Agricultural

watermanagement
ELSEVIER

Agricultural

Water Management

28 ( 1995) 9-2 1

Penman-Monteith, FAO-24 reference crop

evapotranspiration and class-A pan data in Australia
F.H.S. Chiew *, N.N. Kamaladasa, H.M. Malano, T.A. McMahon
Department #Civil

and Environmental

Engineering, University
Australia

Accepted

10 November

of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria 3052,

1994

Abstract
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) methods are recognisedas the international standard
for estimating reference crop evapotranspiration
(ET,). The Penman-Monteith
method is currently
favoured by the FAO over the FAO-24 methods. The FAO also recommends alternative methods
which may be used where there are limited data. In this paper, ET, estimated using the PenmanMonteith and FAO-24 methods and class-A pan data for 16 Australian locations with a wide range
of climate conditions are compared. The analyses indicate that the FAO-24 Penman ET, estimates
are generally 20 to 40% higher than the Penman-Monteith
estimates. However, the FAO-24 Radiation
and Penman-Monteith
methods give similar daily ET, estimates. Unlike Penman-Monteith,
which
also requires windspeed data, the FAO-24 Radiation method estimates ET, from temperature and
sunshine hours, climate variables which are relatively conservative in space. The FAO-24 Radiation
method can thus be used as a surrogate for Penman-Monteith
to estimate daily ET, for areas where
windspeed data are not available. The FAO-24 Blaney-Criddle method, which uses only temperature
data, gives similar monthly ET, estimates as Penman-Monteith,
and is therefore adequate for applications where only long-term ET, estimates are required. The comparisons also show that there is a
satisfactory correlation between class-A pan data and Penman-Monte&h ET, for evaporation totals
over 3 or more days. However, the pan coefficient is very dependent on local climate and physical
conditions, and it should be determined by comparing the pan data with either the Penman-Monteith
or FAO-24 Radiation ET, estimates.
Keywords:

Reference crop evapotranspiration;

Penman-Monteith;

Pan evaporation;

FAO-24; Australia

1. Introduction
The estimation
of crop water requirement
is an important
agricultural
water research,
management
and development.

component
The Food

* Tel.: +61 3 344 6644. Fax: +61 3 344 6215. Email: fchs@engineering.unimelb.edu.au
0378.3774/95/$09.50
0 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
SSDIO378-3774(95)01172-2

in irrigation and
and Agriculture

10

F. Clziew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

Organisation (FAO)-24 methodology (Doorenbos and Pruitt, 1977) is considered as the

international standard for predicting crop water requirement and has been extensively used
worldwide by irrigation engineers, agronomists and hydrologists. The first step in the FAO
methodology considers the effect of climate by calculating the reference crop evapotranspiration (ET,,) which is defined in FAO-24 as the rate of evapotranspiration
from an
extensive surface of 8 to 15 cm tall, green grass cover of uniform height, actively growing,
completely shading the ground and not short of water. Crop coefficients and other factors
which depend on the crop characteristics and local conditions are then used to convert ET,
to the crop water requirement. This paper addresses only the estimation of ET,,.
The FAO-24 report (Doorenbos and Pruitt, 1977) recommends four methods for esti(temperamating ET, depending on data availability -Penman, radiation, Blaney-Criddle
ture) and pan evaporation. However, recognising that much research has been carried out
since 1977, the FAO established an expert consultation in 1990 to revise the methods
proposed in FAO-24. One of the main recommendations
by the expert consultation (Smith
et al., 1992) is to replace the FAO-24 Penman method with the Penman-Monteith
method.
According to FAO- 1992 (Smith et al., 1992), Penman-Monteith
gives more consistent ET,,
estimates and has been shown to perform better than other ET,, methods when compared
with lysimeter data. The standardisation
of certain parameters in the Penman-Monteith
equation requires a revision of the FAO-24 ET,, definition. The FAO- 1992 Penman-Montieth defines ET, as the the rate of evapotranspiration
from a hypothetic crop with an
assumed crop height ( 12 cm) and a fixed canopy resistance (70 s m- ) and albedo (0.23)
which would closely resemble evapotranspiration
from an extensive surface of green grass
cover of uniform height, actively growing, completely shading the ground and not short of
water .
There are two parts to this paper. In the first part, ET, totals over different time periods
estimated by the various methods for 16 Australian locations are compared. The aim here
is to assess how the various methods compare with what is now considered to be the standard
FAO Penman-Monteith
ET,, method. In the second part, the relationship between PenmanMonteith estimates and class-A pan data is assessed. The climate data required to use
Penmans combination equation are not always available and, often, ET, is approximated
as a factor (pan coefficient) times standard evaporation pan reading. The second part of
this paper thus investigates whether pan data can be used successfully as a surrogate for
Penman-Monteith
ET,. Based on the analysis for these locations, appropriate methods for
estimating ET, given the data availability, are discussed.

