Hydrology Evaporation and Evapotranspiration

3. Evaporation
3.1. Definition
Evaporation is the process in which water changed from liquid state in to vapour through
the transfer of heat energy.
The process of evaporation of water is one of the basic components of the hydrologic
cycle and consists that phase in which precipitation reaching earth's surface is returned to
the atmosphere in the form of vapour.

3.2. The Process of Evaporation

Addition of heat to water causes the molecules to become increasingly energized and to
move rapidly, the result being an increase in distance between liquid molecules and an
associated weakening of the forces between them.
At high temperatures, therefore, more of the molecules near the water surface will tend to
fly off into the lower layers of the overlying air.
 This motion of molecules (aqueous vapour) through the water surface produces a
pressure and is called vapour pressure.

The net escape of water molecules from the liquid state to the gaseous state constitutes
evaporation.
Evaporation is a cooling process in that, the latent heat of vaporization (at 585 cal/g of
evaporated water) is be provided by the water body.
At the same time, of course, water vapour molecules in these lower air layers are also in
continual motion, and some of these will fall back in the water as the aqueous vapour get
condensed. Thus evaporation from and condensation into the water surface are
continuous processes.
 When the number of molecules that leave water body as vapour is equals to the
number that falls back after condensation a saturation condition is said to reach.
 It indicates a state of equilibrium between the pressure exerted by the escaping
molecules and the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere.

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 In short, the evaporation is a function of the difference between vapour pressure of the
body of water and vapour pressure of the air above.
.
3.3. Factors affecting evaporation

The rate of evaporation is influenced by

1. Meteorological factors such as:
- Radiation
- the vapour pressure at the water surface and air above,
- air and water temperature,
- humidity
- wind speed,
- atmospheric pressure,
2. Physical factors such as:
- nature of evaporating surface
- depth of the water body
- shape of the evaporating surface
- water quality

 Radiation
The change in state of water from a liquid to a gas involves the expenditure of
approximately 586 cal/gm of water at ordinary field temperatures. It is evident that solar
radiation is a factor of considerable importance, and that it will set the broad limits, and
will govern the main variations, in the rate of evaporation.

 Vapour Pressure
The rate of evaporation is proportional to the difference between the saturation vapour
pressure at the water temperature, ew and the actual vapour pressure in the air, ea.
Thus
E = k *(ew - ea) (3.2)

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where E = rate of evaporation (mm/d) and k = a constant: ew - ea are in mm mercury.

Eq (3.1) is known as Dalton's Law of Evaporation after John Dalton (1802) who first
recognised this law.
 Evaporation continues till ew = ea. If ew  ea condensation takes place.

 Humidity
As the relative humidity of the air over the evaporating surface rises, proportionately
fewer of the water vapour molecules leaving the evaporating surface can be retained in
the air, as a result the rate of evaporation is gradually reduced. Relative humidity
increases as the air temperature falls, other condition remaining constant a decrease in
temperature will result in a decrease in the rate of Evaporation.
 Temperature
Other factors remaining same, the rate of evaporation increases with an increase in the
water temperature. Thus, in cold weather, evaporation may be smaller than in warm
weather simply because the overlying air is able to hold only a small amount of water
vapour below saturation level.
Regarding air temperature, although there is a general increase in the evaporation rate
with increasing temperature, a high correlation between evaporation rate and air
temperature does not exist.
 Thus for the same mean monthly temperature it is possible to have different
evaporation degrees in a lake in different months.

 Wind
Wind aids in removing the evaporated water vapour from the zone of evaporation and
consequently creates greater scope for evaporation.
- Firstly incoming fresh air removes the molecules of water vapour and makes
space for other vapour molecules. Obviously the faster the rates of incoming
fresh air faster the removal of vapour molecules. But once the wind velocity is
sufficient to remove all rising vapour molecules extra increase in wind
velocity has no effect.

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- Secondly, if the incoming wind is hot, it provides extra heat energy to

accelerate the process of evaporation. On the contrary if incoming fresh air is
cold it reduces evaporation rate.

 Atmospheric pressure
At higher altitudes there is decrease in atmospheric pressure.
 such situation increases the rate of escaping water molecule from free water surface as
the air above has lower molecules to prevent entry of other molecules.

