C OLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

AND LIFE SCIENCES

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

AZ1194

Revised 01/14

Basics of Evaporation and Evapotranspiration

Paul Brown

Introduction

Local information on evapotranspiration (ET) is now readily

available from on-site weather stations and/or public weather
networks to assist turfgrass professionals with irrigation
management decisions. Proper utilization of ET information can
provide accurate estimates of daily water use and thus can assist
irrigation managers with the all important decisions of when to
apply water and how much water to apply. The concept of ET
can be confusing and often is presented in a highly technical
manner. The objective of this and subsequent bulletins in the
Turf Irrigation Management Series is to simplify the subject of ET
and thereby increase the effective utilization of ET in irrigation
management. This bulletin provides some basic background
on the related subjects of evaporation and evapotranspiration.

Water

Energy

Evaporation

Figure 1. Energy is required for evaporation.

Evaporation

Water can exist in the natural environment in three different

forms or states solid (ice), liquid and gas. The process by which
water changes from a liquid to a gas is known as evaporation. We
are all familiar with liquid water as we drink, bath and irrigate
with it daily. The gaseous form of water, known as water vapor,
is less familiar since it exists as an invisible gas. However, we
all have a feel for water vapor during the late summer months
when it is called by the more common name of humidity. To the
irrigation manager, the most important points about evaporation
are 1) it is the process by which most of the liquid water we apply
as irrigation leaves vegetation and 2) that evaporation requires
energy (Fig. 1).
Two common household items the clothes dryer and the
evaporative cooler clearly show the energy requirement of
evaporation. In the case of the dryer, a gas burner or an electric
heating element provides the heat energy required to evaporate
water from the wet clothes. The evaporative cooler works in
a somewhat opposite manner. Energy stored in the hot, dry,
outside air is consumed by the evaporation process as the air
passes through the wet pads. This energy consumption reduces
the temperature of the air and allows us to use evaporative
cooling as a means of air conditioning.
Energy is also required for evaporation to proceed from
vegetation. Meteorological conditions impact the amount of
energy available in the natural world and therefore play a
key role in regulating evaporation from vegetation. A more
detailed discussion of the impact of meteorological conditions
on evaporation is provided in the next section of this report.

Figure 2. Evapotranspiration (ET) is the loss of water (H2O) from vegetation

through the combined processes of soil evaporation and plant transpiration.

Evapotranspiration (ET)

Evaporation from vegetation is generally given a more specific

term evapotranspiration or ET for short. By definition, ET is
the loss of water from a vegetated surface through the combined
processes of soil evaporation and plant transpiration (Fig. 2).
The term evapotranspiration comes from combining the prefix
evapo (for soil evaporation) with the word transpiration. Both
soil evaporation and plant transpiration represent evaporative
processes; the difference between the two rests in the path by
which water moves from the soil to the atmosphere. Water lost by
transpiration must enter the plant via the roots, then pass to the
foliage where it is vaporized and lost to the atmosphere through
tiny pores in the leaves known as stomata. In contrast, water

lost through soil evaporation passes directly from the soil to

the atmosphere. Evapotranspiration data are usually presented
as a depth of water loss over a particular time period in a manner
similar to that of precipitation. Common units for ET are inches/
day or millimeters/day.

The rate of ET for a given environment (vegetation) is a

function of four critical factors. The first and most critical factor
is soil moisture. Evaporation (ET) simply can not take place if
there is no water in the soil. However, if adequate soil moisture
is available, three additional factors plant type, stage of plant
development and weather affect ET rate.
Plant type refers to the species or variety of plant being grown
and can greatly influence the rate of ET. Grass and many nonnative plants require considerable water when grown in the
desert. In contrast, many native plants are adapted to the desert
and require much less water.

