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
(net energy content
of incoming and
outcoming water -

Ee

Reflected solar
radiation - Rr
Energy used for
evaporation
(latent heat)- Ee

Sensible heat loss

from the water
body to the
atmosphere - Hn

Net long-wave radiation

exchange between the
atmospere and the water
body- R1

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
Ea Rt Rr Ee H n R1

2
cm - day

Ee

Rt

Rr

Ee

Hn

R1

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

Hv
day
g cal
Hv
596 0.52T - latent heat of vaporization
3
cm
T C - temperature 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
t

Precipitation - P
Evaporation- E

Inflow- Q

Surface runoff - Qr

Subsurface
runoff - Qs
Outflow- Q0

Subsurface seepage losses- Qd

Water budget method

Units:

ac - ft
E

month

Depth of evaporation:

in 12 E
E

nAp
day
*

mm 12(25.4) E
E

nAp
day
*

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 t
increases

 Example on water balance model

Mass transfer methods - definitions

17.3T
es [mb] 6.11 exp
;
T 237.3
es [mb]
es mm Hg
;
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 [C] 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)
Meyers 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

z2

ln
z1

T 459.4

 Example

Combination approach Penman equation

Combine mass-transfer and energy-balance equations
to derive an evaporation equation that does not require
water surface temperature data.
(14 24)

En Eao
Hw

mm
Hw

day

- evaporation

mm
En

day

- net radiation

mm
Eao

day

- mass transfer

Penman equation:

(14 14)

En Eao
Hw

e0 ea*
1
25,083
17.3T

exp

2
T0 T 1.36 T 237.3
T 237.3

[mm Hg/C] slope of the saturation vapor pressure curve at mean temperature
T0 [C] temperature of the water surface
T [C] temperature of the air
e0 [mm Hg] - vapor pressure of the water surface
ea* [mm Hg] - saturated vapor pressure at temperature T

Penman equation:

En Eao
Hw

En [mm/day] net radiation

g - cal
RI R B
Start with energy equation: Rn

2
cm day

Rn net radiation
RI amount of energy absorbed (shortwave)
RB net outward flow of longwave radiation

Penman equation:

En Eao
Hw

Rn RI RB

n
RI R A 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
RB T 273

1.1777 10

n
0.47 0.077 e 0.2 0.8
D

cal
cm 2 C 4 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 [C] air temperature

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

Penman equation:

mm
Rn
En
10

Hv
day

En Eao
Hw

net radiation

g - cal
Rn
net radiation

2
cm day
g - cal
Hv
596 0.52T - latent heat of vaporization
3
cm

Penman equation:

En Eao
Hw

g - cal
Rn

2
cm day
mm
Rn
En
10

Hv
day
g - cal
Hv
596 0.52T
3
cm
En net radiation
Rn net radiation
Hv latent heat of vaporization

Penman equation:

c p pa
0.62 H v

En Eao
Hw

(14 - 11)

c p specific heat of air at constant pressure

pa atmospheric pressure
g - cal
Hv
596 0.52T - latent heat of vaporization
3
cm

0.485 (typical value)

Penman equation:
mm
Eao

day

En Eao
H w (E)

- mass transfer (based on diffusivity law)

Ea 0 0.35 es e 0.2 0.55V

es mm Hg - saturated vapor pressure at air temperature Ta
e mm Hg - actual vapor pressure at air temperature Ta
V [m/sec] - wind spead at 2 m height

Penman equation:

mm
En Eao
Hw

- evaporation

day
E acre - ft - total evaporation
mm
1 1
E acre - ft H w
n days Area acres

12 25.4
day

example

Measuring evaporation

Irrigated lysimeter

PE = Rainfall + Irrigation - Percolation

Atmometer

U.S. Weather Bureau Class A Pan

4 ft

Wooden
support

10 in
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
Historical records of daily pan evaporation
are available from the National Climatic
Data Center (NCDC) for U.S. Weather
Buruau Class A Land pans.

Evaporation Pan
We are not really interested in what
evaporates from a pan; instead we want to
know the regional evaporation from land
surface or the evaporation from a nearby
lake. Unfortunately, pan evaporation is
often a poor indicator of these variables
(due in part to pan boundary effects and
limited heat storage).

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.

Pan coefficient
FIGURE 2. Source:
Farnsworth,
Richard K., Edwin
S. Thompson, and
Eugene L. Peck.
After Map 4: Pan
Coefficients.
In NOAA Technical
Report NWS 33,
Evaporation Atlas
for the Contiguous
48 United States,
NWS, NOAA, 1982.

evapotranspiration from satellite data

When a surface evaporates, it looses energy and
cools itself. It is that cooling that can be observed from
space. Satellites can map the infrared heat radiated
from Earth, thus enabling to distinguish the cool
surfaces from the warm surfaces.

winter

summer