Evaporation Examples
(1) Energy Balance Method
On 24 January 2013, in the Upper Brushy Creek watershed, the net radiation averaged over the day
from the National Land Data Assimilation System, is 52 W/m2. The average air temperature through the
day is 17°C. Compute the corresponding potential evaporation rate using the energy balance method.
Solution
The potential evaporation by the Energy Balance method is given by Eq. (3.5.10):
𝑅𝑛 𝑅𝑛
𝐸𝑟 = =
𝜌𝑤 𝑙𝑣 𝐿
Where L = 𝜌𝑤 𝑙𝑣 is the Latent Heat factor given in Table 1. For a temperature of 17°C, the corresponding
factor is L = 28.89 (W/m2)/(mm/day). Hence, the potential evaporation by the energy balance method
for a net radiation of 52 W/m2 is:
𝑅𝑛 52
𝐸𝑟 = = = 1.80 𝑚𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝐿 28.89
Temp Water Density Latent Heat
(°C) (kg/m3) (J/kg) L (W/m2) /(mm/day)
0 1000 2500000 28.94
5 1000 2499988 28.94
10 1000 2499976 28.93
15 999 2499965 28.91
20 998 2499953 28.88
25 997 2499941 28.85
30 996 2499929 28.82
35 994 2499917 28.76
40 992 2499906 28.70
Table 1. Latent heat factor, L as a product of water density and latent heat, in units of mm/day.
(2) Aerodynamic Method
On 24 January 2013, the observed climate data at Austin Bergstrom Airport data are: temperature 17°C,
relative humidity 83%, and wind speed 0.9 m/s. Determine the potential evaporation by the
aerodynamic method.
Solution
The potential evaporation by the aerodynamic method, Ea, is given by Eq. (3.5.17) in which es is the
saturated vapor pressure corresponding to the air temperature and e is the actual vapor pressure.
1
𝐸𝑎 = 𝐵(𝑒𝑠 − 𝑒)
and the wind function B (mm/day Pa) is given by Eq. (3.6.1)
𝑢
𝐵 = 0.0027 (1 + )
100
where u is the 24-hour wind run in km/day.
For these conditions, the average wind velocity is 0.9 m/s, which corresponds to a 24-hour wind run of u
= 0.9*24*3600*(1/1000) = 77.8 km/day. Hence
77.8 𝑚𝑚
𝐵 = 0.0027 (1 + ) = 0.0048 ( )
100 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑃𝑎
The saturated vapor pressure for a temperature of 17°C is given by Eq. (3.2.9)
17.27𝑇 17.27 ∗ 17
𝑒𝑠 = 611 𝑒𝑥𝑝 ( ) = 611 𝑒𝑥𝑝 ( ) = 1938 𝑃𝑎
237.3 + 𝑇 237.3 + 17
and the actual vapor pressure is given by the product of the saturated vapor pressure and the relative
humidity
𝑒 = 𝑒𝑠 𝑅𝑛 = 1938 ∗ 0.83 = 1608 𝑃𝑎
The vapor pressure deficit is given by the difference between these two vapor pressures:
𝑒𝑠 − 𝑒 = 1938 − 1608 = 330 𝑃𝑎
The evaporation by the aerodynamic method is then calculated as the product of the wind function and
the vapor pressure deficit:
𝐸𝑎 = 𝐵(𝑒𝑠 − 𝑒) = 0.0048 ∗ 330 = 1.58 𝑚𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
(3) Combination Method
Determine the potential evaporation using the Combination Method.
Solution
This method balances the values from the Energy Balance and Aerodynamic methods assuming that
neither of these is completely governing. The potential evapotranspiration is given by Eq. (3.5.26)
∆ 𝛾
𝐸𝑜 = 𝐸𝑟 + 𝐸
∆+𝛾 ∆+𝛾 𝑎
Where the term is the gradient of the saturated vapor pressure versus temperature function, given by
Eq. (3.2.10):
2
4098𝑒𝑠 4098 ∗ 1938 𝑃𝑎
∆= 2
= 2
= 122.8
(237.3 + 𝑇) (237.3 + 17) °C
and the psychrometric constant, , for a temperature of 17°C is taken from Table 2 as = 66.5 Pa/°C.
The sum of these two quantities is given by + = 122.8 + 66.5 = 189.3 Pa/°C
Hence the evaporation by the Combination Method is given by:
∆ 𝛾 122.8 66.5
𝐸𝑜 = 𝐸𝑟 + 𝐸𝑎 = ∗ 1.80 + ∗ 1.58 = 1.73 𝑚𝑚/𝑑𝑎𝑦
∆+𝛾 ∆+𝛾 189.3 189.3
Temp °C ϒ(Pa/°C)
0 65.4
5 65.8
10 66.1
15 66.4
20 66.7
25 67.0
30 67.4
35 67.7
Table 2. Psychrometric constant, taken from Table 4.2.1 Handbook of Hydrology (Maidment, 1993)
