1

3.Evaporation
3.2
A processes--liquid changes to the gaseous state at the free
surface below the boiling point

evaporation: Quantity of water evaporated

from an open water surface or from the ground.

Saturated vapour pressure (es ) its pressure developed in

the vicinity of water body surface.
Actual air pressure (ea) the atmospheric pressure above

Evaporation exist till saturated vapour pressure exceed the

air vapour pressure

There fore the rate of evaporation is a function of (es-ea) 2

 Modes of Evaporation
• Evaporation happens in
several ways
– Open water evaporation
– Transpiration from
leaves
– Evaporation from soil Evapotranspiration
and land surface

evapotranspiration (or effective evapotranspiration):

Quantity of water vapour evaporated from
the soil and plants when the ground is at its natural
moisture content.
Transpiration: Process by which water from vegetation
is transferred into the atmosphere in the form
3
of vapour.
 3.3Factors influencing evaporation Rate

Metrological factor
 Radiation ⇧ ER⇧
 vapour pressure
Vapour pressure of the water body(es) ⇧ ER⇧
Vapour pressure of the air(ea ) ⇧ ER ⇩
ea = es no evaporation
E=C(es-ea)…Daltons law
C=(a+b𝑣) -𝑣is wind speed measure at the elevation of air pressure is considered
-a,b are constants dependent on wind velocity humidity temperature
 Air and water temperature⇧ ER⇧
 Humidity ⇧ ER ⇩
 Wind speed ⇧ ER⇧ till effective removal of molecules
 Atmospheric pressure ⇩ ER ⇧ 4
 Factors influencing evaporation
Physical factors
• Nature of evaporating surface
• Depth of water body
• Shape of evaporating surface
• Water quality

5
 3.4 Estimation of evaporation
• There is no means of estimating open water evaporation directly
from the field rather it is correlated;
Methods estimating evaporation:
 Evaporimeter
 Class evaporation pan
 ISI standard pan
 Colorado sunk pan
 Us Geological surveying floating pan

 Empirical equation
 Water balance method
 Energy budget Analytic method
 Mass transfer

6
 Pan Evaporation
Directly measures change in water level over time for a sample of open water in
a “pan” with well-specified dimensions and siting.

Assumes relationship between measured evaporation from pans and actual

evaporation from adjacent area can be calibrated, and calibration is transferable
between locations and climates.

US Class A evaporation pan.

hE  C p  hE pan
lake

Cp – Pan coefficient (0.6 – 0.8 ) 7

Floating Pan Evaporation

8
Colorado Sunken pan

9
example

10
Exercise (Pan Evaporation) - 2

11
 Example-3
• At the beginning of a certain week, the depth of
a water in an evaporation pan,1.2metere
diameter was 7.75cm During the week the rain
fall was 3.8cm, and 2.5cm of water is removed
from the pan to keep the water depth with in
fixed range… at the end of the week the gage
indicate depth of 8.32 cm water in the pan using
0.7 pan coefficient
• Ans=0.511cm

12
 Empirical equations
• These empirical formulas are based on Dalton’s
law
• The general formula
E= k f(u) (es – ea) K is a coefficient,
f(u) is function of wind speed
Example
Reservoir with average surface spread of 3.3km2 in December has the water surface
Temperature of 22.5oc and Relative humidity of 35%. Wind velocity measured at 2m
above the ground at near by observatory is 15km/h with the mean barometric reading
of 750mmHg. calculate Average evaporation loss from the reservoir in mm/day the
total depth and volume of the evaporation loss for December
( use Meyer and Rhower’s formula)
13
 Empirical equations
• Meyers method
 u
E  1   . C. (es  ea )
16  water vapour (e
Thesaturated )for 22.5oC from table3.2 air=20.04mmHg
• s