Stage of plant development also plays a critical role in

determining ET. Plant development encompasses both the
relative activity of the plant (e.g. dormant vs. actively growing)
and plant size. For example, dormant plants use and therefore
need very little water, while lush, actively growing plants (under
similar conditions) will require considerably more water. Plant
size and density also impact ET. Small plants and areas with
sparse plant canopies use far less water than large plants and
areas with dense plant canopies.
Weather is the fourth and last of the critical factors affecting
ET. Weather conditions dictate the amount of energy available
for evaporation and therefore play a crucial role in determining
ET rate. Four weather parameters solar radiation (amount of
sunshine), wind speed, humidity and temperature impact the
rate of ET. Solar radiation contributes huge amounts of energy to
vegetation in the desert and thus is the meteorological parameter
with the greatest impact on ET on most days. In actuality, solar
radiation is one component of the total radiant energy balance
of vegetation referred to as net radiation. Invisible, infrared
radiation represents the other component of net radiation. On
most days, however, solar radiation is the dominant component
of net radiation because the infrared balance is negative and
often small.

Wind is the second most important factor in determining ET

rate. The wind has two major roles; first, it transports heat that
builds up on adjacent surfaces such as dry desert or asphalt to
vegetation which accelerates evaporation (a process referred
to as advection). Wind also serves to accelerate evaporation
by enhancing turbulent transfer of water vapor from moist
vegetation to the dry atmosphere. In this case, the wind is
constantly replacing the moist air located within and just above
the plant canopy with dry air from above.

Humidity and temperature work in concert with each other

to determine the dryness or drying power of the atmosphere.
The vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is the meteorological variable
used to quantify the drying power of the atmosphere. The
VPD estimates the difference (or gradient) in vapor pressure
(concentration of water vapor) between the moist vegetation
and the drier atmosphere above. Relative humidity, the humidity
variable most commonly reported in weather forecasts, is a poor
2

Figure 3. Schematic depicting how ETos is determined. Wind, solar radiation,

temperature and humidity data from a weather station are used as inputs to the
Penman Monteith Equation which, in turn, provides the ETos value.

indicator atmospheric dryness. For example, the drying power

(VPD) of an atmosphere with a 30% relative humidity and a 86F
temperature is 2 times that of an atmosphere with the same 30%
relative humidity and a 68F temperature.

The final parameter affecting ET rate is temperature. We

have already indicated that temperature impacts ET through
its impact on VPD and advection. In addition to these factors
temperature impacts ET is some more subtle ways. When all
other factors are equal, ET will be higher for warm as compared
to cool vegetation because less energy is required to evaporate
water from the warm vegetation. Temperature also impacts
the relative effectiveness of the radiant energy and wind in
evaporating water. Radiant energy is more effectively utilized
for ET when temperatures are high. In contrast, wind has more
impact on ET when temperatures are low.

Reference Evapotranspiration (ETo)

Reference ET (ETo) is defined as the ET rate from a uniform

surface of dense, actively growing vegetation having a specified
height and surface resistance (to transfer of water vapor), not
short of soil water, and representing an expanse of at least
100 m of the same or similar vegetation (Allen et al., 2005).
This definition leaves open the option of using more than one
reference surface when measuring or computing ETo. The
Arizona Meteorological Network has chosen to use the short crop
reference as defined by the American Society of Civil Engineers
which is equivalent to a 12-cm-tall, cool-season grass (e.g.,
fescue). Reference ET computed using a short crop reference
is abbreviated as ETos. In the real world, ETos is not routinely
measured but instead is computed using a meteorological model
known as the Penman-Monteith Equation (Allen et al., 2005).
Weather data are required for the computation of ETos (Fig. 3).
The four meteorological parameters used in the computation of
ETos are solar radiation, wind speed, temperature and humidity.

Because the ETos computation is always made for the same

reference surface (12-cm-tall, cool-season grass) three of the four
factors that can affect ET: crop type, stage of crop development
and soil moisture do not change and cannot affect the ETos
calculation. Only the fourth factor weather is allowed to

The University of Arizona - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - Cooperative Extension

Figure 4. Annual trend of solar radiation at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, AZ.

Figure 7. Annual trend of wind speed at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, AZ.

Figure 5. Annual trend of air temperature at Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix, AZ.

Figure 8. Annual trend of reference evapotranspiration (ETos) at Cave Creek Golf

Course in Phoenix, AZ.

vary in the computation process. One can therefore consider

ETos a measured of atmospheric (or environmental) demand
for water. Any difference in ETos between two days is caused
by changes in the weather, not changes in the reference surface
or soil moisture.

Figure 6. Annual trend of vapor pressure deficit at Cave Creek Golf Course in
Phoenix, AZ.

