Assessing the role of evapotranspiration in reducing surface

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temperatures in Harare using the SEBAL algorithm

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1Tanaka J Danda, 1Samuel Kusangaya, 2Terence Mushore, 1Never Mujere

1University of Zimbabwe, Department of Geography Geo-spatial Science and Earth Observation, P.O

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Box MP 167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
2University of Zimbabwe, Department of Space Sciences and Applied Physics, P.O Box MP 167, Mt

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Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe

Corresponding Author and Address:

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SAMUEL KUSANGAYA
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Department of Geography Geo spatial Science and Earth Observation, University of Zimbabwe, P.O
Box MP 167, Mt Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe
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This preprint research paper has not been peer reviewed. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4215104
 Assessing the role of evapotranspiration in reducing surface

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temperatures in Harare using the SEBAL algorithm

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Tanaka J Danda, Samuel Kusangaya, Terrence Mushore, Never Mujere

Abstract
Within urban areas, buildings, roads, and paved surfaces, absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than

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natural landscapes. Urban areas, where these structures are highly concentrated and vegetation is limited,
become ‘heat islands’ contributing to a range of environmental, economic, and human health problems.
Despite this, limited research, has, to date, been carried out to assess the influence of evapotranspiration
(ET) on urban surface temperatures for Harare, Zimbabwe. The SEBAL algorithm was used to estimate
ET, and land surface temperature (LST) was estimated using Landsat images. Results showed that high ET

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rates occurred on water bodies and green spaces which resulted in correspondingly low LST as compared
to built-up areas. Two conclusions were drawn from these results: Firstly, as ET increases, temperature
decreases. Secondly, there was a negative relationship between ET and LST in the hot season. Thus, low

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ET coincided with high LST in low vegetation and densely built-up areas. From these findings we can
deduce ways of mitigating effects of thermal discomfort in urban areas i.e., inclusion of green spaces and
water bodies within the cities. It is recommended that more green spaces be created within residential zones
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and encourage construction of green buildings and cooling technologies.

KEYWORDS: Evapotranspiration; SEBAL; land surface temperatures; urban heat island;

Remote Sensing; Harare
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 1. Introduction

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Approximately 55% of the world’s population reside in urban areas, and it is projected that the
proportion will increase to 68% by 2050 with about 90% of the increase concentrated in Asia and
Africa (United Nations Population Division`s Urban Prospects, 2018). Thirty-two percent of the

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Zimbabwean population live in urban areas, with Harare the capital city having the highest
population at 16% of the total population of Zimbabwe (MoLGPWNH, 2015). Zimbabwe is
currently experiencing 4.3% urbanization increase per annum (MoLGPWNH, 2015). Rapid
urbanization has culminated in an increase in urban surface temperatures leaving urban residents

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susceptible to thermal discomfort on account of continued conversion of urban landscapes
(Mushore, et al., 2017). In recent years, urban surface temperatures have gradually increased due

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to landuse landcover changes linked with urbanization (Cui et al., 2016; Chapman et al., 2017;
Mushore et al., 2017). According to Marondedze and Schütt, (2019) it is predicted that the majority

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of the growing population will reside in urban areas worldwide and like other metropolitan cities,
the Harare metropolitan area faces increasing population pressure.
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In developed countries such as Japan and Germany, efforts are being done to lower urban surface
temperatures (Nuruzzaman, 2015; Yamamoto, 2005). These efforts include use of high albedo
pavements, high albedo roofing materials, green roofs, shade trees and green vegetation. Green
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vegetation in particular, can reduce temperatures significantly through evapotranspiration (ET).