• RH=35%
• air vapour pressure (ea ) =RH* es =0.35*20.44=7.15mmHg
• U wind speed at 9m the speed at elevation of 2=15km/h
• For 9m U=18.6km/h
• C=0.36
 18.6 
E  1   * 0.36. (20.44  7.15)  10.34mm / day
 16 
Depth of eva. in December=31x10.34=320.5mm
Volume of evaporated water fin December=(320x3.3)106103=1.0578Mm3
14
 Empirical equations
Rhowher’s formula
E  0.771(1.465  0.000732 P ) x (0.44  0.0733U ) (es  ea )
es=20.44mmHg,ea=7.15mmHg
Similarly as above wind velocity at 0. 6m elevation is=12.63km/h
P =mean barometric reading =760mmHg
E  0.771(1.465  0.000732x750) x (0.44  0.0733x12.63) (20.44  7.15 )
=12.82mmHg
Exercise
A reservoir with a surface area of 300 ha has the following average metrological values
during different a given week

Water temperature =30oC

Relative humidity =50%
Wind velocity at 1m =12km/hr
Mean barometric =750mmHg
15
Estimate the average evaporation from the reservoir using methods with a given data
Water budget
E= (P+RI+GI) - (Ro+Go+T)±𝚫S
Mass transfer
proposed by Thornthwaite and Holtzman(1939)
E  0.000119(e1  e2 )(u2 2  u1 ) E,u2,u1⇒m/s
  h2 
pX ln  e1,e2,p ⇒ Pa (1kpa=10mb)
  h1 

Energy balance

16
Bowen’s ratio 𝛃
𝛃

Bowen’s ratio 𝛃 17
Net heat energy received or net incoming energy
Hn=Hc(1-r)-Hb where reflection coefficient ALBEDO r
for water surface 0.5 and for newly laid
snow 0.9

II. Out going energy= Ha+Hg+Hi

III Heat stored in water body Hs
IV Heat used in evaporation (He)=ρw*La*E
There fore using energy conservation
Total incoming energy =out going energy +energy stored +
energy used in evaporation

H =(H +H +H )+H +H 18
 3.5 Evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration
Combination of evaporation from soil surface and
transpiration from vegetation
Governing factors
• Energy supply and vapor transport
• Supply of moisture at evaporative
surfaces

Potential ET - the maximum possible

evaporation at a given location or
area related to atmospheric conditions
under the premise of optimum water
availability
Actual ET - the amount of water actually
evaporated which is dependent on the
available amount of water and energy 19
 Evapotranspiration
Field Capacity (FC)
Max. amount of water the soil can retain against gravity
Moisture > FC drains away

Permanent Wilting Point (PWP)

Moisture content of the soil where it can no longer sustain the plant growth

Available water for plant growth (AWM) = FC - PWP

• If W to plant is adequate, soil moisture = FC & AET= PET

S
• If W < PET, soil dries out & AET/PET<1
S
• Decrease of this ratio with the available moisture depends on

soil type

20
Retention Curves

• Clay – high AWM however

less movement of water/
high suction.
• Sand - Low AWM high /less
water holding capacity
• Loam – convenient suction
and AWM for plants

21
• There are different approaches to estimate
evapotranspiration
3.5.1 CLIMATIC APPROACH
(emperical,analythical,theoretical)
according to FAO some methods are developed

22
 Analytical computation
• Blaney-Criddle Formula
• Penman’s Equation
• Thornthwaite Formula
 Blanney-criddle method (empirical formula)
ET0 = C P (0.0457Tm + 0.8128 )(mm/d)

purely empirical—based on arid western US

assumes PET is related to hours of
sunshine & temperature

PET in cropping-season is given by:

23
 Blaney-Criddle Formula

PET   K .F
F  (0.0457Tm  0.8128) P
PET = PET in crop season in cm

K = empirical coef., depends on the type of the crop

F = sum of monthly consumptive use factors for the period

P = monthly percentage of annual day-time hrs, depending on latitude

(Table 3.3)

