The dual crop coefficient approach to estimate and partitioning evapotranspiration of the winter wheat–summer maize crop sequence in North China Plain

An accurate estimation of crop evapotranspiration ( ET c ) is very useful for appropriate water management; hence, an accurate and user-friendly model is needed to support related irrigation decisions. In this view, a study was developed aimed at estimating the ET c of winter wheat–summer maize crop sequence in the North China through eddy covariance measurements, to calibrate and validate the SIMDualKc model, to estimate the basal crop coefficients ( K cb ) for both crops and to partition ET c into soil evaporation and crop transpiration. Two years of field experimentation of that crop sequence were used to calibrate and validate the SIMDualKc model and to derive K cb using eddy covariance measurements. Various indicators have shown the goodness of fit of the model, with estimated values very close to the observed ones and estimate errors close to 0.5 mm d −1 . The initial, mid-season and end basal crop coefficients for wheat were 0.25, 1.15 and 0.30, respectively, and those for maize were 0.15, 1.15 and 0.45, thus close to those proposed in FAO56 guidelines. The soil evaporation represented near 80 % of ET c for the initial stages of winter wheat and summer maize and decreased to only 5–6 % during the mid-season period. Evaporation during the full crop season averaged 28 % for winter wheat and 40 % for summer maize. The importance of wetting frequency and crop ground coverage in controlling soil evaporation was evidenced.