Engineering Hydrology

for the Masters Programme

Water Science and Engineering

3 Evaporation
Prof. Dr. Stefan Uhlenbrook
Professor of Hydrology
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
Westvest 7
2611 AX Delft
The Netherlands
E-mail: s.uhlenbrook@unesco-ihe.org

Acknowledgements
for the material used in this lecture
Dr. Pieter de Laat, prof. Huub Savenije, UNESCO-IHE, Delft,
The Netherlands
(wrote the course note; some pictures)
Prof. Tim Link, Idaho, USA
(some PPT slides and pictures)
Prof. Chris Leibundgut, University of Freiburg
(some PPT slides and pictures)

Evaporation - Basics
Huge energy transfer to the atmosphere (latent heat);
condensation generates sensible heat
Often estimated by solving the water balance (uncertain!)
Very important variable of water balance, as worldwide about
75% of continental precipitation evaporates; in Europe 60% 85%
Most difficult variable to estimate for a whole catchment
including its space-time variability
Good estimations are needed for water balance studies,
water resources assessments, effective agriculture and
forestry, ecology etc.
Sensitive to global changes: Climate change, deforestation,
urbanisation, change of CO2 in atmosphere etc.

Some Global Estimates Blue-Green

Water Flows

percentages

Consumptive water use by terrestrial ecosystems as seen in a global perspective

(Falkenmark in SIWI Seminar 2001).

Objectives of this Lecture

Coupled Water-Energy Balance
Processes of evaporation
Measurement of evaporation
Estimation of evaporation

Incoming Solar Radiation

Exoatmospheric Radiation: ~1376 W m-2
~50% to 95% of radiation reaches the surface

(Solar constant;
not really constant!)

Radiation Balance (simplified!)

Net radiation RN :

(neglecting storage of heat below the surface)

R N 1 r Rs R nL

What will happen ?

Desert

Lake

Earths Energy Budget

Coupled Energy and Water Cycle

Surface Energy Balance

Incoming Energy = Outgoing Energy + D Storage
per time step
Rn = lvE + H + G + DS/Dt
Rn: Net radiation
lE: Latent heat (= evapotranspiration; Etotal)
H: Sensible heat
G: Soil heat flux
DS/Dt: Change in storage
Assuming G and DS/Dt to be negligible:
Rn = lE + H

Coupled Water-Energy Balance

Watershed mass-balance
P = Q + E + DS/Dt

Know this!!

Surface energy-balance
Rn = H + lvE + G + DS/Dt

Know this!!

Net Solar Radiation (Snet)

Snet = Sin Sout
Sout = Sin (a)
Snet = Sin(1 a)

Albedo (a) is the reflection coefficient (a := Sout / Sin )

Sin

Sout

Snet

Typical Albedo Values

Surface

Albedo (%)

Water
Dry soil
Wet soil

5-10
20-35
8-15

Grass
Dense spruce forest

15-30
5-10

Mixed conifer/hardwood
Hardwoods
Fresh snow
Old snow

10-15
15-20
80-95
40-70

Objectives of this Lecture

Coupled Water-Energy Balance
Processes of evaporation
Measurement of evaporation
Estimation of evaporation

Evaporation and
Transpiration
Processes
Free-water evaporation
Open water surfaces
Lakes, rivers, vegetation
surfaces (interception),
soil surface

Transpiration
Roots Stem Leaves
Stomata Atmosphere

Symbols and Terminology

(all values in mm per time step)
Evaporation
E0 :
Es :
EI :

open water evaporation (often the reference E)

evaporation from soil
interception evaporation

Transpiration
ET :

transpiration of living plants (and animals/humans)

Evapotranspiration := sum of all E-fluxes

Epot : potential evapotranspiration (no moisture shortage)
Eact : actual evapotranspiration (can be lower than Epot
depending on moisture availability)

Free Water Evaporation

Lakes, soil, saturated canopy - function of:

Available Energy
Vapor Gradient
Atmospheric Conductance
Albedo

Transpiration additional function of:

