Chapt4 Crop Water Requirments

cmutsvangwa Irrigation Systems Design: Dept. of Civil and Water Eng.
, NUST 13/03/2007 4-22
Chapter 4
CROP-WATER REQUIREMENTS
Crop-water requirements
The amount of water required by a plant during its vegetation period from
germination to maturity. The total amount of water required and the timing of water
applied is governed by:
• prevailing climatic conditions

• Type of crop
• stage of growth
• extent of root-development
• Soil type
Evaporation
It is a process whereby water is converted to water vapour and removed from
evaporating surface. Energy is required to change water molecules from liquid to
vapour and mainly from solar radiation.
Transpiration
This is the vaporization of liquid water contained in plant tissues, mainly through
stomata. Vaporisation occurs within the leaf (in the intercellular spaces) and the
vapour exchange with the atmosphere is controlled by the stomata aperture. Nearly
all the water taken up is lost by transpiration and only a tiny fraction is used within
the plant.
Evapotranspiration
It is the quantity of water transpired by a plant during growth or released by plant
tissue, plus moisture evaporated from the surface of the soil and vegetation.
Reference evapotranspiration (ETO), mm/day

The rate of evapotranspiration from an extended surface of 8 to 15cm tall green
grass cover of uniform height, actively growing, completely shading the ground and
no short of water (Doorenbos and Pruit, 1977). However different crops can be used
as ‘reference crops.’
Crop evapotranspiration (ETcrop), mm/day

The evapotranspiration of a disease-free crop growing in a large field (one or more
hectares) including sufficient water and fertility and achieving full production potential
of the crop under the given growing environment. It includes evaporation of water
from the soil surface, evaporation from the plant surfaces and transpiration of water
through plant tissues into the atmosphere. Potential evaporation for different crops
will not be the same. The relationship between ETo and ETcrop is given as:
ETcrop = k c ETo (1)

Where: kc =crop coefficient.
Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

cmutsvangwa Irrigation Systems Design: Dept. of Civil and Water Eng., NUST 13/03/2007 4-22
The values for kc for different crops have been derived from experiments and the
values of the crop coefficient are different for each crop (Fig. 1), and also differs with:
• Stage of growth
• Crop density
• Crop characteristics
Fig. 1: Relationship between crop coefficients and stage of growth

The kc values can be applied to ETo derived from any methods for the period under
consideration and usually between 10 to 30 days.
Irrigation water requirements

This is the depth of water needed to meet the water loss through ETcrop.
I = ETcrop − Pe (2)
Where: Pe =effective precipitation, which is the rainfall that is useful or

usable in any phase of crop production.
The irrigation water requirement for a given period of time can be estimated from the
water balance equation, written from the volume of the root zone and the plant
canopy (Fig. 2):
(I + P + WC + WH I + SRI ) = (ET + Wd + SRO + WH O ) = ∆S (3)
Where: I =irrigation requirement

P =precipitation which falls
Wc =upward water flux into the root zone
WHI, WHO =inflow and outflow through the vertical boundaries
of the root zone respectively
Wd =downward flux out of the root zone
SRI, SRO =inflow and outflow of water in the form of surface
runoff respectively
ET = evapotranspiration
∆S =change in water storage
Rewriting equation 3 and grouping losses together:
I = ET − Pe − WC − WH I − SR I + Wd + SR0 + WH O + ∆S
Ws
I = ET − Pe − WC − Ws + Z (4)
Where: Pe =effective precipitation

Ws =change in soil water storage in the root zone
In =net irrigation water requirements
Z =losses of irrigation water
ET − Pe − Wc − Ws In
or I = = (5)
η ηa
Where: In =net irrigation requirement

ηa =efficiency

If no information is available, the following formulae can be used to estimate effective

precipitation.
Pe = 0.8 P − 25 , mm for P>75mm/month (6)
Pe = 0.6 P − 10 , mm for p<75mm/month (7)
Where: P =precipitation which falls in mm
ET
SR0
I
SRi
Root zone
WHi WHO
Wc
Wd Water table
Fig. 2: Schematic illustration of a water balance in the root zone
Peak irrigation requirement