Ten percent vegetation cover is capable of reducing temperature by 0.6K (Nuruzzaman, 2015).
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Moreover, for impervious surfaces, the land surface temperatures (LSTs) are 5–10 °C higher than
that of the green surfaces (Soydan, 2020). Notwithstanding, cities in developing countries which
are currently undergoing urbanization have made little progress in the inclusion of green vegetation
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in urban planning as a way of easing the rising LSTs. However, it is important for developing
countries such as Zimbabwe to come up with measures to reduce surface temperatures as they
urbanise, so as to avoid future heat risks associated with high urban temperatures. The aim of this
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study was therefore to investigate the relationship between ET and LST using the Surface Energy
Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) model. An understanding of urban ET is essential to
comprehend the interaction between the atmosphere and the urban surface (Chen et al., 2022).
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However, estimating urban ET is challenging due to the influence of urban surface heterogeneity

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 and human activities in urban areas. This makes the use of satellite derived estimates an attractive

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choice (Liou et al 2014).

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a combination of two processes namely, the loss of water from water

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surfaces as well as soils through evaporation and the loss of water from vegetation via transpiration
(Liou and Kar, 2014). ET`s role in regulating the urban thermal environment is well established
(see: Wu eta al 2018; Zhao et al 2019; Hu and Li., 2020; Kwon et al., 2021), however, there is
paucity of information on the spatial characteristics of ET`s role in cooling and its quantification.

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Although urban green infrastructure can mitigate urban warming through the cooling effect of
plants (Feyisa et al 2014), however, little is known about role of evapotranspiration in reducing
surface temperatures and its impact on the Urban Heat Island (UHI). UHI impacts on

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evapotranspiration are complex as research has indicated that urban design decisions which reduce

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the magnitude of the UHI, such as cool roofs and cool pavements, can also result in a reduction in
ET (Georgescu et al., 2012). It is however important to note that increases in ET due to the UHI
occur where there is sufficient soil moisture to sustain higher ET levels. (Zipper et al., 2017).
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Studies have shown that ET is capable of reducing urban temperatures (Cong et al., 2017; Laounia
et al., 2017; Nuruzzaman, 2015; Faridatul et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020). However, in Africa,
few studies have focused on ET estimation for urban areas despite the rate of urban development
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and the growing concerns over the effects of urban heat island (UHI) brought about by urbanization
(Rwasoka et al, 2011; Gibson et al., 2013). UHI effects include elevated greenhouse gas emissions,
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thermal discomfort, heat waves and increased energy consumption. Zou, et al., (2019) noted that
over 28,000 people die each year because of exposure to extreme heat in 27 European countries.
Increased understanding of ET in urban areas is thus instrumental in management of urban
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temperatures.

Evapotranspiration (ET) maintains equilibrium in the earth system by returning about two-thirds
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of water back to the atmosphere from the earth’s surface and regulating environmental
temperatures through the absorption of energy in the surface energy balance (Laounia et al., 2017;
Faridatul et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020). ET studies have been focusing on croplands, catchments
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and forested systems thus paying less attention to the urban water balance. The increase in

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 knowledge and analytical tools coupled with a surge in environmental problems has improved ET

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estimates over urban areas. Consequently, the benefits of ET in urban areas are now being
recognized largely because of development of remote sensing-based algorithms capable of
quantifying ET in heterogeneous environments (Digiovanni, 2011; Litvak and Pataki, 2016).

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Previously, ET was commonly estimated using direct measurements such as evaporation pans and
empirical models like the Penman-Monteith equation. Direct measurements in particular estimate
ET accurately however, broad networks of weather stations are required in urban environments to
obtain reliable estimates of high spatial and temporal resolution (DiGiovanni-White et al., 2018)

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Surface energy balance models that incorporate Remote Sensing (RS) data include the Internalized
Calibration (METRIC), Surface Energy Balance Model for Urban areas (SEBU) and Surface

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Energy Balance System (SEBS) models have been widely used in ET studies mainly because their