T = mean monthly temp. in oC

m

24
 Example Blaney-Criddle
Use Blaney-Criddle method to calculate consumptive use (PET) for
rice crop grown from January to March at location with latitude
220 N & the following data taken from a nearby observatory. Find
the net irrigation demand for rice using the given rainfall during
crop period. K for rice can be taken as 1.1 & use 80% as effective
rainfall.
Month January February March
Mean temperature 0C 12 16 24
Rainfall (mm) 8 20 16

25
 Blaney Criddle
Month Mean Monthly % Monthly K PET Effectiv Depth of
monthly (P) of day Consumptiv (4) x (5) e irrigation
temp time e rainfall (6) – (7)
(Tm) Hours from Use factor at 80% (cm)
Table (F) (cm)
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
January 12 7.62 10.37 1.1 11.40 0.64 10.76
Februar 16 7.20 11.12 1.1 12.23 1.60 10.63
y
March 24 8.40 16.04 1.1 17.64 1.28 16.36

F for col. (4) for January = (0.0457 Tm + 0.8128) x P

= (0.0457 x 12 + 0.8128) x 7.62 = 10.37 cm
F (February) = (0.0457 x 16 + 0.8128) x 7.2 = 11.12 cm
F ( March) = (0.0457 x 24 + 0.8128) x 84 = 16.04 cm
The net irrigation demand = 10.76 + 10.63 + 16.36 = 37.75 cm
26
27
Table3.3 – monthly day time percentage hours(P)

Lat. No Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

0 8.50 7.66 8.49 8.21 8.50 8.22 8.50 8.49 8.21 8.50 8.22 8.50
10 8.13 7.47 8.45 8.37 8.81 8.60 8.86 8.71 8.25 8.34 7.91 8.10

15 7.94 7.36 8.43 8.44 8.98 8.80 9.05 8.83 8.28 8.26 7.75 7.88
20 7.74 7.25 8.41 8.52 9.15 9.00 9.25 8.96 8.30 8.18 7.58 7.66
25 7.53 7.14 8.39 8.61 9.33 9.23 9.45 9.09 8.32 8.09 7.40 7.42

30 7.30 7.03 8.38 8.72 9.53 9.49 9.67 9.22 8.33 7.99 7.19 7.15
35 7.05 6.88 8.35 8.83 9.76 9.77 9.93 9.37 8.36 7.87 6.97 6.86
40 6.76 6.72 8.33 8.95 10.02 10.08 10.22 9.54 8.39 7.75 6.72 6.52
42 6.63 6.65 8.31 9.00 10.14 10.22 10.35 9.62 8.40 7.69 6.62 6.37
44 6.49 6.58 8.30 9.06 10.26 10.38 10.49 9.70 8.41 7.63 6.49 6.21
46 6.34 6.50 8.29 9.12 10.39 10.54 10.64 9.79 8.42 7.57 6.36 6.04

48 6.17 6.41 8.27 9.18 10.53 10.71 10.80 9.89 8.44 7.51 6.23 5.86
50 5.98 6.30 8.24 9.24 10.68 10.91 10.99 10.00 8.46 7.45 6.100 5.65

P - monthly percentage of hours of bright sunshine in the year. 28

 Exercise

• Estimate the PET of an area for season November

to February in which wheat is grown (using
Blaney Criddle) . The area is at altitude of 30oN
with mean monthly To as below
Month Nov Dec Jan Feb

Tem(oF) 61.7 55.4 51.8 58.1

29
 Penman’s Equation
• semi-empirical yet based on a physical approach
• potential evapotranspiration is calculated based on the principles of both energy budget
and mass-transfer approaches to
(   H    Ea )
PET 
(   )
Has two components:
1. radiation and
H  H a (1  r ) (0.29 cos   0.55n / N )  Ta4 (0.56  0.092 ea ) (0.10  0.9n / N )
2. humidity and ventilation 1

u  u z 2z
  7

E a  0.002187 (160  u2 ) (es  ea )  

