ABSTRACT
In the Sub-middle São Francisco Valley, the main controlling factors of ‘Caatinga’ and irrigated sugarcane ETr were investigated in this study. Between 2015 and 2016, environmental variables were measured by sensors coupled to two micrometeorological towers, one in the preserved ‘Caatinga’ and the other in an irrigated sugarcane crop. Soil moisture and vegetation cover index were also evaluated and biometric data were obtained only in the sugarcane. Actual evapotranspiration was determined based on the latent heat flux, by the energy balance method. Therefore, the ratio between actual and reference evapotranspiration was calculated. Response variables were formed by the actual evapotranspiration and by its ratio with the reference evapotranspiration. Explanatory variables included growth and environmental data. Multicollinearity, canonical and track analyses were applied. It was verified that only the environmental variables exhibited correlation with the actual evapotranspiration and its ratio with the reference evapotranspiration. In the ‘Caatinga’, soil moisture directly and indirectly influenced ETr, as the global solar radiation altered the response of actual evapotranspiration to the atmospheric demand. In sugarcane, ETr was directly and indirectly controlled by the intercepted photosynthetically active radiation and soil temperature, and the latter one also affected the ratio between actual and reference evapotranspiration.
Key words:
correlation; micrometeorological variables; growth