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parameters are easily accessible (Abunnasr et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2017; Ma et al., 1012).
However, these models give potential ET estimates with large errors because of heterogeneous
nature of urban landscapes (Zhang et al., 2017). According to Faridatul et al., (2019)
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anthropogenic heat emissions from urban activities are important in urban energy budgets, hence
should be included in the energy balance algorithm. To account for heterogeneity of urban
landscapes, Faridatul et al., (2019) improved the surface energy balance algorithm for land
(SEBAL) to SEBAL-urban (uSEBAL) by making it suitable for estimating ET in urban
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environments. Using the modified surface energy budget equation in uSEBAL, ET is culculated
by taking into account urban land cover characteristics and anthropogenic heat flux (Faridatul et
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al., 2019). Cong et al., (2017) modified another surface balance model, SEBS into SEBS-urban by
also including the anthropogenic heat flux. The findings from both studies showed that the
inclusion of the anthropogenic heat improves ET estimates in highly urbanized areas, hence this
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approach was adopted for this study. Modification of the traditional RS-based single source surface
balance models such as the Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS) and SEBAL have proved
effective in estimating ET in urban areas (Cong et al., 2017; Faridatul et al., 2019).
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The continuous expansion of Harare is reducing available green spaces due to the increase in built-
up areas and paved surfaces. Replacement of green-spaces with paved surfaces reduces available
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latent heat and increases sensible heat resulting in temperature increase (Cong et al., 2017; Wang

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 et al., 2020). As mentioned before, the increase in temperature is associated with thermal

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discomfort which can lead to health problems such as heat strokes, headaches, respiratory illnesses
and even death. In addition, the CBD of Harare has a high number of street vendors directly at
high risk of contracting thermal related diseases. Thus, this study aims to estimate ET and the land

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surface temperature (LST) for Harare using the uSEBAL algorithm and Landsat 8 data

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

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2.1 Study area
Harare is capital city of Zimbabwe, located between 17o40′ and 18o00′ South and between 30o55′

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and 31o15′ East in Zimbabwe (Figure 1). Harare is approximately 1500 m above mean sea level

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and covers almost 94 000 ha of land (Mushore, et al., 2017). It is characterized by an average
temperature of 18oC and mean annual rainfall of 850 mm (Mushore, et al., 2017). The rain season
starts from mid-November and ends around mid-March while the post rain period stretches from
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mid-March to mid-May. The cold season starts from mid-May to mid-September while the hot
season begins from mid-September to mid-November. Temperatures peak in October averaging
28oC, and for that reason this period (September – November) was selected for ET analysis.
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Figure 1: Location of Harare in Zimbabwe

2.2 Satellite data

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When estimating ET it is vital to use cloud free satellite images (Faridatul et al., 2019). Six cloud-
free Landsat images (level 1) (Table 1) were downloaded from the US Geological Survey website
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(https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). ET was estimated during the hot (September – November) and

post rain (March to May) seasons from 2017 to 2019. Six Cloud-free Landsat images were used.
The Landsat 8 images were pre-processed and corrected for atmospheric errors using the SCP
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plugin in QGIS software. WorldClim DEM at 30m resolution was used for elevation representation.
Weather data (Table 2) were obtained from the local meteorological station as well as weather
measurements taken by the University of Zimbabwe and daily single point data weather
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measurements from NASA POWER (https://power.larc.nasa.gov). The weather data were used to
calculate reference evapotranspiration (REF-ET) using the REF-ET software made available by
the University of Idaho (www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/ref-et/).
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Figure 2: Flow chart for methodology followed
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Table 1: Weather and satellite data used

Date Wind Speed Ref-ET Humidity Temperature Pressure Sensor Season
(m/s) (mm) (%) (o C) (kPa)
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29 March 2017 3.90 4.13 74.1 25.4 86.30 OLI/TIRS Post Rain
23 Oct 2017 6.19 5.03 39.14 30.85 86.89 OLI/TIRS Hot
19 May 2018 4.60 4.27 67.63 21.17 87.01 OLI/TIRS Post Rain
26 Oct 2018 6.48 5.76 31.55 28.47 87.02 OLI/TIRS Hot
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20 April 2019 3.10 4.01 54.27 21.24 86.90 OLI/TIRS Post Rain
11 Sept 2019 4.32 5.18 18.75 21.57 86.73 OLI/TIRS Hot
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2.3 Land use land cover mapping

