Evaporation

GROUP 3/CE4
Bautista, Mariane
Escalona, Hazel
Magadia, Janine Eloise M.
Marco, Rav Joseph
Pesigan, Rochelle Mae
EVAPORATION
 Definition: Process by which water is changed from the
liquid or solid state into the gaseous state through the
transfer of heat energy (ASCE, 1949).

 It occurs when some water molecules attain sufficient

kinetic energy to break through the water surface and
escape into the atmosphere (~ 600 cal needed to evaporate
1 gram of water).

 Depends on the supply of heat energy and the vapor

pressure gradient (which, in turn, depends on water and air
temperatures, wind, atmospheric pressure, solar radiation,
etc).
TRANSPIRATION (T)

 Transpiration is the evaporation occurring through plant

leaves (stomatal openings).

 Transpiration is affected by plant physiology and

environmental factors, such as:
- Type of vegetation
- Stage and growth of plants
- Soil conditions (type and moisture)
- Climate and weather
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (ET)
 Combined “loss” of water vapor from within the leaves of
plants (“transpiration”) and evaporation of liquid water
from water surfaces, bare soil and vegetative surfaces.

 Globally, about 62% of the precipitation that falls on the

continent is evapotranspired (~72,000 km3/yr); 92% of
which from land surfaces evapotranspiration and 3% from
open water evaporation (source: Dingman, “Physical
Hydrology”).

 Approximately 70% of the mean annual rainfall in the U.S.

is returned to the atmosphere as evaporation or
transpiration.
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (ET)

 In practice, the terms E and ET are often used to

mean the same thing - the evaporation from the
land surface.

 Therefore, you must use the context to determine

what the term evaporation means in a specific case
(i.e., is it just from an open water surface or the
entire land surface?).
POTENTIAL EVAPORATION (PE)
 is the climate controlled evaporation from an open
water surface with unlimited supply (and no thermal
capacity).
POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (PET)

 is the ET that would occur from a well vegetated

surface when moisture supply is not limiting (often
calculated as the PE).

 Actual evapotranspiration (AET; ET) drops below

its potential level as the soil dries.
 DESIGN
 Evaporation must be considered in the design of
large water storage reservoirs, large-scale water
resources planning and water supply studies.

 For flood flow studies, urban drainage design

applications it may be neglected.

 Example: during typical storm periods with

intensities of 0.5 in/hr, evaporation is on the order
of 0.01 in/hr.
METHODS FOR ESTIMATING EVAPORATION
 Water budget methods

 Energy budget methods

 Mass transfer techniques (e.g., Meyer, Thornthwaile-

Holzman)
 Combination of energy budget and mass transfer
methods (e.g.,Penman)
Energy budget method
Total solar
radiation - Rt

Net energy advected Reflected solar

(net energy content Net long-wave radiation
radiation - Rr
of incoming and Sensible heat loss exchange between the
outcoming water - from the water atmospere and the water
Energy used for
Ee evaporation
body to the body- R1
atmosphere - Hn
(latent heat)- Ee

Energy stored - Es

R1 includes long-wave (LW) radiation from the atmosphere, reflected LW radiation, LW radiation emitted by water
 Energy budget method
 g  cal 
Es  2   Ea  Rt   Rr  Ee  H n  R1 
 cm - day 

Rr R1
Ee Rt Ee Hn

Es

R1 includes long-wave (LW) radiation from the atmosphere, reflected LW radiation, LW radiation emitted by water
Energy budget method

 Amount of evaporation - E

 mm  Ee
E   10
 day  Hv

 g  cal 
Hv  3 
 596  0.52T - latent heat of vaporizat ion
 cm 

T C  - temperatu re of the water surface

 Energy budget method

Characteristics:

• most accurate method (evaporation is a function

of the energy state of the water system)
• difficult to evaluate all terms
• energy balance equation has to be simplified
• empirical formulas are used (although radiation
measurements are preferable)
Water budget method
S
 P  Q  Qr  Qs   Q0  Qd  E   E 
t
Precipitation - P

Evaporation- E Inflow- Q

Surface runoff - Qr

Subsurface
runoff - Qs

Subsurface seepage losses- Qd

Outflow- Q0
 Water budget method
 ac - ft 
 Units: E 
 month 
 Depth of evaporation:
 in  12 E
*
E   
 day  nAp
 mm  12(25.4) E
*
E   
 day  nAp

n – number of days
Ap – area of the pond [ac]
Water budget method

Characteristics:
- Simple

- Difficult to estimate Qd and Qs

- Unreliable, accuracy will increase as Δt increases

Mass transfer methods - definitions
 17.3T 
es [mb ]  6.11 exp  ;
 T  237.3 
es mm Hg  
es [mb ]
; Table 14.1
1.36
e
Rh 
es
e – actual vapor pressure (difference in the atmospheric pressure with and
without the vapor)

es – saturated vapor pressure (partial pressure of water vapor in saturated

air)