Stomatal conductance

A note about resistance (R)

and conductance (C):

1
R
inverse quantities!
C

Transpiration
Process by which water vapor escapes
from living plants and enters the atmosphere
It includes water which has transpired
through leaf stomata

Very Difficult to Measure

Usually Lumped in with Total Evaporation
Evapotranspiration but Total Evaporation is the preferred term

Transpiration Process
Consider the structure of a leaf
Cuticle
Epidermis
Mesophyll

High Vapor Pressure

H2O
H O
H2O 2
H2O
H2O

Epidermis

H2O

Cuticle

H2O

Stomatal Pore

Water vapor exits

when pore is open to let
carbon in (photosynthesis)

H2O

Low Vapor Pressure

Resistance Analogs
RH<100%
Atmospheric
Conductance

RH=100%

Open Water

Relative
humidity

RH<100%
Atmospheric
Conductance
Stomatal
Conductance

Leaf
RH=100%

Evaporation from Soil

If saturated, behaves like water
Depending on solar energy and vapor pressure of air
Occurs normally for 1 to 3 days max
Depending on weather and soil conditions and characteristics

If surface not saturated:

100%
Evap. rate

Evaporation in soil profile

Air in soil pores ~es

Bare Soil

Soil w/ Litter
0%
Time (days) 0

10

15

Comparison of forested and deforested

areas
Average annual water balances in forested and deforested areas in %
(Baumgartner, 1972).
P = Precipitation
Etotal = ES + EI + ET
R = Runoff
ES = Soil evaporation
EI = Interception evaporation
ET = Transpiration

Expressed in % of Etotal

Etotal

ES

EI

ET

Forests

100

52

48

29

26

45

Open
land

100

42

58

62

15

23

(from lecture notes, De Laat & Savenije 2008)

Energieflsse

Challenges for understanding and

estimating TRANSPIRATION

Very different for different plants

Density and geometry of stomata and canopy
Stomatal mechanics are bio-chemically controlled
Environmental feedbacks:

Solar irradiance
Air temperature
Vapor pressure deficit
Soil moisture
CO2 in the atmosphere

ETC!!

Evapotranspiration (ET)
combination of Evaporation and Transpiration
Potential (PET): A theoretical rate of ET when all
surfaces have unlimited water supply
Depends on surface albedo (% of energy reflected) and
other meteorological parameters as well as the vegetation

Actual (AET): The true rate of ET, of most interest to

water managers
Depends on plant, soil, and soil water properties and soil
water availability

Often done in practice: estimate PET for a defined

land use and adjust with a crop coefficient (k)
Consumptive use: mainly an irrigation term
describing the actual (seasonal) consumption

Some PET and AET values

PET from open water

Tropical regions
Mediterranean area
Humid temperate area
Cold humid or mountainous

(in mm/a)

15003000 mm/a
10001500 mm/a
550800 mm/a
300 mm/a or less

Comparison Eact (= AET) and Epot (= PET)

for cropped surface vs. bare soil

Fig. 3.1 Relative evapo(transpi)ration from an initially wet

(bare and cropped) surface during a rainless period.

Estimation of ET using crop factors

ETpot k c ETref
In various handbooks crop factors kc are tabulated in relation to a
particular ETref . The reference evaporation is often taken as the
evaporation of an open water surface, Eo neglecting the storage of heat. In
The Netherlands potential evapotranspiration of grass may then be
estimated from

ETpot 0.8 Eo for the summer period

ETpot 0.7 Eo for the winter period
This shows that the crop coefficient, kc is time-variant. FAO defines ETref
as the potential evapotranspiration of short grass. It has to be noted that a
different definition of ETref results in a different set of crop factors.

Terminology and Processes

Some Terminology
Interception: The process by which precipitation falls on
vegetative surfaces and is stored there.
Gross rainfall (R): The rainfall measured above canopy or in
open areas.
Direct Throughfall (Rd): Proportion of rainfall that passes
through the canopy without being detained (free throughfall).
Canopy Throughfall (Rc): Proportion of rainfall that contacts
the canopy before reaching the ground; can have different
chemistry than Rd.
Stemflow (Rs): The water that reaches the ground surface by
running down trunks and stems; can have different chemistry
than Rd.
Net Throughfall (Rt): The rainfall that reaches the ground
surface directly through canopy spaces, by canopy drip, and
stemflow.