2. Data and method of computation

2.1. Climate data
Daily data recorded at 16 climate stations by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology are
used for this study. The locations are given in Fig. 1 while Table 1 summarises the average
climate characteristics. The spatial distribution provides a representation of the wide range
of climate conditions throughout Australia. Fourteen years of data ( 1976-1989) are used
for Mount Isa and Laverton, 16 years ( 1974-1989) for Sydney and 17 years of data ( 1973-

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural Water Management 28 (199.5) 9-21

11

Fig. 1. Locations of climate stations.

1989) are used for Cobar and Tamworth while the other 11 stations have 20 years of data
( 1970-1989). The data used are: maximum and minimum temperatures; average, maximum
and minimum relative humidities; wind speed and ratio of day time to night time wind;
sunshine hours; class-A pan evaporation.
The daily totals of sunshine hours, pan evaporation, wind run (below 3 m) and the
maximum and minimum temperatures are recorded directly by the Bureau. The humidity
and ratio of daytime to night-time wind are compiled by analysing the Bureaus 3-hourly
instantaneous readings. They are computed only if there are more than four instantaneous
readings over one day. Cloud cover data are used to infill the missing sunshine hours data
using the regression equations given in Chiew and McMahon ( 1991). Apart from sunshine
hours, other missing data are not infilled and days with missing data are not used for the
analysis. There are three locations with more than 3% missing pan data. However, there is
generally less than 1% missing data in the other climate variables.
2.2. Computation

of ET,

The equations used by the various methods to estimate ET, are summarised in Table 2
and the data requirements are given in Table 3. The psychrometric terms (e,, ed, A, -y) are

12

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

Table 1
Average climate characteristics of the 16 locations used for this study
LOCXiO"

Altitude

Annual

Maximum

Minimum

Mea

Mea

Ratio of

Ratio of

Mean daily

(m)

rainfall

daily

daily

daily

daily

day time

sunshine

class-A pan

(mm)

temperature

temperature

relative

wind

to night-

hours to

evaporation

(C)

(C)

humidity

speed

time

maxi-

(mm)

(km
day-)