 Nature of evaporating surface

Every surface that receives rainfall is a potential evaporation surface. The evaporation
from any surface will be limited to the quantity of water required to saturate the
atmosphere.
For example, rate of evaporation from saturated soil surface is approximately the same as
that from the adjacent free water surface at the same temperature. But as the soil begins
to dry, evaporation decreases eventually it almost stops since there is no possibility of
water reaching on its own up to the surface from great depth.

 Depth of the water body

The effect of water depth upon the rate of evaporation may be quite considerable. The
seasonal temperature regime of a shallow water body, e.g., a small lake, will normally
approximate closely to the seasonal air temperature regime, so that
- maximum water temperatures are reached in the mid- to late summer months
- minimum water temperature in the mid- to late winter months.
 This means that maximum rate of evaporation from shallow water body will be
experienced during the summer, and minimum rate during the winter.
Large deep lakes, however, not only have a much higher capacity for heat storage than
small water bodies.
Deep water body releases slowly the stored heat during the autumn and winter months
which means that a supply of heat energy in excess of that received directly from the sun
is available for evaporation at that time of the year.

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Fig. 3.1: The trend of evaporation throughout the year

 Since, according to Dalton's law, evaporation is proportional to the difference between

saturation vapour pressure at the temperature of the water surface, and the actual vapour
pressure of the overlying air, it will be apparent that the highest rates of evaporation from
deep water bodies should occur during the winter, as shown by curve of lake evaporation
in Fig. 3.1.

 Shape of evaporating surface

This is an important consideration when evaporation takes place through small openings
e.g. diffusion through stomata in plants.
It is seen that maximum evaporation takes place from convex surface followed by flat
surface and the concave surface.

 Water quality
When a solute is dissolved in water, the vapour pressure of the solution is less than that of
pure water and hence causes reduction in the rate of evaporation. The percent reduction
in evaporation approximately corresponds to the percentage increase in specific gravity.

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 For example, evaporation decreases by about 1 % for every 1 % increase in salinity, so

that evaporation from sea water with an average salinity of about 3.5 % is some 2 to 3%
less than evaporation from fresh water.
 This reduction is brought about by the reduced vapour pressure of the saline water.

Other factors affecting the evaporation from the soil surface

The rate of evaporation from a soil surface will be governed by the same meteorological
factors that govern the evaporation loss from free water surface since soil evaporation is
merely the evaporation of the films of water surrounding the soil grains and filling the
space between them.
However, in the case of free water evaporation, the supply of moisture is always, by
definition, so plentiful that it exerts no limiting influence on the rate of water loss.
On the other hand, evaporation from soils is often less than evaporation from a free water
surface, not because the climatic conditions are different, but because there is no a
sufficient supply of water in the soil to be evaporated.

3.4. Estimation of Evaporation

Many empirical equations have been proposed for the computation of lake evaporation,
correlating the saturation vapour pressure at water surface temperature e s mmHg and the
actual vapour pressure of evaporating air at certain height above water surface ea mmHg.
Evaporation E (mm/day) from lake may be calculated by any suitable equation given in
Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Lake evaporation calculation by Empirical Equations

Sl. Name of equation Evaporation rate (mm/day) Terms used
No.
(1) (2) (3) (4)
1 General equation E= k f(u) (es – ea) (3.2) K is a coefficient, f(u) is function
of wind speed. Ea and wind speed
should be measured at the same
height.
2 Meyer’s formula USA, U is monthly mean wind speed in
small lake (1915) km/h at 9 m above ground. C =
0.36 for large deep lakes and 0.50
(3.3)
for shallow lakes.

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3 Rhower’s formula (USA P is the mean barometric reading

1931) in mmHg and U the mean wind
velocity at 0.6 m above ground in
(3.4)
km/h.
4 Penman’s formula U is measured at 2 m above
(England, applicable for (3.5) ground level.
small tanks)
5 USBR Formula E is mm/month, t mean annual
(3.6) temperature in 0C
6 Lake Mead formula t is number of days of
(mm/day) evaporation, ta average air temp.
(3.7) in 0C + 1.90C ts is average water
surface temperature 0C, w is
1.85U,
ea and es in mb.
ea and es in mb.
7 Lake Hefner
(3.8)
8 Fitzgerald
(3.9)
9 Shahtin Mamboub’s U is measured at 2 m above
equation (3.10) ground.
10 Kuzmin formula U is measured at 8 m above
(mm/month) (3.11) ground.
11 Marciano and Harbeck’s U is measured at 8 m above
formal (3.12) ground.