Terminology continued
Canopy Interception Loss (Ec): Water that evaporates from
the canopy.
Litter Interception Loss (El): Water that evaporates from
debris and litter (in forests often 0.02 to 0.05R).
Total Interception Loss (E): canopy + litter evaporation

Canopy Characteristics
Storage Capacity (S): The depth of water that can be
detained on a plant surface [0.5 5.0 mm, higher for conifers
(up to 8 mm) or for solid precipitation (up to >25 mm)].
Direct Throughfall Coefficient (p): Rd = R * p

Drainage Coefficient (b): Proceeds at exponential rate

relative to canopy saturation and reaches maximum (S).

100

95

Gum Springs watershed

Through fall %

90

85

Ridge-top stand
80

75

70

Through fall as % of Storm Precipitation

Oak-Hickory Stands in Missouri Ozark

65
0

Jewitt, 2008

25

50

75

Storm Size (mm)

100

125

150

INTERCEPTION
The initial processes that affect precipitation prior to ponding
and infiltration.

Interception represents a hydrologic loss

to the system (But, is loss the right word??)

10% - 40% of gross rainfall annually!

Can have large seasonal variations

Much more variable over short-term periods
(event time scale) <0% to ~100%
Highly dependent on rainfall frequency

Negative interception ?!
Fog/cloud interception and condensation can be significant

Reduces rainfall intensity, but can increase it locally

(channelizing of throughfall) and, thus, can increase
erosion
Significant water storage (and loss) in snow-dominated
systems
Voluminous quantities of literature are available

Interception represents a hydrologic

loss to the system (plan-soil-water system)

Interception reduces transpiration

Evap rate > transpiration in forests with large interception
Evap rate ~ almost transpiration (or less) in grasslands
Why? (Higher interception in forests compared to grassland)

Throughfall chemistry
Dry deposition, thus increase of SO4, NO3, Cl, Ca, K, etc.
Leaching from leaves (mainly organic C)

Effects on other biological processes

Epidemiology of fungal pathogens
Duration of leaf wetness key, but difficult to measure
Significant heterogeneity of wetting/drying within
canopies

INTERCEPTION - VEGETATION CHARACTERISTICS

Interception capacity is a function of
Growth form: trees, shrubs, grasses

coniferous trees intercept 25-35% of annual precipitation

deciduous trees intercept 15-25% of annual precipitation, but just as

much as coniferous trees during the growing season

grasses have high interception capacity during the growing but then
either die (annual plants) or lose mass (perennial plants); also they
are grazed and harvested (spring wheat intercepts 11-19% of
precipitation before harvest)

Jewitt, 2008

Brief Note on
Stemflow
Stemflow, Rs, is generally low

(from A. Rodhe, Sweden)

Conifers: <1% of gross precipitation

Smooth barked trees: up to 5% gross

precipitation; depends on geometry and
structure of canopy etc.
May play important role in nutrient delivery
Big pain to measure, relative to canopy
interception

Objectives of this Lecture

Coupled Water-Energy Balance
Processes of evaporation
Measurement of evaporation
Estimation of evaporation

Measuring Etotal
Water Balance
Measure precipitation and streamflow (ignoring dS/dt !!)
E=PR
Examples: Precipitation in a catchment is 1000 mm/a, water yield is 600
mm/a, so E is 400 mm/a; ignoring storage changes (note, accumulation of
errors!!)

