Evaluation of methods for estimating atmospheric emissivity in Mato-Grossense Cerrado

Abstract This study analyzed the performance of the Brunt (1932), Swinbank (1963), Idso and Jackson (1969), Brutsaert (1975), Idso (1981), and Bignami et al. (1995) methods to estimate atmospheric emissivity under grass-dominated savannas (known as campo sujo Cerrado), in the region of Baixada Cuiabana. The estimates were compared with data obtained by energy balance equation in two seasons, dry season (May to August), and wet season (September to December) of 2009. The Swinbank and Idso and Jackson methods, that consider only air temperature, show better performances for the wet season. However, methods that consider water vapor pressure and air temperature (Brunt, Brutsaert, Bignami and Idso) show good performances for the dry season. The Idso and Brutsaert methods show the highest index of agreement and are recommended to estimate atmospheric emissivity for the region.