Urban landcover type is important in delineating land surface parameters which helps in reliable
estimation of urban energy fluxes and improvement of ET mapping in an urban setting (Faridatul
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et al., 2019). To improve performance of the SEBAL algorithm in an urban area, the landcover
/land use (LULC) were used in the estimation of ET. The LULC map were created using the Iso-

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 cluster unsupervised algorithm in ArcMap. Unsupervised classification does not require any field

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observation but relies immensely on supervisor`s knowledge of the area for training and accuracy
assessment. The Iso-cluster algorithm was selected because of complications in acquiring training
data when the research was conducted. A Landsat images were classified into CBD/industrial,

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residential zones, green spaces, croplands and water/wetlands (Table 3) using high resolution
google earth images foe verification.

Table 2: Description of LULC classes used in estimating ET

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LULC class Description
Water and wetlands Areas covered by water bodies and wetlands.
CBD and industrial Areas with a high density of buildings and proportion of impervious surface

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Areas covered by grasslands and sparse vegetation with high vegetation fraction
Green spaces
including in the dry season.
Croplands Areas where intra-urban agriculture is practiced such as research sites

Residential
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Combination of low and medium density residential areas with high vegetation fraction
and high-density residential areas and areas under residential development (bare or
impervious) with low vegetation fraction.
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Pixels from image used in creating the classified image were used to generate 25 ground validation
points per class. An error matrix was computed to assess the accuracy of the classified image using
the overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient (K) from the error matrix (Viera and Garrett, 2005):
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𝑃𝑜 ‒ 𝑃𝑒
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𝐾=
1 ‒ 𝑃𝑒
Equation 1.
Where; Po is observed agreement and Pe is expected agreement.
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2.4 ET estimation using the SEBAL algorithm

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The SEBAL algorithm utilizes the energy budget equation to calculate instantaneous ET (ETins)
for each pixel λ (instant latent heat loss) at the time of the satellite overpass time from satellite
images and weather data (Figure 3) (Rawat et al., 2016). The ET flux is calculated for each pixel
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of the image as a “residual” of the surface energy budget equation (Equation 2):

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λE = 𝑅𝑛 ‒ G ‒ H
Equation 2.
Where λE is the latent heat of the vaporization, Rn is the net radiation (W/m2), G is the soil heat

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flux (W/m2) and H is the sensible heat flux (W/m2).

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Figure 3: Conceptual model of the surface energy balance (Source: SEBAL, 2002)
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2.4.1 Net radiation (Rn)

The net radiation flux at the surface (Rn) represents the actual radiant energy available at the
surface. The instantaneous Rn is computed by subtracting the outgoing long-wave radiation from
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and incoming short-wave. Land surface temperature (Ts), surface albedo and vegetation indices
are parameters derived to attain Rn (Sabry et al., 2016):
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Rn = 1−α Rs +εaσTa4 −εs σTs4

Equation 3.
Where α is the surface albedo, σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant (5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4), Ta
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is the air temperature estimated at the wet crop surface with full cover which is assumed to

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 be Ta = Ts (wet pixel) (K), Ts is obtained from a radiometric surface temperature (K), εa is

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the air emissivity taking as (Bastiaanssen, 1998).

2.4.2 Soil keat flux (G)

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An empirical fraction of the net radiation incorporating the normalized difference vegetation index
(NDVI) was used to compute the soil heat flux , G as follows: (Almhab & Busu, 2004):

G = 𝑅𝑛 ‒ (0.4005(NDVI)2 + 0.2207(NDVI) + 0.2715)

Equation 4.

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2.4.3 Sensible heat flux (H)

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For the sensible heat flux calculation, two pixels are selected manually from the image. One pixel
is a wet pixel that is a well-irrigated crop surface with full cover and the surface temperature (Ts)

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close to the air temperature (Ta). The second pixel is a dry bare agricultural field where λ(ET) is
assumed to be 0. The two pixels tie the calculations for all other pixels between these two points.
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H is computed using wind-speed observations, surface-to-air temperature differences and
empirical surface roughness (Zom), where Zomwas obtained from an empirical relation using SAVI.
It is given as:
𝐻 = 𝑅𝑛 ‒ 𝐺
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Equation 5.
cpdT
H = ρ
rah
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Equation 6.