3.5. Evapotranspiration (Consumptive Use) and its Estimation

A hydrologist determines the total amount of evaporation from a watershed, is taken as

the sum of evaporation losses from barren (open) land and the plants (transpiration).
Evaporation and transpiration together is called evapotranspiration, which is the total
water lost to atmosphere over a period of time as water vapour from a watershed.
Transpiration is the process by which the water vapor escapes from the living plant
leaves and enters the atmosphere. As much as 99% of the total water received by a plant
through its roots is lost to the atmosphere by this process. Transpiration is associated with
photosynthesis of plants and is therefore a process of day light hours. All factors
responsible for evaporation do apply to transpiration along with the type and density of
vegetation. Water from soil is taken up by plant roots through the membrane by a process

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called osmosis, that occurs due to greater concentration of salts in plant roots with respect
to outside.

Evapotranspiration (Et) or consumptive use (U) is the total water lost from a cropped (or
irrigated) land due to evaporation from the soil and transpiration by the plants or used by
the plants in building up of plant tissue. Potential evapotranspiration (Ept) is the
evapotranspiration from the short green vegetation when the roots are supplied with
unlimited water covering the soil. It is usually expressed as a depth (cm, mm) over the
area.The actual evapotranspiration ( AET) from an area is always less than or equal to
PET depending on the specific situation.
The water holding capacity of soil against gravity is termed as field capacity (FC) beyond
which any drop of water will percolate down to join ground water table. On the other
hand, when water available in the soil is so less that plants can no more extract water
necessary for sustenance and wilt, the moisture content is termed wilting point (WP). The
available water, which is the difference between FC and WP, should always be present in
the soil for plants to grow.
A relation between AET/PET and available moisture can be developed for different types
of soils on the basis of experimental results. For the same AET/PET ratio, sandy soil has
more available moisture than clayey soil.

3.5.1 Estimate Evapotranspiration

The following are some of the methods of estimating evapotranspiration:
(i) Tanks and lysimeter experiments
(ii) Field experimental plots
(iii) Installation of sunken (colarado) tanks
(iv)Evapotranspiration equations as developed by Lowry-Johnson, Penman, Thornthwaite
, Blaney-Criddle, etc.
(v) Evaporation index method, i.e., from pan evaporation data as developed by
Hargreaves and Christiansen.
.

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Blaney-Criddle Method
Blaney and Criddle (1962) proposed an empirical relation which is used largely by
irrigation engineers to calculate crop water requirement of various crops. Estimation of
potential evapotranspiration (consumptive use) is carried out by correlating it with

sunshine temperature. Sunshine at a place is dependent on latitude of the place and varies
with month of the year.
Table 3.3 gives the values of percentages of monthly daytime for use in Blaney-Criddle
equation. PET for a crop during its growing season is given by

(3.13)
where

(3.14)

Here K is the monthly crop coefficient to be determined from experimental data, F the
monthly consumptive use factor, PET the potential evapotranspiration in cm, Tm the mean
monthly temperature in 0C, P is the monthly percentage of hours of bright sunshine
in the year.

