In the name of ALLAH the Most Gracious

the Most Merciful

 Engineering Hydrology
Evapotranspiration

Maj Ali Khan

Phases of Water
Intramolecular Forces
Versus
Intermolecular Forces
?
Intermolecular Forces/ Hydrogen Bond
Intermolecular Forces/ Hydrogen Bond
Kinetic Energy

• KE is kinetic energy in Joules

• m is mass
• v is velocity in m/sec
• k is a proportionality constant
• T is kelvin temperature
Intermolecular Forces
Vs
Kinetic Energy
• Balance between the kinetic
energy of the individual particles and
the intermolecular forces define the
state of a substance
• Kinetic energy keeps the molecules
apart and moving around, and is a
function of the temperature of the
substance
• Intermolecular forces are attractive
forces that try to draw the particles
together
 Evaporation

• Process by which water is changed from the liquid or solid

state into the gaseous state through the transfer of heat
energy

• 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)
Factors affecting Evaporation from Open Water
Surface
1. Meteorological
a) Energy (mostly solar)
b) Wind
c) Temperature at the air-water interface
d) Humidity in the overlying air
2. Geographical
a) Water quality
- saline water has a reduced vapor pressure, and therefore
evaporation decreases about 1% for every 1% increase in
salinity. Normally a small consideration
- turbidity of the water can affect the heat budget, but generally
not considered
b) Depth of water body
c) Size of the water surface / surface area
 Additional Factors Specific to Soil

a) Soil moisture content

- Soil is different than open water surface because opportunity for
evaporation is not always 100%, can be more or less
- evaporation decreases as the soil surface dries, therefore more
rain is evaporated in small frequent storms than in large infrequent
storms
b) Soil capillary characteristics
- capillary rise is affected by soil texture: Less in sandy soils, more in
clay soils
c) Water table depth
d) Soil color - darker soils absorb more heat
e) Presence of vegetation - shading effects
f) Snow cover
 Estimation Methods Of Evaporation

• Using Evaporimeters
• Empirical Equations
• Analytical Methods
 Evaporimeters

• Land Pans
• Floating Pans
• Colorado Sunken Pan
• Piche Evaporimeter
 Evaporation Pans
(i) Floating pans (made of GI) of 90 cm square and 45 cm deep are mounted
on a raft floating in water. The volume of water lost due to evaporation in the
pan is determined by knowing the volume of water required to bring the level of
water up to the original mark daily and after making allowance for rainfall, if
there has been any.
 Evaporation Pans
(ii) Land pan Evaporation pans are installed in the vicinity of the
reservoir or lake to determine the lake evaporation. The Land pan is
usually 122 cm diameter and 25.5 cm deep, made of unpainted GI;
and set on wood grillage 10 cm above ground to permit circulation of
air under the pan. The pan has a stilling well, vernier point gauge, a
thermometer with clip and may be covered with a wire screen. The
amount of water lost by evaporation from the pan can be directly
measured by the point gauge. Readings are taken twice daily at 0830
and 1730 hours. The air temperature is determined by reading a dry
bulb thermometer kept in the Stevenson’s screen erected in the
same enclosure of the pan. A totalizing anemometer is normally
mounted at the level of the instrument to provide the wind speed
information required. Allowance has to be made for rainfall, if there
has been any. Water is added to the pan from a graduated cylinder to
bring the water level to the original mark, i.e., 5 cm below the top of
the pan.
Evaporation Pans
 Evaporation Pans
(iii) Colorado sunken pan: This is 92 cm square and 42-92 cm
deep and is sunk in the ground such that only 5-15 cm depth projects
above the ground surface and thus the water level is maintained
almost at the ground level. The evaporation is measured by a point
gauge.
 Evaporation Pans

Piche Evaporimeter
It is usually kept suspended in a
Stevenson screen. It consists of a
disc of filter paper kept constantly
saturated with water from a
graduated glass tube. The loss of
water from the tube over a known
period gives the average rate of
evaporation. Though it is a simple
instrument, the readings obtained
are often more erratic than those
from standard pans.
 Pan Coefficient