It is based on drought conditions. During dry periods, some water balance
components in the equation are insignificant and can be neglected. Therefore:
ET
I= (8)
η

In engineering practice, the peak water requirements are usually predicted for 10
days or monthly periods. Ideally, the length of the period should be the same as that
of the irrigation interval.
METHODS TO DETERMINE THE REFERENCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (ETO)
There are several methods to determine the ETO and these include:
• direct measurements
• meteorological equations
• combination methods
• empirical methods
• pan evaporation
Direct measurement
Crops are grown in soil tanks called lysimeters and then there is periodic
determination of the root zone soil moisture and recording interval rainfall, irrigation
or drainage. From the measured data, a water balance is carried out. Such data
derived from field measurements under field conditions is more reliable and can be
used for designing as well as calibrating of empirical formulations.
Meteorological equations/climatic
Such methods include:
• mass transfer methods
• infrared radiometry
• tracer techniques
• energy balance
Mass transfer methods

These were proposed by Thornthwaite and Holzman (Svehlik, 1939) and are based
on the principle that moisture moves away from evaporating and transpiring surfaces
due to the turbulent mixing of air and vapour pressure gradient. To estimate the
ETO, the wind velocity and air humidity must be measures at least at two elevations
near the evaporating surface.
Energy balance
They are based on energy balance equation, by balancing the incoming energy
against energy used in evaporation, heating air, soil and other energy outgoings (Fig.
3). However they require expensive instruments and well trained personnel.
Combination methods
They are based on energy balance and aerodynamic equations (radiation and
aerodynamics). According to this theory, there is continuous evaporation if:

• there is supply of water to be evaporated or transpired

• there is a supply of energy to provide latent heat of vaporization
• Mechanism for removing the produced vapour into the atmosphere.
If well calibrated, combination methods produce better results than other methods
and one of the most comprehensive one is the Penman’s method (1948), and can be
applied satisfactorily in most climatic regions.
Fig. 3: Energy balance
Empirical formulae
They are based on correlation of the reference evapotranspiration (ETO ) and
meteorological factors. Some few examples are the Thornthwaite and Blaney-
Criddle methods (Svehlik,1939).
(a) Thornthwaite
This method is temperature based and is easily to apply and mostly use the
mean air temperature and hours of daylight. Most suitable in humid climatic
conditions, otherwise the results are always low (Svehlik, 1977). The reference
evapotranspiration for 30 days is given as:
a
⎡10T ⎤
ETO = 16⎢ Ld , mm
⎣ J ⎥⎦

1.514
⎛ Ti ⎞
J = ∑1
12
⎜ ⎟
⎝5⎠
a = 0.016 J + 0.5
Where: T =mean temperature, OC

Ti =long-term average monthly air temperature, OC.
Ld =day time hours in units of 12
J =yearly heat index
(b) Blaney-Criddle
Is satisfactorily used all over the world, but it needs local or regional coefficients
to give better results. The ETcrop is given as:
1.8t + 32
ETcrop = 25.4kci p mm/month
100
Where: kci =monthly crop coefficient

t =mean monthly temperature, OC
p =monthly % of annual daytime in hours
(c) FAO Modified Blaney-Criddle

The reference evapotranspiration is given as:
ETO = a + b[ p(0.46T + 8.13)] = a + bf
Where: p =% of annual sunshine during the month on a daily basis (Table

1)
Max + Min
T =mean temperature, OC for the month to be
2
considered
a, b =climatic coefficients, (Cuenca, 1989).