Table 3.3: Monthly day time percentage hours (P) to be used by Blaney-Criddle Formukla
Lat. Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
o
N
0 8.50 7.66 8.49 8.21 8.50 8.22 8.50 8.49 8.21 8.50 8.22 8.50
10 8.13 7.47 8.45 8.37 8.81 8.60 8.86 8.71 8.25 8.34 7.91 8.10
15 7.94 7.36 8.43 8.44 8.98 8.80 9.05 8.83 8.28 8.26 7.75 7.88
20 7.74 7.25 8.41 8.52 9.15 9.00 9.25 8.96 8.30 8.18 7.58 7.66
25 7.53 7.14 8.39 8.61 9.33 9.23 9.45 9.09 8.32 8.09 7.40 7.42
30 7.30 7.03 8.38 8.72 9.53 9.49 9.67 9.22 8.33 7.99 7.19 7.15
35 7.05 6.88 8.35 8.83 9.76 9.77 9.93 9.37 8.36 7.87 6.97 6.86
40 6.76 6.72 8.33 8.95 10.02 10.08 10.22 9.54 8.39 7.75 6.72 6.52
42 6.63 6.65 8.31 9.00 10.14 10.22 10.35 9.62 8.40 7.69 6.62 6.37
44 6.49 6.58 8.30 9.06 10.26 10.38 10.49 9.70 8.41 7.63 6.49 6.21
46 6.34 6.50 8.29 9.12 10.39 10.54 10.64 9.79 8.42 7.57 6.36 6.04
48 6.17 6.41 8.27 9.18 10.53 10.71 10.80 9.89 8.44 7.51 6.23 5.86

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50 5.98 6.30 8.24 9.24 10.68 10.91 10.99 10.00 8.46 7.45 6.100 5.65

Table 3.3 gives the values of percentages of monthly daytime for use in Blaney-Criddle
equation.
Table 3.2: Saturation vapour pressure of water
Temperature Saturation vapour pressure es Slope of plot between
(oC) mmHg) mbar (1) and (2)
(1) (2) (3) (4)
0.0 4.58 6.11 0.30
5.0 6.54 8.72 0.45
7.5 7.78 10.37 0.54
10.0 9.21 12.28 0.60
12.5 10.87 14.49 0.71
15.0 12.79 17.05 0.80
17.5 15.00 20.00 0.95
20.0 17.54 23.38 1.05
22.5 20.44 27.95 1.24
25.0 23.76 31.67 1.40
27.5 27.54 36.71 1.61
30.0 31.81 42.42 1.85
32.5 36.68 48.89 2.07
35.0 42.81 57.07 2.35
37.5 48.36 64.46 2.62
40.0 55.32 73.14 2.95
42.5 62.18 84.23 3.25
45.0 71.20 94.91 3.66

Example: Use Blaney-Criddle method to calculate consumptive use (PET) for rice crop grown from
January to March in Orissa at a latitude 220 N from the following data taken from a nearby observatory.
Find the net irrigation demand for rice using the given rainfall during crop period.
Month January February March
0
Mean temperature C 12 16 24
Rainfall (mm) 8 20 16
Solution
For rice crop, monthly crop coefficient K of equation (3.41) may be taken as 1.10. Mean
monthly sunshine hours for latitude of 22 0N for the months of January, February and
March are obtained form Table and tabulated below.

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Table: Blaney-Criddle Method of Computation of Consumptive use of Rice Crop for

Example above
Month Mean Monthly % (P) Monthly K PET Effective Depth of
monthly of day time Consumptive (4) x (5) rainfall at irrigation (6)
temp Hours from Use factor 80% (cm) – (7)
(Tm) Table 4.9 (f) (cm)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
January 12 7.65 10.44 1.1 11.48 0.64 10.84
February 16 7.20 11.15 1.1 12.27 1.60 10.67
March 24 8.40 16.1 1.1 17.71 1.28 16.43

f for col. (4) for January =P* (4.6 Tm + 81.3)

f (January) = (4.6 x 12 + 81.3) x 7.62 = 10.44 cm
f (February) = (4.6 x 16 + 81.3) x 7.2 = 11.15cm
f (March) = (4.6 x 24 + 81.3) x 8.4 = 16.1cm
The net irrigation demand = 10.84 + 10.67 + 16.43 = 37.69 cm

 Penman Method

Penman developed a theoretical formula based on the principles of both energy budget
and mass-transfer approaches to calculate potential evapotranspiration. A simple energy
budget neglecting all minor losses can be written as

(3.15)

where H is the heat budget of an area with crops which is the net radiation in mm of
evaporable water per day, ET the daily evaporation from free water surface in mm/day, 
is a constant ( called psychrometric constant whose value is 0.49 mmHg/ 0C or 0.66
mb/0C,  the slope of the saturated vapour pressure vs. temperature curve at mean air
temperature given in Table 3.2, Ea is the drying power of air which includes wind
velocity and saturation deficit and is estimated form the relation

(3.16)

