Surface energy balance algorithm for land-based consumption water use of different land use-cover types in arid-semiarid regions

Spatiotemporal distributions of water consumption for various land use-cover types over the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia were estimated using Surface Energy Balance Algorithm. Water consumption of various land use and cover classes shows similar seasonal dynamic trends. The spatial distribution of annual actual evapotranspiration (AET) shows low values in the Empty Quarter (231–438 mm/yr), and moderate values in the Eastern Province borders (439–731 mm/yr). Very high AET values were observed in irrigated croplands in the Northern plains, Hafar Al-Batin, the central coastal lowlands, and the southern coastal lowlands, where annual AET ranged from 732 to 1,790 mm/yr, representing the majority of the study area agricultural land. Evaporative behavior of land use-cover types indicated that irrigated cropland, which occupies 0.37% of the study area, has an average daily AET ranging from 9.2 mm/day in January to a maximum value in April (30 mm/day). Average annual water use by irrigated cropland is relatively very high and it is roughly 1,786.9 mm/yr, while water bodies, which cover 0.023% (121.2 km²) of the study area, also had relatively high mean AET (660.8 mm/yr). Overall, AET rates for irrigated cropland are much higher than for other land uses.