Micro-meteorological measurements
Evaporation Pan
Measure daily rate of water drop in tank
Estimate: E = kp x Epan
(determining pan coefficient kp is difficult)

Lysimeters: Buried tanks growing with plants

Measure precipitation in and drainage out
and/or weigh tank

Evaporation pan: Class A pan

Evaporation pan: Class A pan

Class A pan

Class A pan

(Picture from Prof. Peter Troch)

Measuring evaporation of a lake

Estimation of evporation using a

Class A pan (simple example)
In a floating class A plan the water height at day one was at 6 AM
is 210 mm, and at the next morning (also at 6 AM) the water level
was estimated to a depth of 220 mm. During that day a
precipitation event of 15 mm occured. What was the evaporation?

E P h w
E 15 mm/d 10 mm/d
E 5 mm/d
Note: To calculate the evaporation from a Class A pan located on
the land surface, the pan coefficient needs to be considered (oasis
effect).

Eref k pan E pan

The coefficient varies between 0.35 and 0.85 depending on time

scale (day, month, or year), climate, soils etc.

Weight according
to Wild

Piche-Evaporimeter

Lysimeter Set-up

Fig. 3.7 Lysimeter with controlled water table

Lysimeter: pros and cons

Excellent measurement of real E, in
particular if a weighted lysimeter is used

But,
Point measurement and regionalisation to
catchment scale is difficult
Soil column often not undisturbed (not
natural)
High experimental effort; costly in particular
for weighted lysimeters (the most useful
type!)

Estimation of ET using a lysimeter

The only real measurement of ET from land!

Po percsoil Ssoil
Ea
t
Ea:

Actual/real ET [mm d-1]

Po:

Precipitation at the ground [mm]

percsoil:

Percolation out of the soil column [mm]

DSsoil:

Change of soil water content during

time step Dt [mm]

Dt:

time step [d]

Estimation of ET using a lysimeter

(a simple example)
The following variables were measured within 24
hours (7 AM 7 AM): Precipitation 10 mm,
percolation 1 mm, and change of soil water content 3
mm (increase of soil water).

Po percsoil Ssoil
Ea
t
10 mm 1 mm 3 mm
Ea
1d
Ea 6 mm/d

Measurement of
through fall

Throughfall
Measurement

Measurement of
stem flow

Stemflow Measurement

Objectives of this Lecture

Coupled Water-Energy Balance
Processes of evaporation
Measurement of evaporation
Estimation of evaporation

Evaporation Estimation
Depends on:
Climate
1.

Net radiation (atmosphere, albedo, exposition, topography

etc.); energy is the most important parameter
VPD (relative humidity)
Temperature (more correctly temperature on evaporating surface:

2.
3.

soil, water surface, or leaf)

4.
5.

Wind speed, transporting saturated air masses away

Soil water status/supply (moisture storage capacity)

Vegetation Characteristics
6.
7.

Height, canopy, roughness (atmos. conductance)

Species, age (stomatal conductance)

Response to environmental variables

Estimating Evaporation
Some examples for widely used formulae
Thornthwaite
PET of grass cover
Uses Ta, heat index

SCS Blaney-Criddle
Uses Ta, day length, crop and geographical coefficients

Jensen-Haise
Uses T, Sin, VP, elevation

. there are many, many more empirical formulae (see text

books or course note)!
Penman-Monteith (most physically based approach)

Often used to calculate reference vegetation ET

Uses climate and vegetation characteristics
Widely accepted to be appropriate for different land uses
Has many parameters, thus needs many observations

Example: Results of the application of the

Thornthwaite formula
(for details see lecture notes)
Mansoura, Egypt
Tn
oC
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

13.3
14.0
16.3
19.6
24.4
26.1
26.6
27.0
25.8
22.9
19.9
15.2

J
(-)
4.4
4.8
6.0
7.9
11.0
12.2
12.5
12.8
12.0
10.0
8.1
5.4

EP
Dn
mm/month d
26.4
30.1
42.7
66.0
111.2
130.2
135.6
141.1
126.2
95.8
68.8
36.5

31.0
28.0
31.0
30.0
31.0
30.0
31.0
31.0
30.0
31.0
30.0
31.0

Nn
hr
10.4
11.1
12.0
12.9
13.6
14.0
13.9
13.2
12.4
12.0
10.6
10.8

J = 107.0, a = 2.4
Table 3.6 Example computation of ETTHORN

E
E
mm/month mm/d
23.7
26.0
44.2
71.0
130.2
151.9
162.3
160.3
130.4
98.9
60.8
34.0

