Evaporation and land surface energy budget at the Salar de Atacama, Northern Chile

Playa systems are driven by evaporation processes, yet the mechanisms by which evaporation occurs through playa salt crusts are still poorly understood. In this study we examine playa evaporation as it relates to land surface energy fluxes, salt crust characteristics, groundwater and climate at the Salar de Atacama, a 3000 km2 playa in northern Chile containing a uniquely broad range of salt crust types. Land surface energy budget measurements were taken at eight representative sites on this playa during winter (August 2001) and summer (January 2002) seasons. Measured values of net all-wave radiation were highest at vegetated and rough halite crust sites and lowest over smooth, highly reflective salt crusts. Over most of the Salar de Atacama, net radiation was dissipated by means of soil and sensible heat fluxes. Dry salt crusts tended to heat and cool very quickly, whereas soil heating and cooling occurred more gradually at wetter vegetated sites. Sensible heating was strongly linked to wind patterns, with highest sensible heat fluxes occurring on summer days with strong afternoon winds. Very little energy available at the land surface was used to evaporate water. Eddy covariance measurements could only constrain evaporation rates to within 0.1 mm d−1, and some measured evaporation rates were less than this margin of uncertainty. Evaporation rates ranged from 0.1 to 1.1 mm d−1 in smooth salt crusts around the margin of the salar and from 0.4 to 2.8 mm d−1 in vegetated areas. No evaporation was detected from the rugged halite salt crust that covers the interior of the salar, though the depth to groundwater is less than 1 m in this area. These crusts therefore represent a previously unrecorded end member condition in which the salt crusts form a practically impermeable barrier to evaporation.