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How large is global transpiration? Quantification of vegetation’s contribution on global hydrological cycle
How large is global transpiration? Quantification of vegetation’s contribution on global hydrological cycle

Transpiration from vegetation is a very important and basic component for not only water / carbon cycles, but also mitigation and adaptation measures due to the global warming. Assoc. Prof. Kei Yoshimura with Dr. Wonsik Kim in Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization installed a newly developed stable water isotope monitoring system (photo) on an experimental rice paddy field, and conducted a 3-year continuous high-frequency monitoring of water vapor isotopes. Based on the results, a new globally applicable method for transpiration contribution estimation was developed. Thus, the global transpiration fraction of 57±7 % was estimated. This work will help to conclude the recent intensive scientific discussion on global transpiration fraction ranging from 20% to 90%.


Journal Title : Water Resources Research
Article Title : Partitioning of evapotranspiration using high-frequency water vapor isotopic measurement over a rice paddy field
Author(s) : Wei, Z. W., K. Yoshimura, A. Okazaki, W. Kim, Z. F. Liu, and M. Yokoi
DOI: 10.1002/2014wr016737
Abstract URL : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014WR016737/full

Journal Title : Journal of Hydrology
Article Title : Understanding the variability of water isotopologues in near-surface atmospheric moisture over a humid subtropical rice paddy in Tsukuba, Japan
Author(s) : Wei, Z. W., K. Yoshimura, A. Okazaki, K. Ono, W. Kim, M. Yokoi, and C. T. Lai
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.11.044
Abstract URL : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169415009312

Journal Title : Geophysical Research Letters
Article Title : Revisiting the contribution of transpiration to global terrestrial evapotranspiration
Author(s) : Wei, Z., K. Yoshimura, L. Wang, D. Miralles, S. Jasechko, and X. Lee
DOI: 10.1002/2016GL072235
Abstract URL : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016GL072235/abstract