The above equation can also be solved graphically (Wilson, 199).
n
a = 0.0043RH min − − 1.41
N
RHmin =minimum relative humidity, %

n =ratio of actual to maximum possible sunshine hours, as a fraction
N
b = 0.82 − 0.0041RH min + 1.07 n ( N )+ 0.066U ⎛n⎞

− 0.006 RH min ⎜ ⎟ − 0.0006 RH minU 2 m
2m
⎝N⎠
Where: U2m =day time wind speed at 2m height, m/s

The relation between wind speed at 2m and wind speed measured at any height is
given as:
0.2
⎡2⎤
U 2m =UZ ⎢ ⎥
⎣Z ⎦
Where: Z =wind speed measured at any height Z

Or the value of b can be established from Table 2 as a function of RHmin, Uday, n/N,
(Cuenca, 199).
Table 1
Pan Evaporation method

The method is applicable for moderate short periods like 10 days. The evaporation
pans provide a measurement of integrated effect of meteorological factors on
evaporation under conditions of adequate water supply. The measured pan
evaporation is then related to the potential ETO using pan coefficients:
ETO = k p E pan
The consumptive daily use of the crop (ETcrop) is then obtained by simply multiplying
the measured depth of evaporation in the pan by the pan coefficient and the crop
coefficient:
ETcrop = k p k c E pan
Where: kp =pan coefficient
kc =crop coefficient
Epan =pan evaporation, mm/day

The kp is a function of pan type, pan sitting, relative humidity, wind run and fetch
distance. The kp can be determined from the following regression equation:
k p = 0.475 − 0.24 × 10 −3 U 2 m + 0.00516 RH mean + 0.00118d − 0.16 × 10 − 4 (RH mean ) − 0.101 × 10 −5 d 2
2
− 0.8 × 10 −8 (RH mean ) U 2 m − 1 × 10 −8 (RH mean ) d

2 2
Where: d =fetch distance of the green crop

U2m =wind speed at a height of 2m, km/day
RHmean =mean relative humidity, %
The relationship between the fetch distance and the green crop is shown in Fig. 4.
This method is very easy to apply and is mostly used by farmers to schedule their
frequency of irrigation. The method can be reliable depending on the maintenance
of the evaporation site (Svehlik, 1977). The type of the pan has to be known
because the value of kp is a function of the type of the pan (Table 3). The most
common pan is the USB Weather service (diameter =121cm; depth= 25.4cm and
water depth=5-7.5cm). It is installed on a wooden platform about 15cm above the
ground (Fig. 5
Table 2

Table 1(b)
wind direction
wind direction
pan pan
green crop
dry surface
green crop dry surface
fetch fetch
Fig. 4 The relationship between the fetch distance and the green crop
Applicability of methods
Some methods produce good results for one location and unsatisfactory at other
locations. It has been found that no single method using meteorological data is
universally adequate under all climatic conditions. However, as result of an expert
10

Consultation of (FAO, 1990), the FAO Modified Penman’s method is now

recommended as the standard method for the definition and computation of the
reference evapotranspiration (ETo), All methods before use for planning and deign
of irrigation projects need local or regional calibration.
Fig. 5: Standard USB pan
11

Table 3
PENMAN’S METHOD
It applies the radiation balance plus aerodynamic approach to estimate ETo.
Penman’s (1948) method uses the radiation balance to indicate part of energy
available for evaporation and the aerodynamic term to quantify the influence of
advection. The original equation of Penman is given as (Svehlik, 1977):
∆H + γE a
ETO = ()
∆+γ
Where: ∆H=net radiation

Ea=aerodynamic term
∆ =slope of the saturation vapour pressure curve at mean
temperature
γ =psychrometric constant: a relation between vapour pressure
deficit and wet bulb depression
The above equation can be written as:
ETO =
∆
(Rn − G ) + γ f (u )∆e , mm/day
∆+γ ∆+λ
radiation balance aerodynamic term
12

∆
=weighting function for elevation and temperature
∆+γ
∆ =slope of saturation vapour pressure versus temperature curve
Rn =net radiation, mm/day

Rn =soil heat flux + evaporation + air heat =G + E +H
G =soil heat flux, if soil is heating
f(u) = wind function
Rs = incoming short wave (solar) radiation
Rb =net outgoing long wave (terrestrial) radiation
α =coefficient of albedo, α =0.25 for FAO Modified Penman
∆e =vapour pressure deficit, mb
FAO Modified Penman’s Method

