authority: gcos
slug: latent-and-sensible-heat-fluxes
name: Latent and Sensible Heat Fluxes
domain: land
subdomain: biosphere
authority_id: gcos:latent-and-sensible-heat-fluxes
external_ids:
  nvs_uri: null
  cf_standard_name: surface_upward_latent_heat_flux
  iadopt_concepts:
    property: heat-flux
    entity: land-surface
canonical_units: W m-2
gcos_requirement_tier:
  threshold: null
  breakthrough: null
  goal: null
description: |
  Turbulent exchange of latent (evaporation) and sensible heat between
  land surface and atmosphere, measured by eddy-covariance towers
  (FLUXNET, ICOS, AmeriFlux) and inferred from satellite-driven models.
theme: vegetation
demos: []
status: documented
sources:
  - https://gcos.wmo.int/site/global-climate-observing-system-gcos/essential-climate-variables/latent-and-sensible-heat-fluxes