Latent and Sensible Heat Flux for Australia by Scaling Flux Tower Data 2000 to 2023

This dataset comprises spatially and temporally dynamic estimates of the monthly latent heat flux (λE) and sensible heat flux (H) for all of Australia. The available energy (A, being net radiation [Rn] less the gound heat flux [G]) can be obtained by adding the λE and H datasets provided. Energy variables have been provided as hydrological equivalent units of depth, normalised to daily rates (mm/d). TERN OzFlux Surface Energy Balance (SEB) data were used to scale MODIS-based covariates of surface temperature less air temperature (Ts – Ta) and Rn using a Spatial and Temporal General Linear Model (ST-GLM) to third order. The ST-GLM SEB model was implemented across all of Australia on a 0.005° spatial grid (~ 500 m) on a monthly timestep from March 2000 through June 2023. Coefficients of the model were determined from the OzFlux network of eddy covariance flux tower data. Three flux tower sites were used to independently validate the accuracy of the model, being Calperum, SA, Howard Springs, NT, and Tumbarumba, NSW. The mean absolute difference (MAD) for λE, H and A was estimated as: 0.37, 0.39 and 0.34 mm/d, respectively. The relative errors determined by the MAD percentage (MADP) for λE, H, and A were estimated to be: 16%, 26%, and 9%, respectively. This dataset represents a new pathway for operational regional- to global-scale estimation of dynamic SEB variables.