wind

mum
possible
daylength

Alice

33

18

540

280

Brisbane

40

1200

Cairns

2000

27
Canberra

570

630

25
15

Ceduna

20

310

27

14

0.41

181

5.1

0.78

10.3

Springs
24
28

20

Giles
Halls Creek
Lawton

220
580
410
20

410
260
510
570

5.3

0.82

5.7

92

2.5

0.60

5.3

12

0.71

70

2.2

0.69

3.4

31

23

0.78

204

1.8

0.53

6.4

19

0.74

251

1.5

0.67

5.7

11

0.66

191

2.9

0.64

6.5

0.77

197

2.2

0.59

2.8

0.63

328

1.8

0.72

8.3

0.70

258

1.7

0.66

4.2

31

17

0.46

208

1.8

0.75

9.4

19

0.64

176

1.8

0.72

3.9

34

21

0.35

237

1.3

0.76

12.2

24

11

0.42

194

1.5

0.84

6.1

36

23

0.50

165

4.0

0.69

9.6

31

16

0.37

151

3.1

0.88

8.2

24

12

0.69

284

1.8

0.56

6.1

0.78

264

1.5

0.47

2.7

2.4

0.56

5.4
2.1

16
Mount

138

0.74

23

20
Cobar

0.50

60

720

23

10

0.71

265

15

0.82

266

1.6

0.46

340

420

35

22

0.45

200

2.4

0.74

10.1

28

13

0.41

187

2.3

0.87

7.4

28

17

Gambier
Mount Isa
Perth

20

800

20
Sydney

10

1100

0.60

114

1.6

0.77

6.6

0.72

83

1.8

0.61

3.0
6.1

25

17

0.73

321

1.9

0.56

19

10

0.71

262

2.0

0.64

3.7

14

0.58

201

3.0

0.71

7.8

0.68

174

2.2

0.7 1

3.5

0.43

246

1.6

0.75

12.7

Tamworth

400

670

21

Tennant

380

430

35
28

16

0.36

249

1.4

0.88

10.0

170

200

31

17

0.44

283

1.3

0.78

11.0

20

0.60

222

1.6

0.74

4.9

I7
23

Creek
Woomem

For each location, first row is November-April

averages (summer-half)

and second row is May-October averages (winter-half)

for the period of data used in the study

calculated from temperature and humidity records and the radiation terms are calculated
using sunshine hours data. To be consistent, all the variables in Table 2 are computed using
the equations and procedures recommended in the FAO- 1992 report.

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Table 2
Equations

for computing

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

reference crop evapotranspiration

13

(in mm day-)

Penman-Monteith
0.408A(R,, - G) + $O;7$I(e,

- ed)

A + $1 + 0.34U)

FAO-24 Penman
c[O.4O&R,,
A+Y

FAO-24 Radiation

FAO-24
Blaney-Criddle

FAO-24 Pan

- G) + 2. 7L(1
A+r

+ 0.864U)(e,, - ed)]

c depends on shortwave radiation, maximum relative humidity, daytime wind speed and
ratio of daytime to night-time wind.
c[O.408WR,]
W depends on temperature and altitude
c depends on mean relative humidity and daytime wind speed.
c[p(0.46T+ S)]
p is daily percentage of total annual daytime hours and depends only on the latitude and
time of year.
c depends on minimum relative humidity, sunshine hours, and daytime wind speed.
c [pan reading]
c is a pan coefficient. FAO-24 provides recommended values depending on long-term
average of mean relative humidity, wind speed and distance of windward side of green
crop.

R, is net radiation at crop surface (MJ m- day-). R, is shortwave radiation (MJ m- day-). G is soil heat
flux (MJ m- day-).
7is average daily temperature (C). (I is wind speed at 2 m above ground surface (m
s- ). e, is saturation vapour pressure at air temperature (kPa). e,, is actual air vapour pressure (kPa) A is slope
of saturation vapour pressure/temperature
curve (kPa C-). y is psychrometric constant (kPa C- ).

Although daily ET, is calculated using daily data, the correction factor (6 in Table 2)
is computed with the procedures outlined in FAO-24 using monthly averages (i.e. average
of all the daily values in the month) of the climate conditions. The daily data are not used
directly because in many cases there are insufficient daily data (e.g. there may only be one
or two instantaneous night-time wind speed record for the day) to provide a meaningful
representation of the terms required to calculate the correction factor. As monthly averages
are used to calculate the correction factors, the FAO-24 radiation method requires only
continuous daily temperature and shortwave radiation data and the Blaney-Criddle
method
estimates ET, using essentially only temperature data. The Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24
Penman methods, however, require various types of temperature, relative humidity, windspeed and radiation data.
2.3. Methods for assessing correlation
Three dimensionless coefficients based on the following statistical measure are used in
this study to assess the correlation between the various ET, estimates

14

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-2I

k(X;-X)- ~(x;-ki)2
;= I

;=I

(1)

k (xi-x>
i=l

where X is the mean of the X values.

