The canopy of the pineapple crop changes considerably during the growing season, from a leafless stage to a fully closed canopy at the end of the productive cycle. In order to evaluate the effects of the energy balance components on the developmental stage of the pineapple crop, a field experiment was carried out from March, 2001 to July, 2002 with pineapple crop, cv. Perola, cultivated under supplemental irrigation conditions in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. The method of energy balance based on the Bowen ratio was used to obtain energy balance components during the experimental period. The energy balance components were strongly affected by leaf area index and plant height during all developmental stages of the canopy, especially the sensible heat flux. Results showed that the dry matter weight is totally independent of the energy partitioning. The sensible heat flux varied in function of the volume of water applied in irrigation during the experimental period.
evapotranspiration; Bowen ratio; latent heat flux
