Spatiotemporal patterns of evapotranspiration in the Xiangjiang River Basin from 2000 to 2020

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a crucial parameter in the process of the hydrological cycle. It is of great significance for water resource management and the improvement of ecological systems in the Xiangjiang River Basin (XRB) to explore the spatial and temporal dynamic characteristics of ET. Based on MOD16, this study revealed the characteristics of spatial and temporal patterns of ET in the XRB from 2000 to 2020. We first applied land use data and change rate for overall trend analysis on ET. Then, we obtained spatiotemporal migration routes of ET through standard deviation ellipse (SDE). Furthermore, we demonstrated the effects of monsoon and urban expansion on ET change. Accordingly, we observed the following novel spatiotemporal patterns of ET: (1) while the ET of artificial surfaces decreased from 2000 to 2020, the change rate in most regions of the XRB was 8.83%, indicating that the overall trend of ET in the XRB was increasing. (2) At 10-year intervals, the SDE center of ET all migrated in a clockwise direction. (3) The correlation between precipitation and ET is more obvious than that between temperature and ET. (4) With the direct effects of monsoon on precipitation in East Asia, we found that the changes in precipitation are consistent with the ET change.