Evapotranspiration - The Water Cycle

Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation from the land surface plus transpiration from
plants. Precipitation is the source of all water.
Credit: Salinity Management Guide

What is evapotranspiration?

If you search for the definition of evapotranspiration, you will find that it
varies. In general, evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and
transpiration. Some definitions include evaporation from surface-water
bodies, even the oceans. But, since we have a Web page just about
evaporation, our definition of evapotranspiration will not include evaporation
from surface water. Here, evapotranspiration is defined as the water lost to
the atmosphere from the ground surface, evaporation from the capillary
fringe of the groundwater table, and the transpiration of groundwater by
plants whose roots tap the capillary fringe of the groundwater table. The
banner at the top of this page offers an even more simple definition.

The transpiration aspect of evapotranspiration is essentially evaporation of

water from plant leaves. Studies have revealed that transpiration accounts
for about 10 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere, with oceans, seas,
and other bodies of water (lakes, rivers, streams) providing nearly 90
percent, and a tiny amount coming from sublimation (ice changing into
water vapor without first becoming liquid).

Transpiration: The release of water from plant leaves

After a plastic bag is wrapped around part of a plant, the inside of the bag becomes misty
with transpired water vapor.
Credit: Ming Kei College, Hong Kong

Just as you release water vapor when you breathe, plants do, too – although
the term "transpire" is more appropriate than "breathe." This picture shows
water vapor transpired from plant leaves after a plastic bag has been tied
around the stem for about an hour. If the bag had been wrapped around the
soil below it, too, then even more water vapor would have been released, as
water also evaporates from the soil.

Plants put down roots into the soil to draw water and nutrients up into the
stems and leaves. Some of this water is returned to the air by transpiration.
Transpiration rates vary widely depending on weather conditions, such as
temperature, humidity, sunlight availability and intensity, precipitation, soil
type and saturation, wind, and land slope. During dry periods, transpiration
can contribute to the loss of moisture in the upper soil zone, which can have
an effect on vegetation and food-crop fields.

How much water do plants transpire?

Plant transpiration is pretty much an invisible process. Since the water is

evaporating from the leaf surfaces, you don't just go out and see the leaves
"breathing". Just because you can't see the water doesn't mean it is not
being put into the air, though. One way to visualize transpiration is to put a
plastic bag around some plant leaves. As this picture shows, transpired
water will condense on the inside of the bag. During a growing season, a leaf
will transpire many times more water than its own weight. An acre of corn
gives off about 3,000-4,000 gallons (11,400-15,100 liters) of water each
day, and a large oak tree can transpire 40,000 gallons (151,000 liters) per
year.

Atmospheric factors affecting transpiration

The amount of water that plants transpire varies greatly geographically and
over time. There are a number of factors that determine transpiration rates:

 Temperature:Transpiration rates go up as the temperature goes up,

especially during the growing season, when the air is warmer due to
stronger sunlight and warmer air masses. Higher temperatures cause
the plant cells which control the openings (stoma) where water is
released to the atmosphere to open, whereas colder temperatures
cause the openings to close.
 Relative humidity: As the relative humidity of the air surrounding the
plant rises the transpiration rate falls. It is easier for water to
evaporate into dryer air than into more saturated air.
 Wind and air movement: Increased movement of the air around a
plant will result in a higher transpiration rate. Wind will move the air
around, with the result that the more saturated air close to the leaf is
replaced by drier air.
 Soil-moisture availability: When moisture is lacking, plants can
begin to senesce (premature ageing, which can result in leaf loss) and
transpire less water.
 Type of plant: Plants transpire water at different rates. Some plants
which grow in arid regions, such as cacti and succulents, conserve
precious water by transpiring less water than other plants.

Transpiration and groundwater

In many places, the top layer of

the soil where plant roots are located is above the water table and thus is
often wet to some extent, but is not totally saturated, as is soil below the
water table. The soil above the water table gets wet when it rains as
water infiltrates into it from the surface, But, it will dry out without
additional precipitation. Since the water table is usually below the depth of
the plant roots, the plants are dependent on water supplied by precipitation.
As this diagram shows, in places where the water table is near the land
surface, such as next to lakes and oceans, plant roots can penetrate into the
saturated zone below the water table, allowing the plants to transpire water
directly from the groundwater system. Here, transpiration of groundwater
commonly results in a drawdown of the water table much like the effect of a
pumped well (cone of depression—the dotted line surrounding the plant
roots in the diagram).