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where u2 is the mean wind speed in km/day measured 2 m above the ground, es is
saturation vapour pressure at mean air temperature in mm Hg (given in Table 3.2 ), e a is
actual vapour pressure in the air in mm of mercury and H is the daily net radiation in mm
of evaporable water and is estimated from the energy budget theories using the relation

(3.17)

where Ha is the extraterrestrial solar radiation received on a horizontal surface in mm of

evaporable water per day (whose value for different latitudes are given in Table 3.5), 
the latitude of the place where PET is to be computed, r is the reflection coefficient
whose values for close crops may be taken as 0.15-0.25, for barren land 0.05-0.45 and for
water surface 0.05, n is the actual duration of bright sunshine which is a function of
latitude and is an observed data at a place, N is the maximum possible hours of bright
sunshine available at different location ( given in Table 3.4),  is the Stefan-Boltzman
constant = 2.01 x 10-9 mm/day, Ta is the mean air temperature in oK = (273 + 0C) and ea
is the actual vapour pressure in mm of Hg. The relation can reduce the wind speed
measured at any other height z to 2 m height

(3.18)

Equation (3.18) is known as (1/7)th power law. Knowing all other data from the table and
measuring n, ea u2, at the place, PET can easily be calculated from the relation given by
Penman. This method is finding its increasing application for crop water estimation by
various countries.
Table 3.4: Mean daily maximum duration of bright sunshine hour N for different month
and latitudes (Doorenbos & Pruitt, 1977)
N Lat Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
S Lat July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June
50 8.5 10.1 11.8 13.6 15.4 16.3 15.9 14.5 12.7 10.8 9.1 8.1
48 8.8 10.2 11.8 13.8 15.2 16.0 15.6 14.3 12.6 10.9 9.3 8.3
46 9.1 10.4 11.9 13.5 14.9 15.7 15.4 14.2 12.6 10.9 9.5 8.7
44 9.3 10.5 11.9 13.4 14.7 15.4 15.2 14.0 12.6 11.0 9.7 8.9
42 9.4 10.6 11.9 13.4 14.6 15.2 14.9 13.9 12.9 11.1 9.8 9.1
40 9.6 10.7 11.9 13.3 14.4 15.0 14.7 13.7 12.5 11.2 10.0 9.3
35 10.1 11.0 11.9 13.1 14.0 14.5 14.3 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.3 9.8
30 10.4 11.1 12.0 12.9 13.6 14.0 13.9 13.2 12.4 11.5 10.6 10.2

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25 10.7 11.3 12.0 12.7 13.3 13.7 13.5 13.0 12.3 11.6 10.9 10.6
20 10.0 11.5 12.0 12.6 13.1 13.3 13.2 12.8 12.3 11.7 11.2 10.9
N Lat Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
S Lat July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June
15 11.3 11.6 12.0 12.5 12.8 13.0 12.9 12.6 12.2 11.8 11.4 11.2
10 11.6 11.8 12.0 12.3 12.6 12.7 12.6 12.4 12.1 11.8 11.6 11.5
5 11.8 11.9 12.0 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.3 12.3 12.1 12.0 11.9 11.8
0 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1

Table 3.5: Mean Monthly Solar Radiation Incident on Earth's Outer Space (Extra
Terrestrial Radiation) in mm of Evaporable Water per day(Ha)
North Latitude in Degrees
o 0 0
Month 0 10 20 300 400 500 60o 70o 800 90o
Jan. 14.5 12.8 10.8 8.5 6.0 3.6 1.3 - - -
Feb. 15.0 13.9 12.3 10.5 8.3 5.9 3.5 1.1 - -
Mar. 15.2 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.0 9.1 6.8 4.3 1.8 -
Apr. 14.7 15.2 15.2 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.1 9.1 7.8 7.9
May 13.9 15.0 15.7 16.0 15.9 15.4 14.6 13.6 14.6 14.9
Jun. 13.4 14.8 15.8 16.5 16.7 16.7 16.5 17.0 17.8 18.1
Jul. 13.5 14.8 15.7 16.2 16.3 16.1 15.7 15.8 16.5 16.8
Aug. 14.2 15.0 15.3 15.3 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.4 10.6 11.2
Sep. 14.9 14.9 14.4 13.5 12.2 10.5 8.5 6.8 4.0 2.6
Oct. 15.0 14.1 12.9 11.3 9.3 7.1 4.7 2.4 0.2 -
Nov. 14.6 13.1 11.2 9.1 6.7 4.3 1.9 0.1 - -
Dec. 14.3 12.4 10.3 7.9 5.5 3.0 0.9 - - -

