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!)

(neglecting storage of heat below the surface)

Net radiation RN :

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
Water Dry soil Wet soil Grass Dense spruce forest

Albedo (%)
5-10 20-35 8-15 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 Cuticle
H2O

H2O

Stomatal Pore

H2O

Water vapor exits when pore is open to let carbon in (photosynthesis)

Low Vapor Pressure

Resistance Analogs
RH<100%
Atmospheric Conductance

Relative humidity

RH<100%
Atmospheric Conductance Stomatal Conductance

RH=100%

Open Water

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:

Evaporation in soil profile Air in soil pores ~es
100% Evap. rate Bare Soil

Soil w/ Litter 0% Time (days) 0 5 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

P
Forests Open land 100 100

Etotal
52 42

R
48 58

ES
29 62

EI
26 15

ET
45 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 15003000 mm/a 10001500 mm/a 550800 mm/a 300 mm/a or less

(in mm/a)

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

90

Through fall %

85

Ridge-top stand
80

75

70

Through fall as % of Storm Precipitation Oak-Hickory Stands in Missouri Ozark

0 25 50 75 100 125 150

65

Jewitt, 2008

Storm Size (mm)

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 Conifers: <1% of gross precipitation
(from A. Rodhe, Sweden)

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:
Po: percsoil: DSsoil: Dt:

Actual/real ET [mm d-1]

Precipitation at the ground [mm] Percolation out of the soil column [mm] Change of soil water content during time step Dt [mm] 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. 2. 3. 4. 5. Net radiation (atmosphere, albedo, exposition, topography etc.); energy is the most important parameter VPD (relative humidity) Temperature (more correctly temperature on evaporating surface:
soil, water surface, or leaf)

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 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

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

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