Evaporation pan data cannot be applied to free water surfaces

directly but must be adjusted for the differences in physical and
climatological factors. For example, a lake is larger and deeper and
may be exposed to different wind speed, as compared to a pan. The
small volume of water in the metallic pan is greatly affected by
temperature fluctuations in the air or by solar radiations in contrast
with large bodies of water (in the reservoir) with little temperature
fluctuations. Thus, the pan evaporation data have to be corrected to
obtain the actual evaporation from water surfaces of lakes and
reservoirs, i.e., by multiplying by a coefficient called pan coefficient
and is defined as:
Pan coefficient = Lake evaporation / Pan evaporation
 Empirical Equations

• Dalton type equation

• Meyer’s Formula
• Rowers’ Formula
• Wind Velocity
 Dalton’s Law of Evaporation
The rate of evaporation is a function of the differences in vapor
pressure at the water surface and in the atmosphere, and the
Dalton’s law of evaporation is given by

A more general form is given by

where K′, a, b = constants and V = wind velocity.

Higher the temperature and wind velocity, greater is the

evaporation, while greater the humidity and dissolved salts,
smaller is the evaporation.
Meyer’s Formula
Rower’s Formula
Wind Velocity
 Analytical Equations

• Water Budget Method

• Energy Budget Method
Water Budget Method
Energy Budget Method
 Comparison of Methods
• Analytical methods can provide good results. But they involved
parameters that are difficult to assess
• Empirical equations can at best give approximate values of the
correct order of magnitudes
• In view of the above, Pan estimation finds wide acceptance in
practice.
 Measures to Reduce Lake Evaporation

• Storage reservoirs of more depth and less surface area

• By growing tall trees on the windward side of the reservoirs to act
as wind breakers
• By spraying certain chemicals or fatty acids and formation of films
• By removing the water loving weeds and plants like Phreatophytes
from the periphery of the reservoir.
• By straightening the stream-channels the exposed area of the
water surface
• By providing mechanical coverings
• By developing underground reservoirs
 Transpiration
• Transpiration is the evaporation occurring through plant leaves
(stomatal openings). It is the process by which the water vapor
escapes from the living plant leaves and enters the atmosphere.
• 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
 Transpiration Measurement

• It consists of a closed watertight tank with sufficient soil for plant

growth with only the plant exposed; water is applied artificially till
the plant growth is complete. The equipment is weighed in the
beginning (W1) and at the end of the experiment (W2). Water
applied during the growth (w) is measured and the water
consumed by transpiration (Wt) is obtained as:
• The experimental values (from the protected growth of the plant in
the laboratory) have to be multiplied by a coefficient to obtain the
possible field results.
 Transpiration Ratio

Transpiration ratio is the ratio of the weight of water absorbed

(through the root system), conveyed through and transpired from a
plant during the growing season to the weight of the dry matter.

For the weight of dry matter produced, sometimes, the useful crop
such as grains of wheat, gram, etc. are weighed. The values of
transpiration ratio for different crops vary from 300 to 800 and for
rice it varies from 600 to 800, the average being 700.
 Evapotranspiration

• 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

• In practice, the terms E and Et are often used to mean the

same thing - the evaporation from the land surface.

Potential Evaporation (PE)

• It is the climate-controlled evaporation from an open water
surface with unlimited supply.

Potential Evapotranspiration (Ept)

• It is the Et that would occur from a well vegetated surface
when moisture supply is not limiting (often calculated as the
Ept). Actual evapotranspiration (AEt; Et) drops below its
potential level as the soil dries.
• It is usually expressed as a depth (cm, mm) over the area
 Evapotranspiration Measurement

(i) Tanks and lysimeter experiments

(ii) Field experimental plots
(iii) Installation of sunken (colarado) tanks
(iv) Evapotranspiration equations (Lowry-
Johnson, Penman, Thornthwaite, Blaney-
Criddle, etc.)
(v) Evaporation index method, i.e., from
pan evaporation data as developed by
Hargreaves and Christiansen