The linear regression is commonly used to describe the association between two variables,
X and Y (e.g. ET, and pan data). Here, Xi in Eq. ( 1) is given by ( Xi = a + bYi) where a
and b are the intercept and gradient, respectively, of the line of best fit relating X and Y and
the statistical measure in Eq. ( 1) is then called the coefficient of determination, R.
In assessing the agreement (and not only the association) between the variables X and Y
(e.g. ET, values computed using two different methods), Xi in Eq. ( 1) should be set to (
Xi = Yi) and the statistical measure in Eq. ( 1) is now called the coefficient of efficiency, E.
Thus, while R2 provides an indication of the closeness of the data points to the line of best
fit, E gives an indication of the closeness of the data points to the 1: 1 line in the X-Y plot.
One other measure is defined here where the line of best fit is forced through the origin
(e.g. a single pan coefficient to relate ET, and pan data). Here, Xi is given by ( Xi = gYi)
where g is the gradient of the straight line forced through the origin and, for the purpose of
this study, the statistical measure for this relationship will be called the coefficient of
determination for regression line forced through the origin, Rz.
A value of R2, E or Rg close to unity indicates a high degree of association or agreement
Table 3
Climate data requirements

Average daily
temperature
Maximum
temperature
Minimum
temperature
Average relative
humidity
Maximum relative
humidity
Minimum relative
humidity
Total wind speed
Ratio of day/night
wind
Daytime wind
Sunshine hours

for the Penman-Monteith

and FAO-24 methods

PenmanMonteith

FAO-24
Penman
(Cl)

FAO-24
corrected
Penman

FAO-24
radiation

FAO-24
BlaneyCriddle

Y
Y
Y

Y
Y

Y
Y

Y indicates that continuous recorded data are required. y indicates that only estimated data are required. In general,
estimates of long-term conditions may be used.

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

IJ Blaney-Criddle
L
2
4
6
8
10
Penman-Monte&h ETo (mm/day)

-2

4
6
8
Penman-Monteith ETo (mm/day)

Fig. 2. Comparisonof average monthly ET, (for the 16 locations) estimatedusing Penman-Monteith

and FAO-

24 methods.

between the two

can take negative
line of best fit is
of best fit passes

variables. The value of R2 is always between 0 and 1, whereas E and Rz

values. The value of E or R: is always smaller than R2 except when the
Y=X, in which case all three coefficients are the same, or, when the line
through the origin, the values of Rz and R* are the same.

2.4. Computation of ET, using climate averages over different time periods
The total ET, for more than 1 day can be calculated using the average climate condition
over the period as recommended by FAO or as the sum of ET, computed for the individual
days. However, the comparison of 5-day, lo-day and monthly ET,, values calculated using
average climate conditions over the period and the total daily ET, values over the same
period indicate that there is little difference between the two ET,, estimates. Analysis using
all data for the 16 locations and ET, estimated using the Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24
methods indicate that the coefficient of efficiency relating ET, calculated using the two
different approaches always exceeds 0.95. Therefore, in the following comparisons, ET, is
computed using only either daily data or monthly averages. The 3-day, 5-day and lo-day
ET, values quoted in the following discussion are simply totals of daily ET, values over the
period.

