Determining the Variation of Ground Heat Flux and Net Radiation at Tropical Station in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

The present study highlights about measurements and characteristic variation of ground heat flux and net radiation over grass covered surface in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Ground heat flux is normally measured with heat flow sensors and soil temperature probes buried beneath the soil surface. Since, HGM is highly dependent on surface conditions (wet or dry and bare or vegetated), it cannot be reliably approximated for large areas. Recently, analyzing a molecule's biological function is a risky endeavor. Because of their electrical interactions with nearby atoms, molecules have certain hidden features, and these interactions are the basis for biological processes in all molecules. This research work critically analyses some specific days with field data over grass-covered surface at Ile-Ife, Nigeria between ground heat flux and net radiation. For the field observations, an instrumented meteorological mast was set up at an experimental site (7033’N, 4035’E) located at Obafemi Awolowo University campus, Ile-Ife, Nigeria for a period of two weeks (31st May-14th June, 2013). The soil heat flux, net radiation and soil temperature from the soil heat flux plate; an all-wave net radiometer, and soil thermometer were recorded every 10 seconds and averaged over 2 minutes interval. The sampled data was stored in the datalogger (Campbell Scientific, Model CR10X) storage module. The results showed that the measured ground heat flux, HGM during the daytime increases until 14:00 hours with maximum value of about 136.86 Wm-2 and minimum value of about -72.87 Wm-2 at 08:30 hours (DOY 156). The measured net radiation, Rn value of 649.65 Wm-2 observed at 14:00 hours (DOY 156), represented the maximum value for the entire period of the study. -10.75 Wm-2 value observed at 18:00 hours (DOY 154), represented the minimum value for the entire period of the study due to the cloudy condition of the sky which reduces the amount of incoming solar radiation reaching the earth's surface. Using the direct measurement technique, these datasets were used to investigate the daytime characteristic variation of the ground heat flux and net radiation.