Application of the original Penman’s method revealed that it is particularly applicable
to cool limited regions like in England and also in hot and semi-arid regions.
Doorenbos et al (1984) slightly modified the equation. The modified equation uses
mean daily climatic conditions since day and night time weather conditions
considerably affect the level of evaporation. It was developed by comparing
Lysimeter- measured evaporation from locations world-wide. Statistical analysis was
performed to determine which additional metrological parameters would reduce the
error between measured and estimated evapotranspiration.
⎡ ∆ γ ⎤
ETO = c ⎢ Rn + f (u )∆e⎥ mm/day
⎣∆ + γ ∆+λ ⎦
Or ETO = c[ωRn + +(1 − ω ) f (u )(es − ea )]
Where: ω=weighting function for the effect of radiation on ETo at

different elevation and temperature (Agritex, 1980).
1-ω =weighting factor for the effect of wind and humidity on ETo at
different temperature and altitudes (Table 4).
c =adjustment factor to compensate for the effect of day and night
weather conditions
The adjustment factor, c is a function of:

• Relative humidity maximum, RHmax
• day to night wind run ratio, Uday/Unight
• day time wind speed at 2m, U2day
• Solar radiation, Rs
Computation of the input parameters
The adjustment factor, c

The adjustment factor can be established from tables of or can be computed from
(Cuenca, 1989):
13

U day
c = 0.68 + 0.0028 RH max + 0.018 Rs − 0.068U 2 day + 0.013 +
U night
⎛ U day ⎞
0.0097(U 2 day )⎜ ⎟ + 0.43 × 10 − 4 (RH max )(Rs )(U 2 day )
⎜U ⎟
⎝ night ⎠
Where: Uday =mean day time wind speed at 2m
The Uday can also be found from Table 5
Table 4
14

Table 5
Wind function, f(u)

The wind function at a wind speed height of 2m is given as:
⎛ U ⎞
f (u ) = 0.27⎜1 + 2m ⎟
⎝ 100 ⎠
15

0.2
⎡2⎤
and U 2m = U Z ⎢ ⎥
⎣Z ⎦
Vapour pressure deficit, ∆
∆e = es − ea
Where: es =saturation vapour pressure, mb

ea =mean actual vapour pressure of air, mb
e s RH mean
ea =
100
Where: RHmean =mean relative humidity
The following expressions for ex can be used (Svehlik, 1982).
es = 6.1078e x , mb
es = 4.5812e , x
mmHg
[
es = 33.8639 (0.00738Tmean + 0.8072) − 0.000019 1.8Tmean + 48 + 0.001316
8
]
19.8374Tmean − 0.00831Tmean
2
x=
Tmean + 273.16
Where: Tmean = mean air temperature in oC
Values of saturation vapour, es are also given in tables as a function of Tmean.
Net radiation, Rn
Rn = (1 − α )Rs − Rb , mm/day
⎛ n⎞
Rs = ⎜ 0.35 + 0.61 ⎟ Rso , mm/day
⎝ N⎠
Where: Rs =total daily clear sky radiation at the surface of earth, and can
be found in tables as function of latitude.
N =maximum possible sunshine hours (can be found from tables
as function of latitude)
n =actual sunshine hours
Rbo =net outgoing clear sky-long wave radiation
⎡ R ⎤
Rb = ⎢a s + b ⎥ Rbo
⎣ Rso ⎦
16

⎡
⎣
n
N
⎤
⎦
[
Rb = ⎢0.9 + 0.1⎥ 0.34 − 0.44(es ) δ (Tmean )
0.5 4
]
Where: a, b =empirical constants
es =saturation vapour pressure.
Rbo = εδ
(T
4
mx + Tmin
4
)
2
Where: ε =emissivity of the surface

δ =Boltzmann constant (4.89995x10-3J/m2Kd
K =OC+273
ε = a1 + b1 [es ]0.5
Or [
ε = −0.02 + 0.261exp − 7.77 × 10 − 4 (Tmean )2 ]
Slope of saturation, ∆ (mb/oC)
∆ = 2[0.00738Tnean + 0.8072] − 0.00116

