ESTIMATING SOIL SURFACE TEMPERATURES UNDER DIFFERENT CROP COVERS IN HAWAII

Data from experiments conducted in Hawaii, measuring soil surface temperatures in plots cropped with potato, cassava, and maize, were used to estimate soil surface temperatures using a model from the temperate zone. According to this model maximum soil surface temperature under a given vegetative cover can be estimated from maximum air temperature and a factor, Et, that represents the elevation of maximum soil surface temperature over maximum air temperature under that crop cover. Inputs for the model are: maximum air temperatures and plant biomass measurements. A generally good agreement between estimated and observed maximum soil surface temperatures was obtained when Et was arbitrarily set to 0.1 x Et. For potato during summer of 1985, maximum soil surface temperature estimates were within an average of less than 2C of observed surface temperatures and with a deviation of no more than 3.8C. For cassava during summer of 1986, estimates were within 2.3+/-5.1C; for maize during summer of 1988, estimates were within 2.7+/-4.4C.