2 




Ea is the drying power of air which includes wind velocity and saturation deficit and is
estimated form the relation
Ha is the daily net radiation in mm of evaporable water/extraterrestrial solar radiation/
30
 Penman’s method
where
• u2 is the mean wind speed in km/day measured 2 m above the ground
• es is saturation vapour pressure at mean air temperature in mm Hg (Table3.2 )
• ea is actual vapour pressure in the air in mm of mercury
• Ha is the extraterrestrial solar radiation received on a horizontal surface in mm of
evaporable water per day (Table3.5)
r = 0.15 - 0.25 close ground crops
•  is the latitude of the place
• r is the reflection coefficient r = 0.05 - 0.45 for bare land

r = 0.05 water surface

• n is the actual duration of bright sunshine which is a function of latitude and is an
observed data at a place
• N is the maximum possible hours of bright sunshine available at different location
(Table3.4)
•  is the Stefan-Boltzman constant = 2.01 x 10-9 mm/day
• Ta is the mean air temperature in oK = (273 + 0C)
•  the slope of the saturated vapour pressure vs. temperature curve at mean air
temperature (table)
•  is psychometric constant whose value is 0.49 mmHg/0C or 0.66 mb/0C 31
 Table3.2 – ew & A
Temperature Saturation vapour pressure ew Slope of plot between
(1) and (2)
Saturation vapour (oC)
A
mmHg) mbar
pressure of water

(1) (2) (3) (4)

0.0 4.58 6.11 0.30
5.0 6.54 8.72 0.45
7.5 7.78 10.37 0.54
10.0 9.21 12.28 0.60
12.5 10.87 14.49 0.71
15.0 12.79 17.05 0.80
17.5 15.00 20.00 0.95
20.0 17.54 23.38 1.05
22.5 20.44 27.95 1.24
25.0 23.76 31.67 1.40
27.5 27.54 36.71 1.61
30.0 31.81 42.42 1.85
32.5 36.68 48.89 2.07
35.0 42.81 57.07 2.35
37.5 48.36 64.46 2.62
40.0 55.32 73.14 2.95
42.5 62.18 84.23 3.25 32
45.0 71.20 94.91 3.66
 Table3.4 - N
Mean daily maximum duration of bright sunshine hour N for different month and latitudes
N Lat Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
S Lat July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March April May June

50 8.5 10.1 11.8 13.6 15.4 16.3 15.9 14.5 12.7 10.8 9.1 8.1

48 8.8 10.2 11.8 13.8 15.2 16.0 15.6 14.3 12.6 10.9 9.3 8.3

46 9.1 10.4 11.9 13.5 14.9 15.7 15.4 14.2 12.6 10.9 9.5 8.7
44 9.3 10.5 11.9 13.4 14.7 15.4 15.2 14.0 12.6 11.0 9.7 8.9
42 9.4 10.6 11.9 13.4 14.6 15.2 14.9 13.9 12.9 11.1 9.8 9.1
40 9.6 10.7 11.9 13.3 14.4 15.0 14.7 13.7 12.5 11.2 10.0 9.3

35 10.1 11.0 11.9 13.1 14.0 14.5 14.3 13.5 12.4 11.3 10.3 9.8

30 10.4 11.1 12.0 12.9 13.6 14.0 13.9 13.2 12.4 11.5 10.6 10.2

25 10.7 11.3 12.0 12.7 13.3 13.7 13.5 13.0 12.3 11.6 10.9 10.6

20 10.0 11.5 12.0 12.6 13.1 13.3 13.2 12.8 12.3 11.7 11.2 10.9

15 11.3 11.6 12.0 12.5 12.8 13.0 12.9 12.6 12.2 11.8 11.4 11.2

10 11.6 11.8 12.0 12.3 12.6 12.7 12.6 12.4 12.1 11.8 11.6 11.5

5 11.8 11.9 12.0 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.3 12.3 12.1 12.0 11.9 11.8

