Luis A. Méndez-Barroso

Sonora Institute of Technology · Water Sciences and the Environment

Monitoring in remote areas can represent a real challenge in environmental studies. Numerous techniques have been developed over the last decades to monitor nutrients and other elements in different systems. However, not all of them are suitable for field applications, particularly when the locations are difficult to access or its accessibility dep...

We conducted an isotopic characterization of precipitation, streamflow, groundwater and bulk soil moisture (<60 cm depth) to assess ecohydrologic separation and its seasonal variation in a tropical dry forest in northwestern Mexico using four representative tree species. We present a data set that allows analyzing the connection of vegetation to so...

Tropical forests are among the most threatened ecosystems despite their important role in the global carbon and water cycles. In Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula (YP) hosts near to 30% of these ecosystems. We established an ecohydrological monitoring site in a relatively pristine tropical dry forest (TDF) within “El Palmar” state reserve at the northw...

This work explored the environmental factors that control the temporal dynamics of vertical energy and carbon fluxes between the atmosphere and arid mangroves located on the coastline of the Gulf of California, Mexico. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE), latent (λE) and sensible heat (H) exchange fluxes were estimated in situ using the eddy covariance te...

Non‐forest ecosystems, dominated by shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, provide ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and forage for grazing, and are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Yet these ecosystems are poorly represented in remotely sensed biomass products and are undersampled by in situ monitoring. Current global change t...

Friction velocity (u*) is an important velocity scale used in the study of engineering and geophysical flows. The widespread use of 2D sonic anemometers in modern meteorological stations makes the estimation of u* from just the horizontal components of the velocity a very attractive possibility. The presence of different wind regimes (such as sea b...

Woody plant encroachment is a global phenomenon whereby shrubs or trees replace grasses. The hydrological consequences of this ecological shift are of broad interest in ecohydrology, yet little is known of how plant and intercanopy patch dynamics, distributions, and connectivity influence catchment‐scale responses. To address this gap, we establish...

PurposeSoils have the ability to retain potentially toxic elements (PTEs) through different chemical processes that promote low mobility of these elements, such as the precipitation of secondary phases of Fe, which facilitate the adsorption/co-precipitation of PTEs. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the mobility of PTEs present in an...

The measurement of physicochemical variables to infer water quality is important since they help determine the distribution and abundance of aquatic organisms or pollution-related problems. Recently, the development of low-cost probes is a suitable alternative for continuous monitoring of these variables rather than the use of expensive instruments...

Evapotranspiration is the second largest component of the hydrological cycle after rainfall precipitation in semiarid regions such as northwestern Mexico. In this study, we partitioned the evapotranspiration (ET) flux using stable isotopes of water in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in combination with eddy covariance flux measurements. We cons...

La cuantificación y mapeo de la oferta y la demanda de los servicios ecosistémicos es esencial para el monitoreo continuo de dichos servicios para poyar la toma de decisiones frente a los efectos del cambio global. El mapeo de los servicios ecosistémicos espacialmente explícito y en toda el área basado en extensos estudios del terreno está restring...

Non-forest ecosystems, dominated by shrubs, grasses and herbaceous plants, provide ecosystem services including carbon sequestration and forage for grazing, yet are highly sensitive to climatic changes. Yet these ecosystems are poorly represented in remotely-sensed biomass products and are undersampled by in-situ monitoring. Current global change t...

It is well known that remote sensing is a series of procedures which detects physical characteristics of the earth surface by remotely-measuring its reflected and emitted radiation using cameras or sensors. Lately, the increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as remote sensing platforms and the development of small-size sensors have result...

Abstract Structure from Motion (SfM) represents a good low-cost alternative to generate high resolution topography where LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data is scarce or unaffordable. In this work, we demonstrate the advantages of high resolution elevation models (DEM) obtained using the SfM technique to delineate catchment boundaries and the...

The hydrology and productivity of the ecosystems of the Yucatan Peninsula (YP) are highly constrained by two factors: 1) the lack of surface drainage networks due to the existence of a highly permeable and connected karstic aquifer roughly the size of the peninsula, and; 2) a climatic gradient that leads to a transition from seasonally‐dry deciduou...

Soil depth and texture exert strong controls on the spatial distribution of water and energy fluxes and states in semiarid watersheds. As a result, realistic representations of the spatial soil characteristics within watersheds are important for the improvement of process-based distributed hydrologic modeling applications. In this study, we evaluat...

