Hydrology

[8-2]
Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration

Temperature

Temperature
Transpiration rates go up as the temperature goes
up, especially during the growing season, when the
air is warmer due to stronger sunlight and warmer
air masses
Higher temperatures cause the plant cells which
control the openings (stoma) where water is
released to the atmosphere to open, whereas colder
temperatures cause the openings to close

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Factors Affecting Evaporation

Relative Humidity

Relative Humidity
As the relative humidity of the air surrounding the
plant rises the transpiration rate falls
It is easier for water to evaporate into dryer air than
into more saturated air

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Factors Affecting Evaporation

Wind

Wind
Increased movement of the air around a plant will
result in a higher transpiration rate
This is somewhat related to the relative humidity of
the air, in that as water transpires from a leaf, the
water saturates the air surrounding the leaf. If there is
no wind, the air around the leaf may not move very
much, raising the humidity of the air around the leaf
Wind will move the air around, with the result that the
more saturated air close to the leaf is replaced by
drier air
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Factors Affecting Evaporation

Type of Plant

Type of plant
Plants transpire water at different rates. Some
plants which grow in arid regions, such as cacti
conserve precious water by transpiring less water
than other plants

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration
The Penman Method

Penman presented a formula for the estimation of

evaporation from weather data. The theory is based
on the combination of two requirements:
There must be a supply of energy to provide
latent heat of vaporization and
There must be some mechanism for removing the
vapor once produced
Penman method is one of the most reliable methods
used to estimate E and ET
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

Net amount of energy

finally remaining at the
surface

The Penman Method Energy Supply

H = R (1 r )(0.18 + 0.55 S) B(0.56 0.092 e 0d.5 )(0.10 + 0.90 S)
Net amount of
radiation absorbed

Amount of re-radiation by
earth

Energy supply: during daylight hours, a certain radiation

amount arrives at the earth surface. It depends on latitude,
season, time of day and degree of cloudiness

R: mean monthly total radiation (mm of water evaporated/day). This

value can be obtained from tables
r: the estimated percentage of reflecting surface
S: equals n/N where n is the actual duration of bright sunshine and
N is the maximum possible duration of bright sunshine
B: a temperature dependent coefficient equals Ta4 where is
Boltzmann constant (2.01 10-9 mm/day) and Ta air temp. (C+273)
ed: the actual vapor pressure in the air (mm Hg)

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Energy Supply

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Vapor Removal

E = 0.35(e a e d )(1 + 0.0098 u 2 )

E: daily evaporation (mm)
ea: the saturation vapor pressure at mean air
temperature (mm Hg)
u2: the mean wind speed at 2 m above the ground
(mi/day)

Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method The combination

= ea/Ta: the slope of
the saturated vapor
pressure curve of air
at absolute
temperature (mm
Hg/F)
H: Net amount of energy
finally remaining at
the surface (mm/day)
E: daily evaporation
(mm)
ET: potential
evapotranspiration
(mm/day)
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

ET =

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

H + 0.27 E
+ 0.27

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

Using the Penman method, estimate ET, given the
following data: temperature at water surface = 22
C, temperature of air = 33 C, relative humidity =
45%, wind velocity = 1.5 mph (36 mi/day). The
month is June at latitude 33 north, r is given as
0.07, and S is found to be 0.7

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

First of all, determine the evaporation. To do so, use
the following equation:

E = 0.35(e a e d )(1 + 0.0098 u 2 )

compute ea and ed. Use the following equation for ea
which is the saturated vapor pressure at the
17.3T
temperature of air (33 C)

esat (T ) = e 0 = 6.11 e T + 237.3

ea = 50.5 mb = 37.8 mm Hg
ed = Rh ea = 37.8 0.45 = 17.04 mm Hg
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

To find out E, substitute in the above equation to
get:
E = 0.35 (37.8 17.04) (1 + 0.0098 36) = 9.82
mm/day
Now, we need to find out the net amount of energy
finally remaining at the surface (H)
Use:
H = R (1 r )(0.18 + 0.55 S) B(0.56 0.092 e 0d.5 )(0.10 + 0.90 S)
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

From the previous table, R = 16.56 mm (mean monthly
total radiation )
r = 0.07 (the estimated percentage of reflecting
surface)
S = 0.7 (the actual duration of bright sunshine to the
maximum possible duration of bright sunshine)
B = 17.69 (a temperature dependent coefficient)
Thus H = R (1 r )(0.18 + 0.55 S) B(0.56 0.092 e 0d.5 )(0.10 + 0.90 S)
H = 16.56(1 0.07)(0.18+0.550.7) 17.69(0.56
0.09217.040.5)(0.10 + 0.900.7) = 6.37 mm/day
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Penman Method Example

Finally, we have to compute ET using the following
equation:

ET =

H + 0.27 E
+ 0.27

Thus, we need to figure out the value of . From

the preceding figure and at air temperature of 33 C
we find that = 1.2
Substituting in the above equation [(1.26.37 +
0.279.82)]/(1.2+0.27) gives a value of ET of 7
mm/day

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Thornthwaite Method

The Thornthwaite method is based on an empirical
relationship between theoretical potential
evapotranspiration and mean air temperature as follows:

ETmonth

10Tm
= 1.62

ETmonth: theoretical monthly potential evapotranspiration (cm)

Tm: mean monthly temperature (C)
I: annual heat index excluding negative temperature
1.514

T
I= m
m =1 5
12

a = 675 10 9 I3 771 10 7 I 2 + 179 10 4 I + 492 10 3

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Thornthwaite Method

However, ETmonth is theoretical monthly potential
value based on 30 days and 12 hours of sunshine
per day. ETmonth for a particular month needs
adjustment and is given by:

PET = ETmonth

DT
360

where D is the number of days in the month and T

the average daily maximum hours of sunshine for
the month. T is tabulated in special tables according
to the month and location latitude

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

Mean daily maximum hours of sunshine

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Thornthwaite Method Example

Estimate the monthly potential evapotranspiration at
Boston. The mean monthly temperatures are shown
in the table below. If the growing season for a crop
is from May 15 to September 15, determine the
seasonal potential evapotranspiration (seasonal
consumptive use)
To solve the question, convert temperatures to C,
compute I, find out a, determine ET (unadjusted),
calculate the adjustment factor (daylight factor),
and finally determine the adjusted ET
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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

10

Evapotranspiration

The Thornthwaite Method Example

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

Evapotranspiration

The Thornthwaite Method Example

From the table, the last column provides the
monthly values of the adjusted ET
Now to find the overall seasonal water consumption
(evapotranspiration), we need to consider the
growing season
Seasonal adjusted potential ET =
(16/31)8.89 + 15.65 + 13.79 + 11.84 +
(15/30)5.2 = 48.47 cm

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Hydrology Fall 2007 [8-2] Evapotranspiration

Mohammad N. Almasri, PhD

An-Najah National University

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