Example: Using Penman’s formula calculates the consumptive use of rice for the month
of February. Take the following data
Wind velocity measured at 2 m height = 30 km/day
Elevation of the area = 220 m
Relative humidity for February = 50%
Latitude = 220N
Mean monthly temperature = 160C
Solution

From Table 3.2, for temperature of 160C, es = 13.67 mmHg

Slope of the saturated vapour pressure vs. temp. curve A = 0.86 mm per 0C
From Table 3.5, Ha = 11.94 mm of water per day for 22 0N latitude
From Table 3.4, N = 11.42 h for the latitude of 22 0N

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Monthly percentage of day time hours = 7.20 h (from Table 3.3)

vapour pressure in air ea = es x RH = 13.67 x 0.50 = 6.88 mmHg

Drying power of air Ea = 0.002187 (160 + U2) (es – ea )
= 0.0021817 (160 + 30) (13.67 – 6.88) = 2.84 mm/day

The reflection coefficient for close crop like paddy is taken b/n0.15-.025 and is r = 0.20.

Take

or H = 11.94 (1-0.2) (0.29 cos 220 + 0.55x 7.2/11.42)

- 2.01 x 10-9 x 2894 (0.56 –0.092√2.84) x (0.1 + 0.9 x 7.2/11.42)
= 11.94 x 0.8 x (0.269 + 0.347) – 14.02 (0.56 – 0.24) (0.1 + 0.568)
= 5.88 – 3.00 = 2.88 mm of water/day

= 2.865  28  1/10 cm/month = 8.03 cm for February

Consumptive use of rice for February is 8.03 cm = 80.3 mm of water.

Thornthwaite Equation
Thornthwaite (1948) developed an exponential relationship between mean monthly
temperature and mean monthly consumptive, given as

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where Rf is the reduction factor ( See Table 3.6), Tm the mean monthly temperature in 0C,
a is a constant which can be computed from the relation

where Te is the annual temperature efficiency index given by

For one period, say for one month, Te is calculated as

The above calculations are made for a month of 30 days and for each day 12 h of
evapotranspiration is considered. Since the two factors vary from 28 to 31 days and with
latitude, the values of 12 h a day is not constant, it can be multiplied with factors from
Table 3.6 depending on the month and latitude of the place.

Table 3.6: Reduction Factor Rf for PET to be used in Thornthwiate's equation

Month
Latitude J F M A M J J A S O N D
00N 1.04 0.94 1.04 1.01 1.04 1.01 1.04 1.04 1.01 1.04 1.01 1.04
100N 1.00 0.91 1.03 1.03 1.08 1.06 1.08 1.07 1.02 1.02 0.98 0.99
200N 0.95 0.90 1.03 1.05 1.13 1.11 1.14 1.11 1.02 1.00 0.93 0.94
300N 0.90 0.87 1.03 1.08 1.18 1.17 1.20 1.14 1.03 0.98 0.89 0.88
400N 0.84 0.83 1.03 1.11 1.24 1.25 1.27 1.18 1.04 0.96 0.83 0.81
500N 0.74 0.78 1.02 1.15 1.33 1.36 1.37 1.25 1.00 0.92 0.76 0.70

Example: Using Thornthwaite equation, calculate the consumptive use of paddy for the
month of February. Take data from Example above

Solution
Since PET is required to be calculated for February only, the following equation is used.

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a = 0.4923 + 0.01792 x 5.818 – 0.0000771 x 5.8182 + 0.000000675x5.8183

= 0.4923 + 0.1043 – 0.0026 = 0.594

Reduction factor for February at latitude of 220N is 0.895 (from Table 3.6)

Proceeding in the same way, PET for other months can be calculated and added up. If a
crop is grown from 15th February then the value of PET is to be reduced by (13/28) to
arrive at the value for the month.

