Surface Water Hydrology:

MODULE: EWP312

Environmental & Water

Science
Institute of Water Studies
Department of Earth
Sciences

EWP312 Lecture 9: Evapotra nspiration

[email protected]
April 2024
EVAPORATION
• Evaporation is the process that changes liquid water to
gaseous water (water vapour).
• Evaporation is a type of vaporisation that occurs on the surface of
a liquid as it changes into the gas phase.

• Water moves from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere

via evaporation.

• Evaporation occurs when energy (heat) forces the bonds

that hold water molecules
• When boiling water on the stove, you add heat to liquid water. This
added heat breaks the bonds, causing the water to shift from liquid
to gaseous (water vapour), which we know as steam.

• Water easily evaporates at its boiling point (100 °C) but

evaporates much more slowly at its freezing point because
of the heat energy required to evaporate the water.

• The opposite of evaporation is condensation.

• Condensation is the process of water vapour turning back into
liquid water.
• Condensation occurs when saturated air is cooled.
• Two-thirds of precipitation returns to the
atmosphere through evaporation.

• Evaporation largest transfer process of the

 Evaporation
• Evaporation from water bodies

• Evaporation from the soil

• Transpiration from plants

• Evapotranspiration – combined effects of evaporation

 Evaporation drives the water cycle
• Most of the moisture in the atmosphere (about
90%) comes from water evaporating from oceans,
seas, lakes, and rivers.
• because over 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by
oceans, they contribute a lot to the overall volume of
water evaporating into the atmosphere.
• the rest of the moisture in the atmosphere comes from
plant transpiration and (a very small amount) from
sublimation.
• On a global scale, the amount of water
evaporating is about the same as the amount of
water delivered to the Earth as precipitation.
• This does vary geographically, though.
• Evaporation is more prevalent over the oceans than
precipitation, while over the land, precipitation routinely
exceeds evaporation.
• Most of the water that evaporates from the oceans falls
back into the oceans as precipitation.
 Factors
Influencing
Evaporation
 Classified into two
categories
• Meteorological factors – affect the rate of
evaporation from all water bodies/surfaces
(rivers, lakes, soil, plants)

• Nature of the evaporating body

 Evaporation from soils

http://toxics.usgs.gov/photo_gallery/wastedisposal.html
 Evaporation from bare soil

• Evaporation occurs from water films surrounding

soil grains.

• The availability of moisture close to the soil

surface has a major influence on the rate of
evaporation.

• As the soil dries, moisture increasingly becomes

unavailable for evaporation at the soil surface
• Rate of evaporation from the soil decreases with
increasing depth to moist soil.

• Water rises in the soil through capillarity.

• Capillarity is effective in fine-textured soils where

the water moves through narrow soil pores.

• When the soil dries up, the rate of evaporation

declines to close to zero.
 Transpiration
• Plant growth requires the production of sugar or
carbohydrates.

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, water, and

light are essential for the production of carbohydrates.

• CO2 obtained from the atmosphere enters leaves through

pores on leaves and stomata.

• As the stomata open to enable entry of CO2 into the

leaves, water vapour escapes from the leaves.

• Loss of water vapour through leaves called Transpiration.

• Opening of stomata necessary for plants to produce

carbohydrates.
 Photosynthesis

6H20 + 6CO2 + light C6H12O6 + 6O2

Water Carbon dioxide Glucose Oxygen

https://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/plants/leaf/
 Opening and size of stomata
depend on:
• External factors such as the presence of
light, and vapour pressure deficit.

• Vapour pressure deficit (VPD) is the

difference between
a) the amount of water vapour
occurring in intercellular spaces,
and
b) that in the air surrounding leaves

• Internal factors – chemical signals regarding

water availability from roots to leaves.
https://www.slideshare.net/SECBIO/leaf-structure-16551587
 Plant or Crop Factors
Influencing Transpiration
• Albedo

• Crop height

• Aerodynamic properties

• Leaf and stomatal properties

• Crop growth stages which affect ground cover,

crop height, leaf area
 Albedo – reflectivity of surfaces

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBD_enZA809ZA809&q=albedo+values&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&v
ed=2ahUKEwi65-O1vObhAhWwx4UKHcpqD68QsAR6BAgJEAE&biw=1280&bih=610#imgrc=lNE6BwGeEey_pM:
 Crop height
• Affects airflow pattern
over the vegetation.

