11-Dec-20

The various water losses that occur in nature are

enumerated below. If these losses are deducted from
the rainfall, the surface runoff can be obtained, the
hydrologic equation states that:
Rainfall – Losses = Runoff
(i) Interception loss-due to surface vegetation, i.e.,
held by plant leaves.
(ii) Evaporation:
a. from water surface, i.e., reservoirs, lakes, ponds,
river channels, etc.

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b. from soil surface, appreciably when the ground

water table is very near the soil surface.
(iii) Transpiration - from plant leaves.
(iv) Evapo-transpiration for consumptive use - from
irrigated or cropped land.
(v) Infiltration - into the soil at the ground surface.
(vi) Watershed leakage - ground water movement from
one basin to another or into the sea.

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Evaporation: the process by which water from liquid or

solid state, converts to vapor form.
Evaporation is an important component in the
hydrological cycle.
Evaporation can affect the following:
Water supply reservoir
– Loss of water resources
Soil moisture condition
– Affect runoff conditions

Two main factors influencing evaporation from an

open water surface:
1. Supply of energy (Solar radiation)
– to provide latent/hidden heat of vaporization
2. The ability to transport vapor (wind velocity,
humidity gradient) away from the evaporative surface.

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This is done by the following methods:

 Using evaporimeters
 Using empirical equations
 By analytical methods

Class A Pan Evaporimeters

4ft

10 inches

Starts with 8 inches filled daily as

soon the level goes down below 7
inches.
Difference in levels = Evaporation
(Precipitation addition should be
considered).

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Measurement and Adjustment

• Epan may vary from Eactual by as much as 30%.
• Pan evaporation values are HIGHER than the actual
lake evaporation.
• Eactual = Epan * K
• K = Adjustment factor called as Pan coefficient
• K value ranges from 0.64 to 0.81
• Average K value = 0.7

Example 1: Compute the daily evaporation from a

Class A pan if the amounts of water added to bring the
level to the fixed point are as follows:

Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Rainfall (mm) 14 6 12 8 0 5 6
Water added or
–5 3 0 0 7 4 3
removed (mm)

What is the evaporation loss of water in this week from

a lake (surface area = 640 ha) in the surrounding area,
assuming a pan coefficient of 0.75 ?

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Solution: Pan evaporation, Ep

Ep (mm) = Rainfall ± water added or water removed
Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total
Pan
Rainfall (mm) 14 6 12 8 0 5 6 Evapor
Water added or ation
removed (mm) –5 3 0 0 7 4 3
(mm)
Ep (mm) 14–5=9 6+3=9 12 8 7 5+4= 9 6+3=9 63

Pan evaporation in the week = = 63 mm

Pan coefficient 0.75 = Eacual/Epan
∴ Lake evaporation during the week EL
= 63 × 0.75 = 47.25 mm
Water lost from the lake = A * EL
= 640×47.25/1000 = 30.24 ha.m ≈ 0.3 Mm3

EMPIRICAL EQUATIONS
The factors affecting evaporation are air and water
temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, surface
area (exposed), barometric pressure and salinity of
the water, the last two having a minor effect.
Most of the available empirical equations for
estimating lake evaporation are a Dalton Law
equation of the general form.
The rate of evaporation is a function of the
differences in vapour pressure at the water surface
and in the atmosphere, and the Dalton’s Law of
evaporation is given by:

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 Dalton’s Low

 Meyer’s Formula

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 Rohwer’s Formula
Accounts for the effect of pressure in addition to the
wind speed effect.

 ANALYTICAL METHODS

• Water Budget Method

• Energy Budget Method
• Mass Transfer Method

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Water Budget Method

Applicable to lake evaporation –--> Based on continuity
equation:
∆storage (±) = input - output
∆S = (I + P) - (O + E + GW), or
E = ∆S + I + P – O -GW

∆S: Change in lake Storage I : Inflow [cm]

P : Precipitation [cm] O: Outflow [cm]
E : Evaporation [cm], GW: Groundwater seepage [cm]
Limitations:
– Estimation of seepage (GW) ---> difficult to quantify
– Estimation of precipitation ---> spatial variability

COMPARISON OF METHODS

• Analytical methods can provide good results.

However, they involve parameters that are difficult to
assess.

• Empirical equations can at best give approximate

values of the correct order of magnitude.

• In view of the above, pan measurements find wide

acceptance in practice.

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Transpiration: water used by plants

for their growth which is returned to
atmosphere as vapor, or the loss of
water in the form of vapor from
plants.
Evapo-transpiration: combined loss
of water vapor from the surface of
the plants and the evaporation of
moisture from soil.
More than 70% of mean annual
rainfall of US is returned back to the
atmosphere by evaporation and
transpiration.

Factors that affect transpiration rates are:

1. Climatic factors
- Wind speed
- Temperature
- Humidity
2. Soil factors
- Available water
- Transport of water
3. Characteristics of vegetation
- Rooting depth
- Root length
- Leaf area index

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