CE461 Hydrology

Unit 3: Evapotranspiration
 Evaporation/Transpiration

Evaporation Transpiration
Water Vapor

Atmospheric
System

Precipitation
 Evaporation
Evaporation is the process whereby
water molecules move from a liquid
phase to a gas phase in response to
energy absorbed by the water Energy
molecules.

The rate of evaporation is governed by

three things: 1
• 1. The amount of energy. 3 2
• 2. The difference in concentration
of water molecules contained in the E
adjoining air mass.
• 3. The maintenance of a pressure
differential.
 1. Amount of Energy

1. The amount of energy required for the evaporation of

one gram of water is called the latent heat of
vaporization, Le (cal/g)
2. The latent heat of evaporation decreases as the
temperature of the evaporating water increases:

Le = 597.3 − 0.57 T [cal/g], T in o C

 2. Difference in Concentration of Water Molecules

1. The concentration of water molecules in a column of air is

expressed in terms of the pressure exerted by the water
molecules. This is called the vapor pressure e.
2. For practical considerations, water vapor can be assumed
to behave as an ideal gas, thus it can be evaluated using the
ideal gas law:

P = ρRT

P = pressure [mb]
ρ = density of gas [g/cm3]
T = absolute temperature [°K]
R = gas constant (depends on the molecular weight of the
gas and the other units)
 Evaporation Methods
1. Mass Transfer Methods
• Myers Formula
2. Energy Budget Methods
3. Combined Methods
• Penman Equation
4. Water Budget Method
• Pan Evaporation Method
 1. Mass transfer method
Evaporation driven by
– Vapor pressure gradient
– Wind speed
E = f(u)(es − ea )
= ( a + b u)(es − ea )

es : saturation vapor pressure at temperature

T of the water surface
ea : vapor pressure at some fixed level above
the water surface
u : wind speed at some level above surface
a,b : empirical constants
 Mass transfer method (continued)
Some formulas use a zero value for the constant “a” in
the formula (previous slide) due to the small local air
movements with velocities insufficient to remove excess
vapor from a above a pan surface. Harbeck and Meyers
(1970) present the following equation.

E = bu2 * (es – e2)

Where:
E = Evaporation (cm/day)
b = 0.012 for Lake Hefner, 0.018 for Lake Mead
es = vapor pressure at water surface (mb)
e2 = vapor pressure 2 m above water surface (mb)
u2 = wind speed 2 m above water surface (m/s)
 2. Energy budget method
QN Qe Qh

Qθ Qv

The overall energy budget for a lake can be written as

QN = Qe + Qh - Qv + Qθ
QN : net radiation absorbed by water body
[cal/cm2-day]
(solar radiation – reflection – radiation from lake)
Qe : evaporation energy
Qh : sensible heat transfer (conduction and convection to the
atmosphere)
Qv : advected energy of inflow and outflow
Qθ : change in stored energy in the water body
 Energy budget method
Sensible heat transfer difficult to measure

Q h
≈ R × Q e

where
Ts − T [Eq. 1.16]
R = γ a
e s − e a

Ta : air temperature [°C]

Ts : water surface temperature [°C]
ea : vapor pressure of the air [mb]
es : saturation vapor pressure at water surface temp. [mb]
γ : psychrometric constant = 0.66 (P/1000), P in mb
 Energy budget method
Qe
Daily evaporation depth: E = [cm / day]
ρLe

Energy balance QN = Qe (1 + R) − Qv + Qθ
= EρLe (1 + R) − Qv + Qθ

or
QN + Qv + Qe
E= [cm / day] Eq. (1.15)
ρLe (1 + R)

with Q in [cal/cm2-day]
Le in [cal/g]
ρ in [g/cm3] •Most accurate method
•Most accurate method
 3. Combined method (Penman, 1948)
Combined 'mass transfer' and 'energy budget':

∆ γ
EρL = Q + E [units as before – Eq. 1.17]
∆+γ ∆+γ
e N a

∆ : slope of es vs t curve (at air temperature - equation 1.18)

Ea = ρLe ( a + bu)(esa − ea ) [cal / cm2 − day]

where a,b : empirical constants

esa : saturation vapor pressure at air temp.
ea : actual vapor pressure
 Example (textbook Ex. 1.5B)
Assume Meyer's formula applies to a lake:

E = 0.0106 (1+0.1 u)(es-ea) [cm/day]

u in mi/h, e in mb

Given:
Ta = 32.2°C
u = 32 km/h = 20 mi/h
RH = 30%
QN = 400 cal/cm2-day

Estimate daily evaporation using Penman's formula.

Solution
2.7489 × 108 × 4278.6 ⎛ 4278.6 ⎞
∆= exp⎜ − ⎟ [eq. 1.18]
(T + 242.79) 2
⎝ T + 242.79 ⎠

with T = 32.2oC, ∆ = 2.72 mb /oC

Actual and saturation vapor pressure:

esa (T = 32.2o C) = 48.1 mb [eq. 1.6]
ea = RH × esa = 0.3 × 48.1 = 14.4 mb

Latent heat of evaporation at air temperature:

Le = 597.3 − 0.57 × 32.2 = 579 cal / g [eq. 1.7]
 Ea = ρLe 0.0106(1 + 0.1 u )(esa − ea )
= 1× 579 × 0.0106(1 − 0.1× 20)(48.1 − 14.4)
= 1590 cal/cm 2 −day
Penman's equation:
∆ ∆
EρLe = QN + Ea
∆+γ ∆+γ
2.72 0.66
= 400 + 1590
2.72 + 0.66 2.72 + 0.66

= 632 cal/cm2 −day

632
Or: E= = 1.1 cm/day
1 × 579
 4: Water budget method
Applicable to lake evaporation

∆storage = input − output

∆S = (I + P) − (O + E + GW)

Or E = -∆S+I+P-O-GW

I : inflow [cm]
P : precipitation [cm]
O: outflow [cm]
E : Evaporation [cm]
GW: Groundwater seepage [cm]
Pan Evaporation Method
 Class A Evaporation Pan

4ft
Measurement Pans

Starts with 8 inches

filled daily as soon
the level goes down
below 7 inches.
Difference in levels
10 inches
= evaporation
(precipitation addition
should be considered)
 Measurement

• Pan evaporation values are higher than

the actual lake evaporation
• Eactual = Epan * K
• K = Adjustment factor
• K ranges from 0.64 to 0.81
• Average Value = 0.7 (for the U.S.)
 Evapotranspiration (ET)
• Evaporation + Transpiration
• Transpiration : Loss of water through small
openings (stomata) of the leaves
• Potential ET (Thornthwaite, 1948)
– Potential ET is “ the water loss which will occur if at no
time there is deficiency of water in the soil for the use
of vegetation “
• Potential ET can be equated to lake evaporation.
• Blaney Criddle Method