The hydrologic cycle dictates that precipitation either directly generates

surface runoff or is abstracted, which includes infiltration into groundwater
or interflow, evapotranspiration through plants, interception by vegetation,
or depression storage. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) defines
abstractions as “the collective term given to the various processes which act
to remove water from the incoming precipitation before it leaves the
watershed as runoff. These processes are evaporation, transpiration,
interception, infiltration, depression storage and detention storage.” (FHWA
1984, emphasis added). • Evaporation is the when solar energy vaporizes
water from water bodies, soil, and other source of water. • Transpiration or
evapotranspiration is the process by which plants remove soil moisture
through roots and release it back to the atmosphere. Evapotranspiration is
discussed in another companion memo, Item 3: Regional Hydrologic
Metrics- Precipitation. • Infiltration is a significant abstraction; infiltration is
discussed in a companion memo, Item 4: Infiltration. While
evapotranspiration is an important part of the hydrologic cycle and is critical
to reducing the antecedent moisture content of soil, thereby promoting
infiltration, evapotranspiration does not have a direct effect on abstraction
during a precipitation event. • Detention storage, as defined above by
FHWA, is storage required to generate overland flow, and is generally
treated as part of depression storage.
Water balance

n hydrology, a water balance equation can be used to describe the flow of water in and out of a
system. A system can be one of several hydrological domains, such as a column of soil or
a drainage basin. Water balance can also refer to the ways in which an organism maintains
[citation needed]

water in dry or hot conditions. It is often discussed in reference to plants or arthropods, which have a
variety of water retention mechanisms, including a lipid waxy coating that has limited permeability.

A general water balance equation is:[1]

P = R + E + ∆S
where
P is precipitation
E is evapotranspiration
R is streamflow
∆S is the change in storage (in soil or the bedrock / ground water)

This equation uses the principles of conservation of mass in a closed system, whereby any water
entering a system (via precipitation), must be transferred into either evaporation, surface
runoff (eventually reaching the channel and leaving in the form of river discharge), or stored in the
ground. This equation requires the system to be closed, and where it isn't (for example when surface
runoff contributes to a different basin), this must be taken into account.
Extensive water balances are discussed in agricultural hydrology.
A water balance can be used to help manage water supply and predict where there may be water
shortages. It is also used in irrigation, runoff assessment (e.g. through the RainOffmodel [2]), flood
control and pollution control. Further it is used in the design of subsurface drainage systems which
may be horizontal (i.e. using pipes, tile drains or ditches) or vertical (drainage by wells).[3] To
estimate the drainage requirement, the use of an hydrogeological water balance and a groundwater
model (e.g. SahysMod [4]) may be instrumental.
The water balance can be illustrated using a water balance graph which plots levels
of precipitation and evapotranspiration often on a monthly scale.
Several monthly water balance models had been developed for several conditions and purposes.
Monthly water balance models had been studied since the 1940s.[5]
 1) USWB Class A Evaporation Pan
o A pan of diameter 1210mm and depth 255mm
o Depth of water is maintained between 18 and 20cm
o The pan is made of unpainted GI sheet
o The pan is placed on a wooden platform of height 15cm above ground level to allow
free air circulation below the pan
o Evaporation is measured by measuring the depth of water in a stilling well with a
hook gauge

Figure: USGS Class A Evaporation Pan

(2) ISI Standard Pan
o Specified by IS:5973 and known as the modified Class A Pan
o A pan of diameter 1220mm and depth 255mm
o The pan is made of copper sheet 0.9mm thick, tinned inside and painted white
outside
o The pan is placed on a square wooden platform of width 1225mm and height
100mm above ground level to allow free air circulation below the pan
o A fixed point gauge indicates the level of water
o Water is added to or removed from the pan to maintain the water level at a fixed
mark using a calibrated cylindrical measure
o The top of the pan is covered with a hexagonal wire net of GI to protect water in
the pan from birds
o Presence of the wire mesh makes the temperature of water more uniform during
the day and night
o Evaporation from this pan is about 14% lower as compared to that from an
unscreened pan
 Figure: ISI Evaporation Pan
(3) Colorado Sunken Pan
o 920mm square pan made of unpainted GI sheet, 460mm deep, and buried into the
ground within 100mm of the top
o Main advantage of this pan – its aerodynamic and radiation characteristics are
similar to that of a lake
o Disadvantages – difficult to detect leaks, expensive to install, extra care is needed
to keep the surrounding area free from tall grass, dust etc