Where; ρ is the air density (mol-m-3), cp is the specific heat of air at constant pressure (29.3 J mol-1
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ºC-1), dT is the near surface temperature difference (K), rah is the aerodynamic resistance
to heat transport (m s-1). After λE is attained, daily ET from SEBAL is calculated as a
function of the evaporative fraction (EF), which is assumed to be constant during daylight
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hours (Allen et al., 2002).

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 2.4.4 Evaporative fraction (EF)

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Evaporative fraction is defined as the ratio of latent heat flux to available energy and is computed
(Allen et al, 2002):
λE

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EF =
𝑅𝑛 ‒ G
Equation 7.
The EF is assumed constant throughout the day and the ET from SEBAL is computed. ETdaily is
therefore computed as:

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𝑅𝑛24 ‒ 𝐺24
𝐸𝑇𝑑𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑦 = 86400 λ
λ
Equation 8.

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Where; ETdaily is daily Evapotranspiration, Rn24 is daily net radiation (W/m2), G24 is daily soil heat
flux (W/m2) and λ is latent heat of vaporization (Jkg-1).

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A series of stages using GRASS GIS software with (Sebal70.py) enabled computation of equations
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1 to 7 obtained from the GITHUB website (https://github.com/wwolff7/SEBAL_GRASS)
https://github.com/wwolff7/SEBAL_GRASS/blob/master/Sebal70.py
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2.5 Calculation of land surface temperature from thermal radiance

Land surface temperature corresponding to each Landsat image were derived from thermal bands
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of Landsat 8 (Band 10 and Band 11). These two bands were averaged using the cell statistic tool
in ArcMap to give one temperature output. To retrieve land surface temperature, conversion of
digital numbers to radiances, calculation of brightness temperatures from radiance and emissivity
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correction is necessary to acquire surface temperatures from brightness temperature maps

(Mushore at al., 2017). Digital numbers (DN) were converted to radiances (Ll) using Equation 9
below:
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𝐿1 = 𝑅𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑀𝑢𝑙𝑡𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑10 ∗ 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑑10 + 0.1

Equation 9.
Thermal radiance allowed computation of brightness temperature (Tb) using the following
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equation (Mushore et al., 2017);

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 𝐾2
𝑇𝑏 =

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𝐾1
ln ( 𝐿 𝜆 + 1)

Equation 10.
Where Tb is brightness temperature, K1 and K2 are TIRS thermal band constants.

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Applying an emissivity correction on brightness temperature enabled capturing of actual land
surface temperature using (Mushore et al., 2017);
𝑇𝑏
𝑇𝑠 = + ( )
λTb
ln ε

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1 ρ
Equation 11.
Where Tb is brightness temperature, ρ is 1.438 * 102 (mk) and ε is emissivity calculated using

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NDVI.

2.6 Validation of modelled ET and LST er

For validation purposes, pan evaporation measurements were compared with SEBAL ET estimates
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using root mean square error (RMSE):

∑ (𝑃 ‒ 𝑂 )𝑖 𝑖
2
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𝑅𝑀𝑆𝐸 = 𝑖=1
𝑛
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Equation 12.

Where; Pi is the predicted value, Oi is the observed value, and n is the number of variables. RMSE
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ranges from 1 to infinity, with 1 indicating that the model estimated accurately.

Although in validating RS derived ET, it common to measure surface energy fluxes concurrently
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for all land cover types at the time that the satellite overpass (Faridatul et al., 2019), it was not
possible because of procedural and financial restrictions. Model validation was therefore
conducted using in situ pan evaporation, which denotes the amount of water loss from the earth
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surface to the atmosphere in the form of water vapor during a period (in mm/day) assuming an
unlimited supply of water (Sun et al, 2011). The computed LST from thermal radiance was

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 compared with recorded temperature from ground observations. Correlation and linear regression

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analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between LST and ET. ET and LST pixel values
were extracted and plotted using scatterplots.