7
Where: Tmean =mean temperature of air over a period of interest, oC
Psychrometric constant, γ mb/oC

e −e
γ = s a
Tdry − Twet
Mean monthly ETo maps based on Penman’s method have been developed in
Zimbabwe for different locations (Agritex, 1986).
Example
17

18

19

References
1. Agritex Handbook, (1986), Department Agriculture, Zimbabwe Government
2. Doorenbos J., and Pruit W.O., (1977), Crop water requirements, FAO, Irrigation
and Drainage Paper, No. 24, Rome
20

3. Cuenca R., (1989), Irrigation Systems Design: An Engineering approach.

Prentice Hall. USA.
4. Jensen M. E., (1980), Design and Operation of Farm Irrigation Systems,
American Society of Irrigation Engineers, USA
5. Penman H. L., (1948), Natural evaporation from open water, bare soil and grass,
Proc. Royal Soc of London, Series A., 193, 120-146.
6. Singh V., (1995), Environmental Hydrology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, USA
7. Svehlik Z. J., (1977), Estimation of irrigation requirements, in Irrigation
Development Irrigation Development Planning, Rydzewski J. R. (Ed), University
of Southampton, UK.
8. Thornthwaite C. W., (1948), An approach towards a national classification of
climate, Geor Rev., V38 55-94
9. http://www.fao.org/
10. Wilson
21

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cmutsvangwa Irrigation Systems Design: Dept. of Civil and Water Eng.

, NUST 13/03/2007 4-22

• prevailing climatic conditions

Reference evapotranspiration (ETO), mm/day

Crop evapotranspiration (ETcrop), mm/day

ETcrop = k c ETo (1)

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Fig. 1: Relationship between crop coefficients and stage of growth

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Irrigation water requirements

Where: Pe =effective precipitation, which is the rainfall that is useful or

(I + P + WC + WH I + SRI ) = (ET + Wd + SRO + WH O ) = ∆S (3)

Where: I =irrigation requirement

Rewriting equation 3 and grouping losses together:

Where: Pe =effective precipitation

Where: In =net irrigation requirement

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

If no information is available, the following formulae can be used to estimate effective

Pe = 0.8 P − 25 , mm for P>75mm/month (6)

Pe = 0.6 P − 10 , mm for p<75mm/month (7)

Where: P =precipitation which falls in mm

Fig. 2: Schematic illustration of a water balance in the root zone

Peak irrigation requirement

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

METHODS TO DETERMINE THE REFERENCE EVAPOTRANSPIRATION (ETO)

Mass transfer methods

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

• there is supply of water to be evaporated or transpired

Fig. 3: Energy balance

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Where: T =mean temperature, OC

Where: kci =monthly crop coefficient

(c) FAO Modified Blaney-Criddle

ETO = a + b[ p(0.46T + 8.13)] = a + bf

Where: p =% of annual sunshine during the month on a daily basis (Table

a, b =climatic coefficients, (Cuenca, 1989).

RHmin =minimum relative humidity, %

b = 0.82 − 0.0041RH min + 1.07 n ( N )+ 0.066U ⎛n⎞

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Where: Z =wind speed measured at any height Z

Pan Evaporation method

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

− 0.8 × 10 −8 (RH mean ) U 2 m − 1 × 10 −8 (RH mean ) d

Where: d =fetch distance of the green crop

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Consultation of (FAO, 1990), the FAO Modified Penman’s method is now

Fig. 5: Standard USB pan

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Where: ∆H=net radiation

radiation balance aerodynamic term

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

∆ =slope of saturation vapour pressure versus temperature curve

Rn =net radiation, mm/day

FAO Modified Penman’s Method

Or ETO = c[ωRn + +(1 − ω ) f (u )(es − ea )]

Where: ω=weighting function for the effect of radiation on ETo at

The adjustment factor, c is a function of:

Computation of the input parameters

The adjustment factor, c

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements

Where: Uday =mean day time wind speed at 2m

The Uday can also be found from Table 5

Chapter 4: Crop water requirements