Figure: Colorado Sunken Pan

(4) USGS Floating Pan

o A square pan of 900mm sides and 450mm deep
o Supported by drum floats in the middle of a raft of size 4.25m x 4.87m, it is set
afloat in a lake with a view to simulate the characteristics of a large body of water
o Water level in the pan is maintained at the same level as that in the lake, leaving a
rim of 75mm
o Diagonal baffles are provided in the pan to reduce surging in the pan due to wave
action
o Disadvantages – High cost of installation and maintenance, difficulty in making
measurements

Pan Coefficient
Evaporation pans are not exact models of large reservoirs. Their major
drawbacks are the following:

– They differ from reservoirs in the heat storage capacity and heat transfer
characteristics from the sides and the bottom (sunken and floating pans aim
to minimise this problem). Hence evaporation from a pan depends to some
extent on its size (Evaporation from a pan of about 3m dia is almost the
same as that from a large lake whereas that from a pan of about 1m dia is
about 20% in excess of this).

– The height of the rim in an evaporation pan affects wind action over the
water surface in the pan. Also it casts a shadow of varying size on the water
surface.

– The heat transfer characteristics of the pan material is different form that
of a reservoir.

Hence evaporation measured from a pan has to be corrected to get the

evaporation from a large lake under identical climatic and exposure
conditions.

Lake Evaporation = Pan Coefficient x Pan Evaporation

Table: Values of Pan Coefficients

Sl. No. Types of Pan Average Value Range
 1 Class A Land Pan 0.70 0.60 – 0.80

2 ISI Pan (Modified Class A) 0.80 0.65 – 1.10

3 Colorado Sunken Pan 0.78 0.75 – 0.86

4 USGS Floating Pan 0.80 0.70 – 0.82

Evaporation pans are normally located at stations where other hydro-

meteorological data are collected

Evaporation Stations
WMO recommends the following values of minimum density of
evaporimeters

o Arid Zones – 1 station for every 30,000 sq.km

o Humid Temperate Zones – 1 station for every 50,000 sq.km
o Cold regions – 1 station for every 1,00,000 sq.km

A typical hydro-meteorological station has the following:

o Recording raingauge and non-recording raingauge
o Stevenson box with maximum, minimum, wet, and dry bulb thermometers
o Wind anemometer and wind vane
o Pan evaporimeter
o Sunshine Recorder etc

EMPIRICAL EQUATIONS
Most of the available empirical equations for estimating lake evaporation are
a Dalton type equation of the general form
(1) Meyer’s Formula

(2) Rohwer’s Formula

Accounts for the effect of pressure in addition to the wind speed effect

Wind Velocity
 In the lower part of the atmosphere, up to a height of about 500m above the
ground level, wind velocity follows the one-seventh power law as

Analytical Methods of Evaporation Estimation

1. Water Budget Method
2. Energy Budget Method
3. Mass Transfer Method

(1) Water Budget Method

can only be measured.

can only be estimated.

If the unit of time is kept very large, estimates of evaporation will be more
accurate. It is the simplest of all the methods, but the least reliable.

(2) Energy Budget Method

o It involves application of the law of conservation of energy
o Energy available for evaporation is determined by considering the incoming energy,
outgoing energy, and the energy stored in the water body over a known time
interval
o Estimation of evaporation from a lake by this method has been found to give
satisfactory results, with errors of the order of 5%, when applied to periods less
than a week
 Figure: Energy Balance in a water body

This is the energy balance in a period of 1 day. All energy terms are in
calories/ sq.mm/day.

If time periods are short, can be neglected as they are

negligibly small

All terms except can either be measured or evaluated indirectly

is estimated using Bowen’s ratio

Comparison of Methods
o Analytical methods can provide good results. However, they involve parameters
that are difficult to assess.
o Empirical equations can at best give approximate values of the correct order of
magnitude.

o In view of the above, pan measurements find wide acceptance in practice.