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3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Land use and land cover for Harare

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Residential and built-up areas covered 58% of Harare city, green spaces occupied 28.1% and 13.5%
of the area was covered by croplands. Water bodies and wetlands occupied 0.4% of the area and
the CBD/Industrial zone covered 4.3% (Figure 4).

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Figure 4: LULC map for Harare

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The overall accuracy of the classified image was 72% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.65 indicating
a good agreement between the predicted LULC types using the Iso-cluster unsupervised
classification algorithm (Table 5).
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 Table 3: Error matrix

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CBD &
Water Green Error of User’s
LULC Class Residential Croplands Industri Total
Bodies Spaces Commission Accuracy
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Water Bodies 22 0 0 0 0 22 0 100

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Green Spaces 3 20 2 0 1 26 23 77

Residential 0 5 18 10 5 38 53 47

Croplands 0 0 3 15 4 22 32 68

CBD & Industrial 0 0 2 0 15 17 12 88

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Total 25 25 25 25 25 125

Error of Omission 12 20 28 40 40 Overall Accuracy = 72%

Producer’s

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88 80 72 60 60
Accuracy Kappa Coefficient = 0.65

3.2 Estimated daily ET er

During the hot season high ET values were obtained for built-up residential zones such as those in
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the north-west and south-west to east. The CBD and industrial areas had low ET values for both
seasons because these areas are dominated by impervious surfaces. Areas to the north east were
largely occupied by green spaces and water bodies and had high ET values for the two seasons.
The results show that ET values vary between LULC classes. Figure 5 shows the spatial
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distribution of ET for the hot and post rain season between 2017 and 2019 and Table 6 summarizes
the mean values of the predicted ET.
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Figure 5: Spatial and temporal variation of ET in Harare

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 Results showed that the post rain season had higher ET values as compared to the hot season. The

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highest ET value of 4.6 mmd was observed on 29 March 2017 while the lowest ET value of 2.6
mmd was observed in the hot season on 23 October 2017. However, the highest maximum ET
values were observed in the hot season as compared to the post rain season. The highest maximum

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ET value of 9.1mmd was obtained for 23 October 2017 while the lowest maximum ET value of
6.1 mmd was obtained for 19 May 2018. Table 6 shows the mean and maximum ET values
estimated per LULC class as well as the overall ET values observed per day.

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Table 4: Temporal variations of estimated ET (mm/day) in different LULC types
LULC types
Date and Season Statistic Water/ Green Residential/ CBD/

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Croplands Overall
Wetlands spaces Built-up Industrial
Max 6.7 6.7 6.9 6.7 6 6.9
29-03-17 (Post rain)

23-10-17 (Hot)
Mean
Max
Mean
4.9
9.1
6
5
8.3
3.3
er 4.4
8.8
2.3
4.3
7.7
2.4
3
5.6
1.9
4.6
9.1
2.6
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Max 5.4 6.2 5.3 4.8 4.6 6.1
19-05-18 (Post rain)
Mean 4.1 3.5 3.2 3 2.3 3.2
Max 8.6 8.1 8.7 9 5.8 8.9
26-10-18 (Hot)
Mean 6.5 3.7 2.9 3.2 2.3 3.1
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Max 6.2 6.6 6.5 5,3 5.9 6.6

20-04-19 (Post Rain)
Mean 4.5 4.1 3.5 3.3 1.9 3.6
Max 6.3 6.7 6.4 5.8 5.9 6.7
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11-09-19 (Hot)
Mean 4.8 3.3 2.7 2.6 2.8 2.9

3.3 Estimated LST from thermal radiance bands

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The computed LST from thermal radiance corresponding to the days on which ET were estimated
are shown in Figure 6. As expected, temperature was high during the hot season compared to the
post rain season. Considering land cover types, it was observed that there were high temperatures
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in areas with impervious surfaces such as the CBD and industrial areas while temperatures were
low for open water bodies and green spaces. Low temperatures were largely observed in the north
east of Harare.
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Figure 6: Spatio-temporal variations of LST in Harare

