Chapter 3:Evaporation
• Process in which a liquid change to gaseous state at the
free surface below boiling point through transfer of heat
energy”
• Evaporation estimation important in hydrologic problems
associated with planning and operation of reservoir &
irrigation system.
Factors affecting rate of evaporation are
• Pressure at water surface & air above
• Wind speed
• Atmospheric pressure
• Quality of water
• Size of water body
Estimation of Evaporation
1. Evaporimeter
2. Empircial equations
3. Analytical method
1. Evaporimeter: Water containing pan, exposed to atmosphere
and loss of water measured at regular interval
Commonly used is Class A Evaporation Pan
Empirical equations
• Large number of empirical equations are available, using
commonly available meteorological data
• Most formulae are based on Dalton-type equation and can be
expressed in general form as
EL = K f (u) (ew -ea)
Where, EL = Lake evaporation in mm/day
ew = Saturated vapor pressure at the water-surface
temperature in mm of mercury
ea = Actual vapor pressure of overlying air at a specified height
in mm of mercury
f (u) = Wind –speed correction function
K = A coefficient
ea is measured at the same height at which wind speed is measured
a. Meyers Formula
EL = Km (ew – ea) [1 + u9/16]
Where,
U9 = Monthly wind velocity in km/hr at about 9m above
ground
Km = Coefficient accounting for various other factors with
a value of 0.36 for large deep waters and 0.5 for small
shallow water
Rohwer’s Formula
EL = 0.771 (1.465 – 0.000732 Pa) (0.44+ 0.0733Uo) (ew – ea)
Where,
Pa = Mean barometric reading in mm of Hg
Uo = Mean wind velocity in km/hr at ground level (At
0.6m)
3. Analytical Methods
a. Energy Balance Method: E = 0.0353Rn (mm/day)
Where,
Rn = net radiation (W/m2)
b. Aerodynamic Method:
Ea = B (eas – ea ) mm/day
Where,
B = 0.102U2/ [ln (z2/z0]2 (mm/day . Pa)
U2 = is wind velocity (m/s) measured at height z2 and
zo is from Table 2.8.2
T = Air temperature
ea = Rh. Eas (Pas)
c. Combination Method:
E = (Δ/Δ+γ ) . Eo + ( γ/ Δ+γ) .Ea
Where,
Δ = 4098/ (237.3 + T) 2 (Pa/°C)
γ = 66.8 (Pa/°C)
Evapotranspiration:
Evaporation: Takes place all through day & night on soil surface
Transpiration: - Confined to day light hours
- Depends on growth period of plants
from vegetation
Evapotranspiration: - Also termed as Consumptive use
- Combination of evaporation from soil
surface and transpiration from
vegetation
Potential Evapotranspiration[PET]: - Sufficient moisture
available to completely meet the needs of vegetation
- Depends on climatic Factors
Actual Evapotranspiration [AET]:- The real evapotranspiration
occurring in a specific situation is called AET.
- PET should be converted to AET to use in hydrologic analysis
Measurement of Evapotranspiration:
Two methods
[Link] [Link] Plots
[Link]: Measures actual evapotranspiration (AET)
• Water tight tank set in field of growing plants
• Estimated in terms of amount of water required to
maintain constant moisture
• Measured volumetrically or gravimetrically arrangement made
in lysimeter
[Link] Plots:
• Gives fairly reliable results
• Ground water loss difficult to measure, moisture condition
kept at field capacity.
Lysimeter and Field Plot
Evapotranspiration=[Precipitation + irrigation input-run off-
increase in soil storage-GW loss ]
Elements of water budget are measured in known interval of time
Evapotranspiration Equation:
• Needs climatological data to predict PET
• Large [Link] formula are available, empirical to theoretical
concept
1. Penman’s Equations:
• Obtained from combination of energy balance and mass-
transfer approach
PET = ([Link] + Ea. γ) /(A+γ) ………….. (i)
Where,
PET = Daily potential evapotranspiration in mm/day
Hn = net radiation in mm of evaporable water per day
Ea = Parameter including wind velocity and saturation deficit
γ = Psychrometric constant = 0.49mm of mercury/°C
and
Net radiation Hn = Ha(1-r) (a+b.n/N) – σTa 4(0.56-0.092 ) (0.1+0.9 n/N) ………(ii)
Where,
Ha = incedent solar radiation
a= a constant depending upon latitude φ and is given by a = 0.29 cosφ
b = a constant with an average value of 0.52
n = actual duration of bright sunshine in hours
N = maximum possible hrs. of bright sunshine
r = Reflection coefficient (albedo)
σ = Stefan Boltzmann constant = 2.01x10-9 mm /day
Ta = mean air temperature = 273° + C
Ea = 0.35 (1+U2/160) (ew – ea)
Where U2 = mean wind speed at 2m above ground in km/day
Thornthwaite Formula:
ET = 1.6La (10 T / It) a
Where, ET = monthly PET in cm
La = adjustment for the number of hours of daylight and days in
the month, related to latitude Table 3.8
= mean monthly temperature °C
It = the total of 12 monthly values of heat index i = , where i =
( ) 1.514
a = constant = 6.75*10-7It3 – 7.71*10-5It2 + 1.792 * 10-2 It +
0.49239
Blanney – Criddle Method:
Cu = ET =
Where Cu = ET in cm
t = mean monthly temperature °C
k = monthly consumptive use coefficient ( from experimental
data)
p = monthly percentage of hours of bright sunshine