3. Comparison of Penman-Monteith

and FAO-24 ET, estimates

The plots in Fig. 2 compare the average monthly ET, for the 16 locations estimated using
Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24 methods. Table 4 summarises the agreement between the
ET, values estimated using the Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24 methods given by the
coefficient of efficiency, E.
Analyses of the results indicate that although there is a high correlation between PenmanMonteith and FAO-24 Penman (R* in excess of 0.9 for all locations), the actual values of
the two estimates are very different. The values of E relating Penman-Monteith
and FAO-

16

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management

28 (1995) 9-21

Table 4
Coefficient of efficiency (E) which provides a measure of the agreement between ET, values estimated
Penman-Monteith
and the FAO-24 methods (summary of values for the 16 locations)
Penman (c= I)

Corrected

E jtifbrcorrelation ofmonthly values

Mean
0.25
0.06
Median
0.42
0.33
Lowest
- 1.4
- 2.4
(Cairns)
(Cairns)
Highest
0.8 1
0.79
(Mt Isa)
(Mt Isa)
Ejor correlation ojdaily values
Mean
0.44
0.34
Median
0.48
0.46
Lowest
-0.20
- 0.73
Highest
0.81
0.80

Penman

using

Radiation

Blaney-Criddle

Pan

0.80
0.90
0.22
(Halls Ck)
0.97
(Laverton)

0.93
0.97
0.55
(Halls Ck)
1.0
(Laverton)

0.75
0.88
0.01
(Tennant Ck)
0.97

0.71
0.80
0.22
0.9 I

(Sydney)
0.58
0.71
- 0.33
0.90

E values in first column are for Penman-Monteith/FAO-24

Penman (c= 1) correlations, E values in second
column are for Penman-Monteith/FAO-24
corrected Penman correlations, E values in the third column are for
Penman-Monteith/FAO-24
radiation correlationsand so on.

24 Penman (both for c = 1 and for values corrected for wind and humidity conditions) are
less than 0.5 at almost all locations. The FAO-24 Penman estimates are generally 2&40%
higher than the Penman-Monteith
estimates (see Fig. 2). This is consistent with the comparison presented in the FAO-1992 report.
There is reasonably good agreement between the Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24 radiation methods although, on average, the radiation method ET, estimates are lO-20% higher
than the Penman-Monteith
estimates (see Fig. 2). The values of E for correlation of daily
and monthly ET, estimated using the two methods are greater than 0.6 at 13 of the 16
locations. Despite the high degree of empiricism in the Blaney-Criddlemethod,
the monthly
Blaney-Criddle
ET, estimates are similar to Penman-Monteith,
with the E values for
monthly correlations between the two methods exceeding 0.8 at 15 of the 16 locations. The
FAO does not recommend the Blaney-Criddle
method for estimating daily ET,. The plots
in Fig. 3 show comparisons of Penman-Monteith,
FAO-24 radiation and Blaney-Criddle
ET, estimates for two selected sites with E values of about 0.75 (about the average of E
values at the 16 locations). In general, the correlations between the different methods are
highest in autumn and lowest in winter when errors associated with the low evapotranspiration rates are high.
The values of E for correlation of monthly ET, estimated using Penman-Monteith
and
the FAO-24 methods are plotted against the mean annual rainfall and mean relative humidity
in Fig. 4. Although the various methods (in particular, the radiation method) should show
better agreement in wetter and more humid regions where the aerodynamic term in computing ET, is less important, this is not evident from the analysis using this data set. In fact,
the plots in Fig. 4 suggest that both the radiation and BlaneyCriddle
monthly ET, estimates
are similar to the Penman-Monteith
estimates even in the drier regions.
The radiation method estimates ET, from daily temperature and shortwave radiation (or
sunshine hours) data, climate variables which are relatively conservative in space and can

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

17

Monthly ETo for Cairns

of Penman-Monteith,

Blaney-Criddle

8
2
4
6
Penman-Monte&h ETo (mm/day)

5
10
15
20
0
Penman-Monteith ETo (mm/day)
Fig. 3. Typical comparisons

FAO-24 Radiation and FAO-24 Blaney-Criddle

be transferred some distance with minimal error. Although net

recorded by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, shortwave
limited number of sites. Unlike Penman-Monteith,
the radiation
windspeed data, information which can vary considerably over