The highest mean LST value (37o C) was experienced on 23 October 2018, while on 19 May 2018
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the lowest estimated mean LST of 21o C was experienced (Table 7). The highest maximum LST
value of 56o C was estimated on 11 September 2017 and the lowest maximum LST value of 27o C
was observed on 19 May 2018. Table 7 summarises the LST obtained.
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 Table 5: Statistics of estimated LST (o C) based on LULC types

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LULC types
Date and season Statistic Water/ Green Residential/ CBD/
Croplands Overall
Wetlands spaces Built-up Industrial
Max 32 32 34 33 35 35

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29-03-17 (Post rain)
Mean 23 24 25 26 27 25
Max 43 45 45 45 45 45
23-10-17 (Hot)
Mean 29 36 37 36 37 36
Max 27 25 27 27 26 27
19-05-18 (Post rain)

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Mean 18 19 20 20 21 21
Max 41 46 47 47 45 47
26-10-18 (Hot)
Mean 28 36 37 36 37 37
20-04-19 (Post Max 25 26 29 28 29 29

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Rain) Mean 20 20 21 21 22 21
Max 38 56 46 43 46 56
11-09-19 (Hot)
Mean 28 33 er 34 33 33 34
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3.3 Accuracy of modelled ET and LST
The RMSE between the observed ET daily rates and SEBAL estimated daily rates was 1.38. The
findings show that the SEBAL algorithm underestimated ET on five of the six days (R2=0.72).
LST estimates slightly differed (R2=0.53) with the measured daily temperature mainly because of
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the differences in the nature of urban surfaces and interaction of the surfaces with incoming
shortwave radiation. The RMSE for LST was 6.54. Figure 6 shows the differences in the measured
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and estimated ET values.

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 ed
9
8
7
ET (mm/day) 6
5

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4
3
2
1
0
29-Mar-17 23-Oct-17 19-May-18 26-Oct-18 20-Apr-19 11-Sep-19

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Evapo Pan SEBAL ET

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Figure 7: Comparison of estimated (SEBAL ET) and measured (Evapo Pan ET)

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35
30
Temp (oC)

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20
15
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10
5
0
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29-Mar-17 23-Oct-17 19-May-18 26-Oct-18 20-Apr-19 11-Sep-19

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Measure Temp Estimated Temp

Figure 8: Comparison between estimated and measured LST

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3.4 Relationship between LST and ET

A negative relationship was obtained between LST and ET for each day as shown by the
correlation significance test at a confidence level of 95% (P < 0.01) (Figure 9). An increase in ET
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resulted in a decrease in LST. Urban ET and LST were correlated on all the days with 26 October

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 2018 (r = -0.594, R2 = 30.4%) more strongly correlated. The weakest correlation was observed on

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19 May 2019 (r = -0.478, R2 = 22.8%) as shown in Table 8. Nevertheless, it shows that ET has an
impact on LST in both seasons.

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Table 8: Correlation coefficient and linear fitting goodness between ET and LST
Dates 29 Mar 2017 23 Oct 2017 19 May 2018 26 Oct 2018 20 Apr]2019 11 Sept 2019
R -0.566 -0.552 -0.478 -0.594 -0.576 -0.539
R2 0.320 0.305 0.228 0.353 0.332 0.29

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P-value 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

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Figure 9: Relationships between ET and LST in 6 periods

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 4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

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4.1 Discussion
The main objective of the study was to assess ET’s influence on LST in Harare. The results showed

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that ET from urban vegetation can reduce LST as high ET rates were estimated over water bodies
and green spaces resulting in marginally low LST in these areas compared to built-up areas. Water
bodies reduce LST due to high thermal capacity and inertia (Xu and Cai, 2017). Validation results
of the estimated ET from the SEBAL algorithm show a fairly good agreement despite

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underestimation of ET on five of the six days used in the study. This indicates that ET rates are
influenced by weather conditions on specific days as well as aerosols. Aerosols contribute to a
decrease in radiation balance in cities such as Harare which influences the net radiation and ET

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(Cong et al., 2017). Studies by Cong et al., (2017) and Faridatul et al., (2019) highlighted the

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importance of including the anthropogenic heat flux in evapotranspiration models.

