Vol. 57, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1641/B571005

Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation Method in Uncertainty Analysis of Numerical Eutrophication Models: Take BLOOM as an Example
journal, January 2013

  • Li, Zhijie; Chen, Qiuwen; Xu, Qiang
  • Mathematical Problems in Engineering, Vol. 2013
  • DOI: 10.1155/2013/701923

Improving Evapotranspiration Mechanisms in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model
journal, October 2016


A modelling study of long term green roof retention performance
journal, December 2013


Assessment of green roof thermal behavior: A coupled heat and mass transfer model
journal, December 2011


Retention performance of green roofs in three different climate regions
journal, November 2016


Establishment and performance of an experimental green roof under extreme climatic conditions
journal, April 2015


From Rain Tanks to Catchments: Use of Low-Impact Development To Address Hydrologic Symptoms of the Urban Stream Syndrome
journal, September 2015

  • Askarizadeh, Asal; Rippy, Megan A.; Fletcher, Tim D.
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 49, Issue 19
  • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b01635

Soil Water Characteristic Estimates by Texture and Organic Matter for Hydrologic Solutions
journal, January 2006

  • Saxton, K. E.; Rawls, W. J.
  • Soil Science Society of America Journal, Vol. 70, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2005.0117

Coupling biogeochemical cycles in urban environments: ecosystem services, green solutions, and misconceptions
journal, February 2011

  • Pataki, Diane E.; Carreiro, Margaret M.; Cherrier, Jennifer
  • Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 9, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1890/090220

The Role of Extensive Green Roofs in Sustainable Development
journal, August 2006


Water-efficient Urban Landscapes: Integrating Different Water Use Categorizations and Plant Types
journal, February 2012


Watering Regime and Green Roof Substrate Design Affect Sedum Plant Growth
journal, June 2005

  • VanWoert, Nicholaus D.; Rowe, D. Bradley; Andresen, Jeffrey A.
  • HortScience, Vol. 40, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI.40.3.659

Green roof seasonal variation: comparison of the hydrologic behavior of a thick and a thin extensive system in New York City
text, January 2016

  • Elliott, Robert M.; Gibson, R. A.; Carson, Tyler B.
  • Columbia University
  • DOI: 10.7916/d8n29xbp

Quantifying Evapotranspiration Rates for New Zealand Green Roofs
conference, April 2012

  • Fassman, Elizabeth; Voyde, Emily; Simcock, Robyn
  • International Low Impact Development Conference 2008, Low Impact Development for Urban Ecosystem and Habitat Protection
  • DOI: 10.1061/41009(333)15

Investigating soil moisture–climate interactions in a changing climate: A review
text, January 2010

  • Seneviratne, Sonia I.; Corti, Thierry; Davin, Edouard L.
  • Elsevier
  • DOI: 10.48350/167154

Transpiration coefficients for three Great Basin shrubs
journal, November 2001

  • Steinwand, Aaron L.; Harrington, Robert F.; Groeneveld, David P.
  • Journal of Arid Environments, Vol. 49, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1006/jare.2001.0794

Comparative ecophysiology of five species of Sedum (Crassulaceae) under well-watered and drought-stressed conditions
journal, January 1992

  • Gravatt, Dennis A.; Martin, Craig E.
  • Oecologia, Vol. 92, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1007/bf00317845

Is Sedum acre L. a CAM plant?
journal, January 1977


Sensitivity, uncertainty and time dependence of parameters in a complex land surface model
journal, February 2008


Comparative environmental life cycle assessment of green roofs
journal, July 2007


Water uptake in green roof microcosms: Effects of plant species and water availability
journal, June 2008


Green roof performance towards management of runoff water quantity and quality: A review
journal, April 2010


Experimental measurements and numerical modelling of a green roof
journal, December 2005


Green roofs; building energy savings and the potential for retrofit
journal, October 2010


Life cycle implications of urban green infrastructure
journal, August 2011


A modelling study of long term green roof retention performance
journal, December 2013


Moisture content behaviour in extensive green roofs during dry periods: The influence of vegetation and substrate characteristics
journal, April 2014


Parameters influencing the regeneration of a green roof’s retention capacity via evapotranspiration
journal, April 2015


Vegetation in the urban environment: microclimatic analysis and benefits
journal, January 2003


An advection-aridity approach to estimate actual regional evapotranspiration
journal, April 1979


Urban Water Balance: 2. Results From a Suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia
journal, September 1986


Estimation of Evapotranspiration from Bioretention Areas Using Weighing Lysimeters
journal, June 2010


Applicability of Classical Predictive Equations for the Estimation of Evapotranspiration from Urban Green Spaces: Green Roof Results
journal, January 2013


Works referencing / citing this record:

Urban stormwater characterization, control, and treatment
journal, July 2019

  • Rodak, Carolyn M.; Moore, Trisha L.; David, Ray
  • Water Environment Research, Vol. 91, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1002/wer.1173

Effect of Environmental Measurement Uncertainty on Prediction of Evapotranspiration
journal, October 2018

  • Chen, Ling-Hsi; Chen, Jiunyuan; Chen, Chiachung
  • Atmosphere, Vol. 9, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.3390/atmos9100400

Assessing the Hydrologic Performance of a Green Roof Retrofitting Scenario for a Small Urban Catchment
journal, August 2018

  • Palla, Anna; Gnecco, Ilaria; La Barbera, Paolo
  • Water, Vol. 10, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.3390/w10081052