El desarrollo de tecnologías geoespaciales como LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) y TLS (Terrestrial Laser Scanning) ha permitido el desarrollo de modelos de elevación digital (DEM) de muy alta resolución espacial que permite la detección de cambios en la superficie terrestre. Sin embargo, las limitaciones a su uso generalizado son su alto costo...

The purpose of the emergent discipline of ecohydrology is to generate knowledge to understand processes that are fundamental to ecosystems in terms of the dynamics of the hydrological cycle. During the rainy season, which coincides with high temperatures in semi-arid zones, a variety of ecological processes are triggered involving land surfaceatmos...

Seasonal vegetation changes during the North American monsoon play a major role in modifying water, energy and momentum fluxes. Nevertheless, most models parameterize plants as a static component or with averaged seasonal variations that ignore interannual differences and their potential impact on evapotranspiration (ET) and its components. Here, v...

The North American monsoon (NAM) contributes roughly half of the annual precipitation in the Chihuahuan Desert from July to September. Relatively frequent, intense storms increase soil moisture and lead to ephemeral runoff. Quantifying these processes, however, is difficult due to the sparse nature of existing observations. This study presents resu...

Seasonal vegetation changes play a strong role in semiarid regions by modifying water, energy and momentum fluxes. Nevertheless, most land surface models parameterize vegetation as a static component or with long-term averaged seasonal variations. One way to account for the role of vegetation on land surface dynamics is by incorporating physiologic...

Monsoonal systems are due to seasonal shifts in atmospheric circulation that may result in a large fraction of the annual precipitation falling within a few months. The North American Monsoon System (NAMS) contributes approximately 55% of the annual rainfall in the New Mexico Chihuahuan Desert during the summer period. Relatively frequent storm eve...

The North American Monsoon (NAM) is characterized by seasonal precipitation pulses which produce a considerable impact on land surface conditions. Changes in land surface processes have received less attention among the factors that concurrently influence the NAM. In this study, we utilize remotely-sensed and ground-based measurements to infer land...

The relation between land surface states and fluxes is fundamental for quantifying the ecohydrological controls on the North American monsoon. In this study, we utilize distributed sampling around an eddy covariance tower in Sonora, México, to evaluate the impact of footprint variations in soil moisture (θ) and temperature (Ts) on surface flux part...

The North American monsoon (NAM) region in northwestern Mexico is characterized by seasonal precipitation during the summer that leads to a major shift in ecosystem processes. Seasonal greening in the semiarid region is important due to its impact on land surface conditions and its potential feedback to atmospheric and hydrologic processes. In this...

The North American Monsoon system controls climate in southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, leading to an increment in seasonal precipitation in the region and a seasonal change in vegetation. Interactions between the onset and intensity of the monsoon with vegetation dynamics are highly variable in space and time. For this reason, it...

Remote sensing can allow a more efficient irrigation water management by applying the water when crops require it or when symptoms of water stress appear. In this study, the spatial and temporal distribution of the water deficit index (WDI) and crop evapotranspiration (ET) in wheat were determined through analysis of satellite-based remote sensing...

Land-atmosphere interactions are poorly understood in the North American monsoon region due to the paucity of field observations of the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Given the strong hydroclimatic seasonality and the variations induced by complex terrain, measuring and interpreting hydrological fluxes and states is a challenge. In this study, we...

Soil moisture distributions are expected to be closely tied to ecosystem processes in water-limited environments of the southwest United States. Nevertheless, few studies have addressed how soil moisture varies across grassland to forest transitions frequently observed in semiarid mountain settings. In this study, we quantify the vegetation control...

Satellite remote sensing offers the opportunity to measure diverse landscape properties over large, remote regions. In addition, remote sensing permits describing and quantifying spatial and spectral patterns which can be correlated with ancillary information over multiple time periods. For example, the MODIS sensor, on board the TERRA and AQUA sat...

Relatively little is currently known about the spatiotemporal variability of land surface conditions during the North American monsoon, in particular for regions of complex topography. As a result, the role played by land-atmosphere interactions in generating convective rainfall over steep terrain and sustaining monsoon conditions is still poorly u...

Spatiotemporal variability of catchment-scale hydrologic processes in southwestern North America are poorly understood due to strong seasonality in hydroclimatic forcing and complex variations in land surface conditions. Mechanistic understanding of these semiarid catchments may be achieved through integration of field observations, remote sensing...

The hydrometeorological conditions of mountain environments in semiarid regions are poorly understood, particularly during the North American Monsoon. Although it is well known that the climate and hydrology of mountain ranges are dynamically distinct of surrounding lowlands, little quantitative observational data has been collected to assess the s...