• Flow pattern will

influence how water
vapour is dispersed into
the overlying air.

• Crop height and

morphology influence the
aerodynamic resistance
to the flow of air through
and above the crop, and
therefore the movement
of water vapour upwards.
 Aerodynamic resistance
influenced by the morphology of
the plant

Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Raes, D., and Smith, M. 1998. Crop evapotranspiration (guidelines for computing crop water
requirements). FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, FAO, Water Resources, Development and Management Service Rome,
Italy. http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0490e/x0490e00.htm
 Leaf and stomatal properties
• Influence the stomatal and leaf resistance to the
movement of vapour from plant cells into the
atmosphere

• Bulk stomatal resistance varies from one crop to

another.

• Bulk stomatal resistance contributes to the

resistance of water vapour movement on the leaf
surface (surface resistance).

• Stomatal resistance depends on climate and water

availability.

• Resistance increases when a crop is stressed for

 Crop Growth Stages
• As the crop develops, the
ground cover, crop height
and the leaf area change.

• From planting to about the

stage a crop covers 10% of
the ground;
• evaporation from soil
dominates.

• Initially the LAI is very small

which restricts transpiration.

• Soil water content will

influence ET.
 Crop Growth Stages cont’d
• As the crop develops from 10% cover to full cover,
increasing shading of the ground

• Limited energy available on the soil surface for

evaporation.

• Transpiration increasingly becomes important.

• During late stages of growth, loss of leaves, resulting in

reduction of transpiration, and increase of soil
evaporation
 Night-time Transpiration
• Incomplete closure of stomata of some plants
during the night results in transpiration.

• The magnitude of night-time transpiration

depends on the size of stomatal openings.

• Due to the absence of light, the opening of

stomata does not benefit the plant by making
carbohydrates.

• Night-time transpiration can be 5% to 15% that of

daytime transpiration.
 Estimation of
Potential
Evapotranspirati
on
Temperature Based Methods
Potential & Actual Evapotranspiration
(PET vs AET)

• Potential evapotranspiration or potential

evaporation (PET) is the amount of water
evaporated and transpired by a specific crop, soil
or ecosystem if sufficient water was available.
• PET is a function of relative humidity, solar radiation,
water availability, wind, and temperature.

• Actual evapotranspiration (AET or ET) is how

much water that evaporates when there is a
water limitation.
• AET is a function of vegetation cover, root, and soil.
 Methods Based On
Meteorological Observations
1. Temperature based methods.

2. Mass transfer approach.

3. Energy Budget Method.

4. Combination of mass transfer approach, energy

budget, and temperature-based methods
 Temperature Based
Methods
 Empirical methods – based on relating the rate
of evaporation to atmospheric temperature.

 Need to understand the conditions under which

they were developed.

 Will give acceptable results for conditions

similar to those in which the methods were
developed
 Hargreaves and Samani (1985)

• Hargreaves and Samani (1985) is

• used as a representative expression for potential evapotranspiration
• based only on average, minimum and maximum air temperature and
solar radiation, and
• has been widely used for its simplicity and potentiality to calibrate its
parameters to improve the estimations.

E = 1.25 α Ra T r 0.5
(Ta + 17.8)
where
Ra = extra-terrestrial (solar) radiation expressed in mm of water
equivalent,
Tr = temperature range
Ta = the average daily or monthly temperature both in degrees
Celsius
α = a coefficient that needs to be estimated to suit local
conditions.
• Interesting paper already downloaded and available on Ikamva for you to read

• Moeletsi, M. E., Walker, S., & Hamandawana, H. (2013). Comparison of the Hargreaves and
Samani equation and the Thornthwaite equation for estimating dekadal evapotranspiration in
the Free State Province, South Africa. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 66, 4-15.
Estimation of Ra (extra-terrestrial
radiation)

• Extra-terrestrial (solar) radiation is the amount of

radiation received above the atmosphere.

• Can be estimated based on the time of the year

(Julian Day), and latitude of place.

• Latitude will determine the angle at which solar

radiation is received at a specific location.
 Refreshing Your
Knowledge
a
sin   
c
b
cos  
c
a
c a
tan   
b

1
arcsin   
θ sin  
b 1
arccos   
cos 
 Ra = extra-terrestrial radiation
Extraterrestrial radiation (Ra) is the intensity (power) of the
sun at the top of
the Earth's atmosphere.