ET, estimates.

radiation is not officially

radiation is recorded at a
method does not require
short distances and is not

(negative E values are plotted as zero)

c
II

$3
g Y 0.2EX
5.2

OG

3 Q)

0.0

>:

X
I

-L

SO

gt;
1.0
>
0 ,x
g$
0.8 -

1500
1000
500
Mean annual rainfah (mm)
B
0
fl +x

nl

X
+

2000
q

Blaney-Griddle

rp=
+a

+B

+=
++

Fig. 4. Coefficient of efficiency (E) for correlation of monthly ET, estimated using Penman-Monteith
FAO-24 methods plotted against mean annual rainfall and mean relative humidity.

and the

I8

F. Chew et al. /Agricultural

Water Munagernent 28 (1995) 9-21

readily available at all standard Australian climate stations. As such, in areas where wind
data are limited, the FAO-24 radiation method can be used as a surrogate for PenmanMonteith to estimate daily ET,. The FAO-24 Blaney-Criddle
method, which uses only
monthly temperature data (and long-term average humidity, windspeed and radiation information), gives similar monthly ET, estimates as Penman-Monteith,
and is therefore adequate for applications where only long-term ET, estimates are required.
The FAO-24 Pan ET, is calculated as the class-A pan data multiplied by the pan coefficient
derived (from long-term wind and humidity information) using the procedure in the FAO24 report. Although the pan coefficient is very dependent on local climate and physical
conditions, the FAO-24 Pan ET, estimates show reasonable agreement with the PenmanMonteith estimates, with the daily correlations (E) exceeding 0.6 at 12 of the 16 locations.
However, at three locations, the E values for daily correlations are less than zero and the E
values for monthly correlations are less than 0.2. The Penman-Monteith/FAO-24
pan
correlations are also poorer than the Penman-Monteith/FAO-24
radiation correlations.
Thus, while the pan coefficient should always be calibrated for local conditions against the
Penman-Monteith
(or FAO-24 Radiation) ET,, estimates, the analyses here suggest that
where data are limited, the FAO-24 tables can be used to determine reasonably accurate
pan coefficient values for some locations.

4. Class-A

pan evaporation

and Penman-Monteith

ET,,

Two methods are used to assess the association between class-A pan data and PenmanMonteith ET,, estimates; line of best fit (ET, = a + b PAN) and regression line forced through
the origin (ET, =g PAN). Data over the four seasons are also considered separately. The
comparisons are carried out for daily, 3-day, 5-day and IO-day totals. The analyses indicate
that R* for the line of best fit and Rz for the regression line forced through the origin are
practically the same, except in winter and for daily totals, where R* is generally lO--15%
greater than R$ As the use of an additional parameter (intercept and gradient as opposed
to the gradient alone) does not improve the correlation significantly, only the latter method
is considered in the following discussion. It is also physically more meaningful to use the
regression line forced through the origin compared with the line of best fit. This is because
the use of an intercept in the line of best fit may imply that there is a finite (or even negative)
value of ET, even when the pan reading is zero. In addition, the magnitude of the intercept
would vary considerably for ET, totals over different time periods. The regression line
forced through the origin also follows the concept of pan coefficient.
The plot in Fig. 5 illustrates the correlation, Rz, of the relationship, Penman-Monteith
ET, = g PAN, for evapotranspiration
totals over different time periods for different seasons
at the 16 locations. Fig. 6 shows some typical comparisons of Penman-Monteith
ET, and
pan evaporation for daily and 3-day totals for summer and winter months. The correlations
are significantly lower during winter when evapotranspiration
is low compared with the
other seasons. In general, higher correlations are obtained for the higher values of evapotranspiration owing to a smaller percentage error associated with higher pan evaporation
readings.
The daily correlations (Rz) are generally less than 0.7 at most locations and, in winter,

