Kudos to John Hanks for Recognizing the Concept of Sensible Heat Balance in Soil.

Gardner and Hanks (1966) were the first to publish on the concept of sensible heat balance in soil.  They recognized that measuring the sensible heat balance of a soil layer could lead to determination of the latent heat sink (or source) in the layer.  Thus, soil sensible heat balances could be used to determine depth and time of soil latent heat fluxes.  Although Gardner and Hanks published the concept, instrumentation was not available to make the needed sensible heat balance measurements.  Forty years later, we used newly developed heat pulse sensors to make soil sensible heat balance measurements.  This paper will present results of the use of heat pulse probe measurements for sensible heat balance determinations of soil water evaporation and soil freezing and thawing.  Challenges and future directions will also be addressed.