Ra = 14.9158 (h.sin φ. sin δ + cos φ. cos δ . sinh)/r2

where r = sun’s radius vector in radians given by

= 1 + 0.017 cos[0.017(186 – DJ)]

h = sunrise hour angle in radians

= arcos (-tan φ. tanδ)

• Radiation is measured in Joules per day.

• The equation above already converts the Joules per day to an
equivalent amount of water that would evaporate. Therefore
the unit of Ra is millimetres per day.
• Other radiation equations will give Ra the result in Joules per day or
 Julian Day, Dj

• DJ = Julian day is the number of the day in the

year
• 1 January is therefore 1,
• 10 February = 41,
• 31 December = 365 or 366.
φ = latitudinal location in radians
of a place

• Latitude in degrees which should be converted to

radians.

• 1 radian is equal to 180 degrees divided by PI (∏).

• The negative value of the latitude is used in the

southern hemisphere.
δ = declination of the sun in radians

δ = 0.409 cos[0.017(173 – DJ)]

• Declination is the
angular distance of a
point north or south of
the earth's equator

• This varies with season.

h = sunrise hour angle in
radians

h = arcos (-tan φ. tanδ)

 Example
• Calculate E (Evapotranspiration) for the month of
March at Cape Town Airport which has a latitude
of 33° 58’ South, an average maximum
temperature of 25° C and an average minimum
temperature of 14° C in March.
 Information Required

(i) Julian day for the time of the year (Dj),

(ii)sun’s radius vector in radians (r),

(iii)latitudinal location in radians (φ),

(iv)declination of the sun (δ),

(v) sunrise hour angle in radians (h)

 (i) Julian day (Dj)
• Temperatures are given as averages for the
month of March.
• Assume therefore that these will be representative of
mid-month conditions, i.e., 16 March

• Julian day will be equal to the sum of the number

of days in January (31 days) plus the number of
days in February (assume this is not a leap year,
28 days) plus 16 days in March.

• Therefore, Dj = 31 + 28 + 16 = 75 days.
 (ii) Sun’s radius vector,(r)

r = 1 + 0.017 cos[0.017(186 – DJ)]

= 1 + 0.017 cos[0.017(186 – 75)]

= 0.9947
 (iii) Latitudinal location in radians
(φ)
Cape Town Airport is at latitude 33° 58’ South.

• First we convert this to decimal degrees = 33 +(58/60) =

33.9667°

• degrees = 57.2958 degrees

• 3.14159 = mathematical constant Pi (∏)

• To convert 33.9667 degrees to radians

• X 3.14159 = 0.5928 radians

• Since this is a location in the southern hemisphere,

the latitude is given as (negative) -0.5928 radians
(iv) Declination of the sun in
radians (δ)

δ = 0.409 cos[0.017(173 – DJ)]

= 0.409 cos[0.017(173 – 75)]

= -0.0389
(v) Sunrise hour angle (h)

h = arcos (-tan φ. tanδ)

= arcos (-tan (-0.5928) tan (-

0.0389))

= 1.5970
Extra-terrestrial radiation (Ra)

Ra = 14.9158 (h.sin φ. sin δ + cos φ. cos δ .

sinh)/r2

= 14.9158 {1.5970 sin(-0.5928). sin (-

0.0389) + cos (- 0.5928) cos (-0.0389)
sin (1.5970)}

= 13.0118 mm/day
 Step 2: Calculating the Temperature
Range (Tr)

Tr = average maximum temperature minus

average minimum temperature

= 25°-14°

= 11°C
Step 3: Calculate the Average Temperature (Ta)

Ta = (max Temperature + minimum Temperature)/2

= (25+14)/2

= 19.5° C
 Step 4 Calculate Potential Evaporation, E

E = 1.25 x 0.0023 x Ra T r 0.5

(Ta + 17.8)

= 1.25 x 0.0023 x 13.0118 x 110.5

(19.5+17.8)

= 2.9 mm/day
• Comparison of monthly evaporation rates estimated using the
Hargreaves & Samani equation and those based on evaporation
pan measurement.

• The comparison above shows that there is a need to improve the

value of α assumed to be 0.0023 to suit the conditions in Cape