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

(squares represent

19

average of the Ro2 values at the 16 locations)

1-day
3-day

mot xx

LXXX
X#<

S-day

XX_

mQooocm
xDcxxm
lo-day X
... .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .... . ... .. ... . .... .. ... .. .... ... .. ... ... ... ... .. .... . .. . .... .. ... ... ... ... .. .... ... .. ... ... ... . .. . ... ... ... .. ... ... ... . .. . ... ... . ... .. .,
xx

m
w

SC

>43(xx

XII
WX qXanu
x
x
X
a.
X
X
x x0=
.. . ... .. . .. . .. ... .. ... .. .. ... ... .. . .. .. ... .. ... ... ... ... .. .... ... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... . .. .. ... .. ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... ... .. ... .. .. . ... .. .. ... .. ... .
X
X
x
xx=xxKKx
xx
X
x
x=l3<nBoc
x
X
xx
XX13<#om
x
q XXocrr>o<x
X
z
xx
.. ... . .. ... . .. . .. ... .. ... .. .. ... ... .. ... .. .... . .. .. .... . .. . .... .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .... ... .. ... .... .. ... ... ... . .. .. .... . ... .. .... .. .. .. ... .. ..
xx

)I(

xrox##x
xx

xx
I

0.0

0.2

Coefficient

0.4

of determination

Fig. 5. Correlations for the regression

for the four seasons.

xaxrrx
xC3>o#cx
Wa_#KX

x
X

0.6

for regression

Penman-Monteith

0.8

1.0

line forced through the origin (Ro2)

ET,= coefficient times class-A pan for the 16 locations

2o 1Ceduna (Summer)

0
0

10

ETo = 0.61 PAN

&%I.78
N&O0

15

20

25

MI Gambier (Winter)

-0

Class-A
Fig. 6. Typical regressions
and winter.

pan evaporation

between Penman-Monteith

(mm/day)

ET, and class-A pan for daily and 3-day totals in summer

20

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Table 5
Gradient (pan coefficient)

Alice Springs
Brisbane
Cairns
Canberra
Ceduna
Cobar
Giles
Halls Creek
Laverton
Mount Gambier
Mount Isa
Perth
Sydney
Tamworth
Tennant Creek
Woomera

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

relating class-A pan data to Penman-Monteith

ET,

Summer ( Dee-Feb)

Autumn (Mar-May)

Winter (Jun-Aug)

Spring ( Sep-Nov)

0.62
0.78
0.69
0.67
0.68
0.65
0.61
0.67
0.72
0.75
0.67
0.73
0.74
0.69
0.58
0.63

0.61
0.75
0.74
0.65
0.68
0.64
0.57
0.63
0.69
0.76
0.65
0.67
0.72
0.68
0.56
0.63

0.6 1
0.66
0.69
0.61
0.69
0.68
0.56
0.60
0.69
0.81
0.65
0.64
0.67
0.7 1
0.56
0.64