0 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1 12.1
33
 Table3.5 - Ha
Mean Monthly Solar Radiation Incident on Earth's Outer Space (Extra Terrestrial Radiation), Ha in
mm of Evaporable Water per day

North Latitude in Degrees

Month 0o 100 200 300 400 500 60o 70o 800 90o
Jan. 14.5 12.8 10.8 8.5 6.0 3.6 1.3 - - -

Feb. 15.0 13.9 12.3 10.5 8.3 5.9 3.5 1.1 - -

Mar. 15.2 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.0 9.1 6.8 4.3 1.8 -

Apr. 14.7 15.2 15.2 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.1 9.1 7.8 7.9

May 13.9 15.0 15.7 16.0 15.9 15.4 14.6 13.6 14.6 14.9

Jun. 13.4 14.8 15.8 16.5 16.7 16.7 16.5 17.0 17.8 18.1

Jul. 13.5 14.8 15.7 16.2 16.3 16.1 15.7 15.8 16.5 16.8

Aug. 14.2 15.0 15.3 15.3 14.8 13.9 12.7 11.4 10.6 11.2

Sep. 14.9 14.9 14.4 13.5 12.2 10.5 8.5 6.8 4.0 2.6

Oct. 15.0 14.1 12.9 11.3 9.3 7.1 4.7 2.4 0.2 -

Nov. 14.6 13.1 11.2 9.1 6.7 4.3 1.9 0.1 - -

Dec. 14.3 12.4 10.3 7.9 5.5 3.0 0.9 - - - 34

 Example
Using Penman’s formula calculate the consumptive use of rice for the month of February. Take
the following data
Wind velocity measured at 2 m height = 30 km/day
Elevation of the area = 220 m
Relative humidity for February = 50%
Latitude = 22 0N
Mean monthly temperature = 16 0C

35
 Exercise
• Calculate the potential evapotranspiration from an area in
the month of November by Penmans formula the following
data are available
• Latitude ------------ 280N
• Elevation--------230m
• Mean monthly temperature-------19oC
• Relative humidity----------75%
• Wind velocity at 2m height-------85km/day
• Nature of surface cover -----close ground green crop
• Mean observation sun shine hours------9h

Estimate the daily evaporation from the lake if albedo 36

 Thornthwaite Formula
• purely empirical based on eastern USA

• uses only mean monthly temp. with adjustment of day-lengths

• PET is given by:

a
 10T 
ET  1.6 La  
 Te 
E = monthly PET in cm  
T
La = adjustment for the no. of hrs of daylight & days in the month, related to latitude (Table)

T = mean monthly air temp. in oC

T = the total of 12 monthly values of heat index

e

12
Te   i where i  (T / 5)1.514 foreachmonth
1
a : an empirical constant

a = 6.75x10-7T 3 – 7.71x10-5T 2+ 1.792x10-2T + 0.49239 37

e e e
38
 3.5.2Estimation Evapotranspiration using
experimental measurement
A. Evaporation pan
B. Lysimeter
C. Field experimental plot direct measurment
D. Water balance

39
 Lysimeter
• Measures change in weight of an isolated, preferably undisturbed, soil sample with
overlying vegetation (if present) while measuring precipitation to and drainage from
the sample.

hE = hP + I- hQ,u - ΔhS - R

hE [mm] evaporation height

hP [mm] height of precipitation
hQ,u [mm] discharge height (underground) (C)
ΔhS [mm] change in storage(B & A)
R [mm] Runoff (D)
I [mm] Irrigation
40
Field experimental plot
Evapotranspiration = [precipitation + irrigation
input – runoff – increase in soil storage
- groundwater loss]

Water balance
Precipitation = Evapotranspiration + surface runoff +
sub-surface drainage + change in soil moisture
contents.
41