0.8
0.9
1.4
2.4
4.2
5.1
5.2
5.2
4.3
3.2
2.0
1.1

Average = 3.0

Comparison of different empirical

methods to estimate evaporation

Open water evaporation: Equation of Penman

C sR N c p a e s ed / ra
Eo
L
s
Eo open water evaporation in mm/d
C Conversion constant
RN net radiation at the earth surface in W/m2
L latent heat of vaporization (L = 2.45*106 J/kg)
s slope of the temperature-saturation vapour pressure curve
(kPa/K)
es saturation vapour pressure deficit (kPa)
ed actual vapour pressure deficit (kPa)
psychrometric constant ( = 0.067 kPa/K)
cp specific heat of air (cp = 1004 J/kg/K)
a air density (a = 1.2047 kg/m3 at sea level)
ra aerodynamic resistance (s/m), which is function of windspeed U2

245
ra
0.54 U 2 0.5

Open water evaporation:

Equation of Penman
C sR N c p a e s ed / ra
Eo
L
s
Required meteorological data (24 hour means at 2 m height):
Ta
RH
U2
n/N

temperature of the air

relative humidity or actual vapour pressure
windspeed
relative sunshine duration or radiation

Evapotranspiration ET
Penman - Monteith equation
C sR N c p a e s ed / ra
ET
L
s 1 rc ra
ra
rc

aerodynamic resistance (s/m)

crop resistance (s/m)

For a soil amply supplied with water rc reaches a minimum value and
Eact = Epot
Example aerodynamic resistance of grass:
Minimum value crop resistance grass
(crop well supplied with water)
rc = 70 s m-1

208
ra
U2

Penman-Monteith Equation
Standard for estimating potential evapotranspiration (FAO).
Suitable to directly estimate potential evapotranspiration, if the
crop resistance is known (the one-step method), but it may
also be used for estimating the reference crop evaporation in
the two-step method.
Definition of the reference crop:
The reference evapotranspiration, ETref, is defined as the rate
of evapotranspiration from a hypothetical crop with an
assumed crop height (12 cm) and a fixed canopy resistance
(rc = 70 s.m-1) and albedo (r = 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. With
crop coefficients this ETref can be adjusted for other land uses.

Modelling total Eact using the Penman-Monteith

approach in a mountainous catchment
(Ott and Uhlenbrook, 2004, HESS)

Modelling of Eact on a hourly base at a sunny

summer day

(Ott, Uhlenbrook 2004, HESS)

Mean annual PET for grass for Germany

(German Hydrological Atlas)
Input parameters:
sunshine duration
air temperature
Calculated for every raster
cell on monthly basis and
summed up.
Min: in elevated areas (prealpine and alpine mountains) =
350-400 mm a-1
Max: Upper Rhine valley =
>650 mm a-1

Difficulties to estimate areal ET

Irrigation

Land use change Deforestation

Land use and land use change Urbanisation

Land use Intensive Agricultural Production

Take Home Messages

Coupled water-energy balance; evaporation is the
link!
Differentiate between the processes/variables: Etotal,
ES, EI, ET, ET, ETref, ETact, ETpot and different rainfall
components in vegetated areas
Note, importance and effects of interception
Measurement of evaporation is difficult (i.e. different
devices and techniques)
Penman/Penman-Monteith equation is most accurate
method to estimate evaporation (but needs a lot of
input data ); it is a physically based method
Areal estimation (space time variability!) of
evaporation is even more difficult (i.e. different
methods)

A note on units
Heat Fluxes are expressed in units of:
E L-2 T-1 (e.g. J m-2 s-1)
-orEnergy per unit area per unit time (e.g. W m-2)
-orPower per unit area
The SI unit of Power is the Watt (W)
The SI unit of Energy is the Joule (J)
note: 1J = 1W x 1s