4. Evapotranspiration Flashcards
Evaporation
Direct transfer of water from open water bodies or soil and vegetation surfaces to the atmosphere
Criteria that must be met in order for evaporation to occur (3)
- A flow of energy to the evaporating surfaces
- A flow of liquid water to these surfaces
- A flow of vapor away from these surfaces
How does evaporation occur? (4 elements)
- Water molecules move permanently
- Some break away from water surface into the atmosphere, while some cross back to the water surface (dynamic process)
- As long as more water molecules leave the water surface than return, net evaporation occurs
- If net evaporation continues, eventually an equilibrium will occur: no more net evaporation; the air reached its saturation vapor pressure
Two basic controls on evaporation
1) Evaporation requires energy (provided by water temperature, which in turn is driven by the E budget)
2) Evaporation is driven (or limited) by the vapor pressure deficit (i.e. the ability of air to hold more water)
Control #1: ENERGY
- name?
- Latent heat of vaporization is the energy that is required for a water molecule to escape the water surface.
- At 100°C, it is equal to 2270 kJ/kg
Control #1: ENERGY
- where does it come from
- mostly from solar radiation (insolation
- other terms of the energy balance (e.g. sensible or ground heat flux)
Control #1: ENERGY
- what can be used to approximate this energy
Air temperature is a good proxy for average energy availabilty
Control # 2: VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT (VPD)
- def
Vapor pressure deficit is the difference between the amount of moisture in the air and how much moisture air can hold when saturated.
- VPD = es -ea
where - es = saturation vapor pressure at air temperature
- ea = actual vapor pressure at air temperature
Relative humidity formula
RH = ea / es x 100%
where
- es = saturation vapor pressure at air temperature
- ea = actual vapor pressure at air temperature
Saturation vapor pressure (es)
- Saturation vapor pressure is the maximum amount of moisture that air can hold at a given temperature
- It is a property of air
- It is only a function of air temperature
→ es = 0.6105 x e^( 17.27 x T / (237.3 + T) )
Actual vapor pressure (ea)
- Actual amount of moisture that air holds at air temperature
- formula: ea = es * RH / 100
- So we either need to know the air temperature (and thus es) and the relative humidity OR the dew point temperature to derive ea
** reminder: dew point temperature = the temperature at which air starts to condensate (i.e., is saturate) (i.e. temperature when RH = 100%)
Factors that affect evaporation (6)
- Solar radiation (evap ↑ when solar rad ↑)
- Vapor pressure difference between a water surface and the overlaying air (evap ↑ when P diff ↑)
- Temperature (evap ↑ when T ↑)
- Wind (evap ↑ when wind ↑)
- Atmospheric pressure (evap ↑ when P ↑)
- Quality of water (evap ↑ when water quality ↑)
Three methods to estimate evaporation
- water budget
- energy budget
- evaporation pans
Water budget method
ΔS / Δt = (P+Q+Qr+Qs) - (Q0+Qd+E)
E = (P+Q+Qr+Qs) - ΔS / Δt - Q0 -Qd
basically: Evap = Inputs - Storage - other outputs
Advantage of the water budget method (1)
Simple
Disadvantages of the water budget method (2)
- Difficult to estimate subsurface seepage loss (Qd) and subsurface runoff (Qs)
- Unreliable; accuracy increases when Δt increases
Energy budget method
Es = (Ea +Rt) - (Rr + Ee + Hn + R1)
Ee = (Ea +Rt) - Es - Rr - Hn - R1
Evap = Energy inputs - Energy stored - Other energy outputs
Advantage of the energy budget method
most accurate method since evaporation depends on the energy state of the system
Disadvantages of the energy budget method (3)
- Difficult to evaluate all the terms
- Energy balance equation must be simplified
- Empirical formulas are used (although radiation measurements are preferred)
Radiation budget (total radiation and net)
- R total = total solar radiation inputs on a horizontal plane at the Earth’s surface
- R net = R total *(1 - albedo)
Energy budget equation simplified
R net = λE + H + G
E = (H + G)/λ
where
E = evaporation
λ = latent heat of vaporization for water
H = sensible heat transfer to heat
G = heat conducted to the ground
Evaporation pans method equation
Ep = P - (H2 - H1)
where
- Ep = pan evaporation
- P = precipitation
- H1 = height of water at t=0
- H2 = height of water after a certain amount of time
Why do pans measure more evaporation than there actually is in natural bodies? (3 reasons)
- Pans have less heat storage capacity (due to their smaller volume)
- Heat transfer
- Wind effects
What is done to account for the fact that pans compute more evaporation than there is in actuality?
A coefficient is applied to the Epan measurement :
Etrue = Cp x Epan
Cp usually is between 0.7 and 0.95; it varies from month to month but is fairly consistent from year to year
Advantages to the pan method (2)
- easy method
- inexpensive
Disadvantages of the pan method (3)
- Although we use a pan, the main focus is NOT what evaporates from the pan;
- What we want to know is the regional evaporation from land surface or the evaporation from a lake
- Overestimates evaporation