Faridatul et al. (2019), noted that seasonality has an influence on ET. Similarly, ET estimates for
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the six days from the two seasons indicated that ET was low in Harare for the hot season as
compared to the post rain season (Figure 5). This is because in the post rain season vegetation is
at its peak as compared to the hot season where vegetation is cleared to prepare for the farming
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season or most trees would have shaded their leaves (Mushore, et al (2017). Our results were also
similar to Waters et al., (2002), who observed that in the CBD area, ET was low for both seasons
and ET was high in both seasons in green space zones. LST estimates showed that in north-west,
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west, south-east and east areas of Harare, were characterized by high surface temperatures which
intensified in the hot season (Figure 7). In these same areas, the SEBAL algorithm also estimated
low ET especially in the hot season (Figure 5) indicating an inverse relationship between land
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surface temperature and ET. These areas were occupied by residential houses, industrial buildings
and the CBD which are characterized by a combination of highly built-up zones, low vegetation
fraction and dry surfaces (Mushore et al, 2017). Impervious surfaces from built-areas have low
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thermal capacity and high thermal conductivity which leads to higher LST (Xu and Cai, 2017).
North to north-east areas were cooler (Figure 7) as compared to other areas in the hot season mainly
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because of high vegetation fraction resulting in high ET rates (Figure 5).

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 A negative relationship between LST and ET was observed on all the six images (Figure 8) which

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concurs with the findings by Wang et al., (2020). However, the negative relationships were
stronger for the hot season than the post brain season with the highest correlation being observed
on 26 October 2018 (r = -0.594, R2 = 30.4%). Likewise, Wang, et al. (2020) observed that urban

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ET and LST were more strongly correlated in the hot season and weakly correlated in winter thus
concluded that urban ET has a stronger influence on LST during the warm months and a weaker
influence during the cold months. It is important to note that Wang et al. (2020), analysed urban
ET in the winter and summer season while this study analysed ET in the summer and post rain

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season. Nonetheless, the conclusion is similar in that, as observed in this study ET is strongly
correlated in the warmest months which shows that ET has a strong influence on LST in the hot
season.

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4.2 Conclusion
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ET estimates where successfully obtained for Harare by including the LULC types which
improved the SEBAL algorithm performance. However, the SEBAL algorithm underestimated ET
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rates for almost all days, for this study indicating that there is need to include the anthropogenic
heat flux in the model. Linear regression was used to assess the influence of ET’ on LST. Two
conclusions were drawn from the linear regression analysis. Firstly, as ET increases, temperature
decreases. Secondly, there is negative relationship between ET and LST especially in the hot
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season (mid-September to mid-November). Analysis of LST and ET for the different land cover
types showed that there was a cooling effect due to the presence of water bodies and green spaces
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within the city, as these areas had marginally low mean surface temperatures compared to the CBD
and residential areas on all the images. This indicated that low ET coincided with high LST
especially in densely built-up areas and areas with low vegetation fraction and dry surfaces such
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as the CBD. Using these findings, a way of mitigating effects of thermal discomfort in an urban
environment can be recommended: i.e., inclusion of green spaces as well as water bodies within
the cities.
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4.3 Recommendations
The following recommendations were made based on the study:
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 i. There is a need to account for human induced energy by estimating the anthropogenic heat

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flux to improve ET estimates using the SEBAL algorithm in urban areas.
ii. The city council should create more green spaces in residential zones as well as encourage
construction of green buildings and cooling mechanisms such as use of lighter-coloured

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roads and cool pavements.
iii. For cities such as Harare it is wise to produce ET estimates that are differentiated by plant
types. Selection of appropriate vegetation species will improve cooling effect without
disturbing other processes such as water supply.

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