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Volume 18
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10.3390/rs18060856
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Article

Comparative Assessment of UAV-Based TSEB and Field-Calibrated AquaCrop for Evapotranspiration on the Arid Coast of Peru

by
Roxana Peña-Amaro
1,
José Huanuqueño-Murillo
2,
Lia Ramos-Fernández
3,*,
Abel Ramos-Ayala
2,
David Quispe-Tito
2,
Lena Cruz-Villacorta
4,
Elizabeth Heros-Aguilar
5,
Edwin Pino-Vargas
6 and
Alfonso Torres-Rua
7
1
Experimental Irrigation Area, Master’s Program in Water Resources, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru
2
Experimental Irrigation Area, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru
3
Department of Water Resources, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru
4
Doctoral Program in Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Department of Territorial Planning, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru
5
Department of Phytotechnics, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima 15024, Peru
6
Department of Civil Engineering, Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University, Tacna 23000, Peru
7
Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Utah State University, Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2026, 18(6), 856; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060856
Submission received: 26 January 2026 / Revised: 26 February 2026 / Accepted: 8 March 2026 / Published: 10 March 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancing UAV-Based Remote Sensing: Innovations, Techniques and Applications (Second Edition))
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Abstract

Precise estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) is essential for sustainable water management in arid agroecosystems, particularly for high-water-demand crops such as rice. This study integrated very-high-resolution UAV thermal–multispectral imagery with a Two-Source Energy Balance model (UAV–TSEB) and a field-calibrated AquaCrop model to quantify daily ET and its components under continuous flooding on the arid Peruvian coast during the 2024–2025 season. A network of 24 drainage lysimeters provided an independent observational benchmark (ETlys); to represent the treatment-level response, lysimeter observations were aggregated as the mean across the 24 units for each UAV campaign. Thirteen UAV surveys supplied radiometric surface temperature and biophysical inputs (e.g., NDVI and fractional cover) to derive spatially explicit ET, while AquaCrop provided continuous daily simulations between flight dates. Direct lysimeter-based validation indicated high agreement for AquaCrop (R2 = 0.85; RMSE = 0.26 mm d−1; MBE = 0.01 mm d−1) and moderate agreement for UAV–TSEB (R2 = 0.66; RMSE = 0.81 mm d−1; MBE = 1.01 mm d−1). Model intercomparison further showed consistent temporal dynamics of ET (R2 = 0.70; RMSE = 1.35 mm d−1) and robust partitioning of crop transpiration (R2 = 0.79; RMSE = 0.99 mm d−1) and soil evaporation (R2 = 0.76; RMSE = 1.03 mm d−1) while revealing a systematic divergence under near-complete canopy cover: AquaCrop tended to suppress evaporation, whereas UAV–TSEB detected residual evaporation from the flooded surface. Overall, the results highlight the complementarity of both approaches—UAV–TSEB as a spatial diagnostic tool and AquaCrop as a temporally continuous simulator—providing a robust framework for ET monitoring, flux partitioning, and water-use-efficiency assessment in water-scarce rice systems.
Keywords: evapotranspiration; AquaCrop; two-source energy balance; UAV; flux partitioning; rice evapotranspiration; AquaCrop; two-source energy balance; UAV; flux partitioning; rice

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MDPI and ACS Style

Peña-Amaro, R.; Huanuqueño-Murillo, J.; Ramos-Fernández, L.; Ramos-Ayala, A.; Quispe-Tito, D.; Cruz-Villacorta, L.; Heros-Aguilar, E.; Pino-Vargas, E.; Torres-Rua, A. Comparative Assessment of UAV-Based TSEB and Field-Calibrated AquaCrop for Evapotranspiration on the Arid Coast of Peru. Remote Sens. 2026, 18, 856. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060856

AMA Style

Peña-Amaro R, Huanuqueño-Murillo J, Ramos-Fernández L, Ramos-Ayala A, Quispe-Tito D, Cruz-Villacorta L, Heros-Aguilar E, Pino-Vargas E, Torres-Rua A. Comparative Assessment of UAV-Based TSEB and Field-Calibrated AquaCrop for Evapotranspiration on the Arid Coast of Peru. Remote Sensing. 2026; 18(6):856. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060856

Chicago/Turabian Style

Peña-Amaro, Roxana, José Huanuqueño-Murillo, Lia Ramos-Fernández, Abel Ramos-Ayala, David Quispe-Tito, Lena Cruz-Villacorta, Elizabeth Heros-Aguilar, Edwin Pino-Vargas, and Alfonso Torres-Rua. 2026. "Comparative Assessment of UAV-Based TSEB and Field-Calibrated AquaCrop for Evapotranspiration on the Arid Coast of Peru" Remote Sensing 18, no. 6: 856. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060856

APA Style

Peña-Amaro, R., Huanuqueño-Murillo, J., Ramos-Fernández, L., Ramos-Ayala, A., Quispe-Tito, D., Cruz-Villacorta, L., Heros-Aguilar, E., Pino-Vargas, E., & Torres-Rua, A. (2026). Comparative Assessment of UAV-Based TSEB and Field-Calibrated AquaCrop for Evapotranspiration on the Arid Coast of Peru. Remote Sensing, 18(6), 856. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs18060856

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