0.64
0.74
0.69
0.68
0.70
0.66
0.63
0.62
0.73
0.80
0.65
0.77
0.74
0.69
0.57
0.66

the average of the daily correlations at the 16 locations is only 0.5. However, the correlations
improve considerably when the 3-day, 5-day and IO-day totals are considered (see Fig. 5).
Apart from winter, Rz for the 3-day totals exceed 0.7 at 13 of the 16 locations. Except for
winter at one location, the Ri values for the 3-day totals are always greater than 0.5. The
main reason for the higher correlations is the cancellation of positive and negative differences between daily estimates of Penman-Monteith
ET, and pan readings. Fig. 5 also shows
that the correlations of the 5-day and lo-day totals are similar to the correlations for the 3day totals.
The pan coefficients for the different seasons derived for the 16 locations are given in
Table 5. The coefficients are for 3-day totals, but there is little difference between the
coefficients for ET, totals over the different time periods. The pan coefficients also do not
vary considerably over the different seasons. However, the values for the different locations
can be quite different, highlighting the dependence of the pan coefficients on local conditions. The pan coefficients in Table 5 are generally between 0.6 and 0.75 with a mean value
of 0.65.
The ET, values calculated as ET, = g PAN, using the coefficients (g) in Table 5, are also
compared with the Penman-Monteith
ET, estimates to assess directly the agreement
between the two estimates. The mean value of E averaged over the 16 locations (presented
in a format similar to Table 4) for the daily correlations is E = 0.80 (lowest E = 0.59, median
E = 0.84, highest E= 0.89) and for the monthly correlation is E = 0.94 (lowest E = 0.85,
median E = 0.96, highest E = 0.98). The ET, values estimated using the above relationship
are therefore similar with the daily ET, values estimated using the FAO-24 radiation method
and the monthly ET,, values estimated using the FAO-24 radiation and Blaney-Criddle
methods (see Table 4).
The results suggest that class-A pan data can give satisfactory estimates of PenmanMonteith ET, totals over 3 or more days if a reliable pan coefficient is used. In deriving the

F. Chiew et al. /Agricultural

Water Management 28 (1995) 9-21

21

values in Table 5, some of the climate conditions affecting pan data have been inevitably
accounted for. As such, like the coefficients recommended by FAO-24, the values in Table
5 can also be used to guide selection of pan coefficients in these regions.

5. Conclusions
There are three main conclusions from this study where ET,, values estimated using
various methods and class-A pan evaporation for 16 Australian locations with a wide range
of climate conditions are compared. First, the Penman-Monteith
and FAO-24 Penman
methods give different ET,, estimates, with the FAO-24 Penman estimates being consistently
2&40% higher than the Penman-Monteith
estimates. Given that Penman-Monteith
is the
current standard method recommended
by FAO, ET, values calculated using FAO-24
Penman should therefore be used with caution.
Second, the FAO-24 radiation, FAO-24 Blaney-Criddle
and Penman-Monteith
give
similar monthly ET, estimates. The Blaney-Criddle
method, which uses only temperature
data (and some long-term average climate information), is therefore adequate for applications where only monthly estimates of ET, are required. The radiation method also gives
similar daily ET,, estimates as Penman-Monteith.
Unlike Penman-Monte&,
which also
requires wind data, the FAO-24 Radiation method estimates ET, from temperature and
sunshine hours, climate variables which are relatively conservative in space. The FAO-24
radiation method can thus be used as a surrogate for Penman-Monteith
to estimate daily
ET, for areas where wind data are not available.
Third, there is a satisfactory correlation between class-A pan data and Penman-Monteith
ET,, for evaporation totals over three or more days. However, pan data is useful only if an
accurate pan coefficient is used to relate the pan data to Penman-Monteith
ET,. The pan
coefficient is very dependent on local conditions and should be determined by comparing
the pan data with the Penman-Monteith
(or FAO-24 radiation) ET, estimates. As most
climate variables are relatively conservative in space, suitable pan coefficients may be
derived by comparing pan data and ET,, estimated using climate data from a nearby station.
In areas where climate data are not available, the FAO-24 tables can be used to guide the
selection of appropriate pan coefficient values.

References
Chiew, F.H.S. and McMahon, T.A., 1991. The applicability of Mortons and Penmans evapotranspiration
estimates in rainfall-runoff
modelling. Wat. Resour. Bull., 27(4): 61 l-620.
Doorenbos, J. and Pruitt, W.O., 1977. Guidelines for Predicting Crop Water Requirements. Food and Agriculture
Organisation of the United Nations, FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper 24, Rome, 143 pp.
Smith, M., Allen, R., Monteith, J.L., Perrier, A., Santos Pereira, L. and Segeren, A., 1992. Expert Consultation on
Revision of FAO Methodologies for Crop Water Requirements. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations (Land and Water Development Division), Rome, 60 pp.