T [ºC] – air temperature

Rh – relative humidity
 Evaporation is a diffusive process (moves from
where its concentration is larger to where its
concentration is smaller at a rate that is
proportional to the gradient of concentration):
E = b0 (es0 – ea)

es0 – vapore pressure of the evaporating surface;

saturation vapor pressure at the water surface
temperature Ts
- ea – vapor pressure of overlying air at the same
height
- b0 – empirical coefficient that has to be calibrated
 E = b0 (es0 – ea)

 Studies showed that

b0 = function (air turbulence)=fn(v)

 E = b1 fn(v)(es – ea)

 Meyer’s formula:
E = 0.5 (1 + 0.1 v30)(es – ea)
v30 - wind speed [mi/h] at 30 ft height;
es; ea [in Hg]
E [in/day]
 b0 = f(v, es, ea, Ta, Tw)

 Thornthwaite-Holzman equation (no calibration)

b0 = f(v,T,k);
k – Von Karman constant (0.41)

833k (e1  e2 )(v2  v1 )

2
E 2
 z2 
ln   T  459.4
 z1 
Combination approach – Penman equation
 Combine mass-transfer and energy-balance equations to
derive an evaporation equation that does not require
water surface temperature data.

  En    Eao
(14  24) Hw 
 

 mm 
Hw   - evaporatio n
 day 
 mm 
En   - net radiation
 day 
 mm 
Eao   - mass transfer
 day 
   En    Eao
Hw 
Penman equation:  

e0  ea* 1 25,083  17.3T 

(14  14)   exp  
T0  T 1.36 T  237.32
 T  237.3 

Δ [mm Hg/ºC] – slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve at mean temperature
T0 [ºC] – temperature of the water surface
T [ºC] – temperature of the air
e0 [mm Hg] - vapor pressure of the water surface
ea* [mm Hg] - saturated vapor pressure at temperature T
   En    Eao
Penman equation: Hw 
 

• En [mm/day] – net radiation

 g - cal 
• Start with energy equation: Rn    RI  R B
 cm  day 
2

Rn – net radiation
RI – amount of energy absorbed (shortwave)
RB – net outward flow of longwave radiation
   En    Eao
Hw 
Penman equation:  

Rn  RI  RB

 n
RI  RA 1  r  a  b 
 D

RI [g-cal/cm2-day] – amount of energy absorbed (shortwave)

RA [g-cal/cm2-day] – total possible radiation for the period of estimation;
it is function of latitude and season; Table 14-3.
r – reflection coef. (0.05-0.12)
a,b – empirical coef. (a=0.2; b=0.5)
n/D – fraction of possible sunshine (from climatic atlas)
Rn  RI  RB

 
 n
RB   T  273 0.47  0.077 e  0.2  0.8 
4

 D
7  cal 
  1.1777 10  2 4 
 cm C day 

 Rn[g-cal/cm2-day] – net radiation

 RI [g-cal/cm2-day] – amount of energy absorbed (shortwave)

 RB [g-cal/cm2-day] – net outward flow of longwave radiation

 e [mm Hg] – actual vapor pressure

 T [ºC] – air temperature

 n/D – fraction of possible sunshine (from climatic atlas)

   En    Eao
Penman equation: Hw 
 

 mm  Rn
En    10  net radiation
 day  Hv
 g - cal 
Rn  2   net radiation
 cm  day 
 g - cal 
Hv  3 
 596  0.52T - latent heat of vaporizat ion
 cm 
   En    Eao
Penman equation: Hw 
 

 g - cal 
Rn  2 
 cm  day 
 mm  Rn
En    10
 day  Hv
 g - cal 
Hv  3 
 596  0.52T
 cm 
• En – net radiation
• Rn – net radiation
•Hv –latent heat of vaporization
   En    Eao
Penman equation: Hw 
 

c p pa
 (14 - 11)
0.62 H v
c p  specific heat of air at constant pressure
pa  atmospheri c pressure
 g - cal 
Hv  3 
 596  0.52T - latent heat of vaporizat ion
 cm 

  0.485 (typical value)

   En    Eao
Penman equation: H w (E) 
 

 mm 
Eao   - mass transfer (based on diffusivit y law)
 day 

Ea 0  0.35es  e 0.2  0.55V 

es mm Hg  - saturated vapor pressure at air temper ature Ta

e mm Hg  - actual vapor pressure at air temper ature Ta
V [m/sec] - wind spead at 2 m height
Penman equation:

 mm    En    Eao
Hw    - evaporatio n
 day   

Eacre - ft  - total evaporatio n

 mm 
Eacre - ft   H w   ndays  Area acres  
1 1

 day  12 25.4
U.S. Weather Bureau Class A Pan

4 ft

Wooden
10 in
support
6 in

Galvanized
steel
Evaporation pan

S
 P  Q  Qr  Qs   Q0  Qd  E 
t
S S
P  Ep   Ep  P 
t t

Surface runoff - Qr Evaporation - E Precipitation - P

Inflow- Q

Subsurface
runoff - Qs

Outflow- Q
Subsurface seepage losses- Qd
Evaporation Pan

 Evaporation from an open water surface (E) is

usually estimated from the pan evaporation (Ep)
as:
E = K Ep
where K is the pan coefficient (regional coef,
usually around ~0.7). Similar expressions are also
used in practice to estimate potential
evapotranspiration from pan data.