The principal methods for direct measurements of evapotranspiration are:

- lysimeter
- field experimental plot
- water balance method
Lysimeter method
Lysimeter can be defined as a device in which a volume of soil planted with vegetation is
located in a container to isolate it hydrologically from the surrounding soil. Mainly there
are two types of lysimeters.
- Non-weighing type and
- Weighing type
To get more accurate results as well as short period estimates, weighing type lysimeters
have been developed. The soil and crop conditions in the lysimeter should be close to the
natural conditions.
From the irrigation point of view, weighing lysimeters are set up to enable the operator to
measure the water balances:
- water added
- water retained by the soil and
- water lost through all sources (evaporation transpiration and deep percolation).
These measurements involve weighing which may be made with scales or by floating the
lysimeters in water on a suitable heavy liquid, in which case the change in liquid
displacement is computed against water loss from the tank.

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Hydrology Evaporation and Evapotranspiration

The technique yields a measurement of total water loss and is useful as an indicator of
filed water loss, provided suitable precautions are taken. The tanks must be permanently
buried in the ground and surrounded by a large area of crop of the same height if the
readings are to bear relation to losses from the crop field.
Water is applied in measured amount to the lysimeter, as irrigation is applied to the
surrounding cropped area.
 The overflow and deep percolation, if any, are measured.
 the water received either from the reservoir or precipitation excluding the outflow,
constitutes the water used by the crop.

Field experimental plot

Measurements of water supplied to the field and changes in soil moisture contents of filed
plots are sometimes more dependable for computing seasonal water requirement of crops
than measurements with small tanks or lysimeters not free from limitations.
In special plats all the elements of the water budget in a known interval of time are
measured and the evapotranspiration determined as

Evapotranspiration = [precipitation + irrigation input – runoff – increase in soil storage

- groundwater loss]
Measurements are usually confined to precipitation, irrigation input, surface runoff and
soil moisture. Groundwater loss due to deep percolation is difficult to measure and can be
minimized by keeping the moisture condition of the plot at the filed capacity.

3.5.2. Measurements of Evaporation from a lake or open surface (Eo)

(i) The storage equation
P + I ± Og = E + O ± S ...(3.4)
where P = Precipitation
I = surface inflow
Og = subsurface inflow or outflow
E = evaporation
O = surface outflow
S = change in surface water storage

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Hydrology Evaporation and Evapotranspiration

(ii) Auxiliary pans like land pans, floating pans, colarado sunken pans, etc.
(iii) Evaporation formula like that of Dalton’s law
(iv) Humidity and wind velocity gradients
(v) The energy budget—this method involves too many hydrometeorological factors
(variables) with too much sophisticated instrumentation and hence it is a specialist
approach
(vi) The water budget—similar to (i)
(vii) Combination of aerodynamic and energy balance equations—Penman’s equation
(involves
too many variables)

Evaporation Pan
- The pans are commonly used as evaporation measuring devices because they are
inexpensive and simple to instrument.
- In evaporation pans the depth of evaporation during any time interval is measured as
the drop in water surface level in the pan in that corrected for precipitation, if any,
obtained from an adjacent or a nearby standard raingauge.
- The observation are usually taken on daily basis and after taking the measurement on
each day the water level in the pan is restored to a stipulated value by adding or
removing required amount of water
- The water level within the pan is maintained between 5 and 7.5 cm below the rim of
the pan.

122 cm

20 cm
25.4 cm

Fig. US Weather A class land pan Wooden support

Pan coefficient—Evaporation pan data cannot be applied to free water surfaces directly
but must be adjusted for the differences in physical and climatological factors. For
example, a lake is larger and deeper and may be exposed to different wind speed, as
compared to a pan. The small volume of water in the metallic pan is greatly affected by
temperature fluctuations in the air or by solar raditions in contrast with large bodies of
water (in the reservoir) with little temperature fluctuations. Thus the pan evaporation data

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Hydrology Evaporation and Evapotranspiration

have to be corrected to obtain the actual evaporation from water surfaces of lakes and
reservoirs, i.e., by multiplying by a coefficient called pan coefficient and is defined as
pancoefficient=LakeEvaporation/PanEvaporation……………………….
(3.5)
and the experimental values for pan coefficients range from 0.67 to 0.82 with an average
of 0.7.

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