The relative size of the ETos value is a function of weather

conditions. Three of the four weather parameters used in the
ETos computation solar radiation, temperature and vapor
pressure deficit (VPD) have distinct annual cycles with
minimum values in winter and peak values in summer (Fig. 4,5,
and 6). Wind speed is more variable on a day to day basis and
exhibits a less definitive annual cycle that varies with location
(Fig. 7). The cyclical nature of solar radiation, temperature and
VPD produce a distinct annual ETos cycle (Fig. 8). Notice that
ETos in the Phoenix area will vary by about a factor of five over
the course of the year. Over shorter periods of time, say a week,
ETos is relatively stable provided skies are clear. However, winter
and fall storm systems or periods when the monsoon is quite
active can create large day-to-day swings in ETos.

The University of Arizona - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - Cooperative Extension

Variation Of ETos Across Metropolitan

Areas

Potential users of ETos may worry that local differences in

weather conditions could render the ETos value from a nearby
weather station useless. After all, weather phenomena such
as rainfall can vary drastically from one location to another.
ETos values are, however, surprisingly stable over large areas.
This stability results because the weather variable that most
affects ETossolar radiationtends to be fairly constant across
large areas in the desert. Except on rare days, the level of solar
radiation in Phoenix and Tucson is nearly uniform across the
respective metropolitan areas. Temperature and humidity have
a much lower impact on ETos (relative to solar radiation) and the
observed local variations do not greatly impact ETos. This leaves
wind speed as the only weather parameter with substantial local
variation. However, even wind speed variations, unless quite
extreme, do not cause a large change in ETos. For example the
2030% variation in mean wind speed observed (by AZMET)
across the Phoenix metropolitan area impacts ETos by about
510%.

reference ET values with a bias relative to the new standardized

procedure. Turf Managers are encouraged to upgrade their
weather stations and/or irrigation management software to
provide reference ET computed using this new standardized
procedure so they can more effectively utilize future research
on irrigation scheduling and management.

References

Allen, R. G., L. S. Pereira, D. Raes and M. Smith. 1998. Crop

Evapotranspiration: Guidelines for computing crop water
requirements. Irrig. And Drain. Paper 56, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.

Allen, R. G., I. A. Walter, R. Elliott, T. Howell, D. Itenfisu and

M. Jensen (ed.). 2005. The ASCE Standardized Reference
Evapotranspiration Equation. American Society of Civil
Engineers, Reston, VA.

To summarize, most of the local variation in ETos is due to

changes in wind speed. Typically, this variation is less than 10%
across a metropolitan area. The highest rates of ETos will occur
in open areas with high winds. Areas with large buildings and
trees that inhibit wind flow will typically have lower ETos values.

A Precaution on Procedures for

Estimation of Reference ET

Scientists have developed a number of meteorological

procedures for estimating reference ET over the past six decades.
The Penman and the Penman Monteith equations represent the
two most commonly used methods today. Both procedures
have been subjected to modifications in an effort to improve
the estimates of reference ET. Unfortunately, this proliferation
of modified Penman and Penman-Monteith Equations has
led to considerable confusion, particularly when using reference
ET in operational irrigation management where the use of
crop coefficients is required (see next report in this series). The
scientific community has addressed this issue in recent years
and has developed a standardized computation procedure for
estimating reference ET that is based on the Penman-Monteith
Equation (Allen et al., 1998, Allen et al., 2005). This standardized
computation procedure has been adopted by the research
community, most manufacturers of weather stations and the
public weather networks that disseminate reference ET data.
Turf Managers should be aware that older weather stations
manufactured by Rain Bird, Toro and other irrigation companies
may still use the older, non-standardized procedures for
estimating reference ET. These older procedures may produce

C OLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
AND LIFE SCIENCES
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

The University of Arizona

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Tucson, Arizona 85721
Paul Brown

Biometeorology Specialist

Contact:
Paul Brown
[email protected]
This information has been reviewed by University faculty.
cals.arizona.edu/water/az1194.pdf
Originally published: 2000
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do not imply endorsement by The University of Arizona.
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Jeffrey
C. Silvertooth, Associate Dean & Director, Extension & Economic Development, College of Agriculture Life Sciences, The University of Arizona.
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The University of Arizona - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - Cooperative Extension