Applying the FAO-56

Dual Kc method for

Irrigation water
requirements over
Large Areas

Rick Allen, University of Idaho

Couthors: Clarence Robison, Univ. Idaho, Justin Huntington, Desert

Research Institute, Dr. J.L. Wright, USDA-ARS (ret), Ayse Kilic, Univ.
Nebraska-Lincoln
Dec. 2020
Major river basin coverage for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) West-Wide Climate
Risks Assessment (WWCRA) study where future ET and irrigation water requirements
were estimated for a broad range of Climate Change scenarios using the FAO-56 dual Kc-
based ETDemands model.

(from Huntington et al., 2015)

Columbia
Missouri

Klamath
Truckee-
Carson
Central Valley

Colorado Rio Grande

FAO-56 Dual Kc method used to calculate irrigation water
requirements for > 200 weather stations in Idaho
Used for:
• Irrigation system design
• Water Transfers
• Hydrologic Water Balances

Weather Stations in Idaho

National Weather Service (NWS) stations
Agrimet or Airport
NWS stations measure only air
temperature and precipitation.

However, we desired to utilize the

ASCE Standardized Penman-Monteith
reference ET equation.

We followed recommendations in
FAO-56
Irrigaton Water Requirements for State of Nevada
Standardized Reference ET

FAO-56 and American Society of Civil Engineers

Penman-Monteith equation applied to grass and alfalfa and for daily or
hourly application

Cn
0.408  (R n − G ) +  u 2 (e s − e a )
T + 273
ETref =
 +  (1 + Cd u 2 )
(FAO-56 PM ETo )
Calculation Time Step Short Reference, Tall Reference, Units for ETo, Units for Rn, G
ETo ETr ETr
Cn Cd Cn Cd

Daily or monthly 900 0.34 1600 0.38 mm d-1 MJ m-2 d-1

Hourly during daytime 37 0.24 66 0.25 mm h-1 MJ m-2 h-1
Hourly during nighttime 37 0.96 66 1.7 mm h-1 MJ m-2 h-1

(ASCE PM ETr hourly)

 Crop Coefficient
K
imbe
rl
y,Ida
h
o,19
76
• Dual Crop Coefficient

Precipitation and Ir igation, mm

2
0
0
1
.
2 F
AO
-
56 K
ew i
thWr
i
ght
K c
b
Approach S
we
et
C o
r
n
1
6
0
1
.
0

• FAO-56 Approach 0
.
8
K 1
2
0
c
0
.
6
• Daily Calculation I
E
v
ap
.
=18
% 8
0
0
.
4
Timesteps
I I I
I I

I 4
0
0
.
2 I I

P P P

0
.
0 0

K c act = (K s K cb + K e )
1
3
015
017
019
021
023
025
0
D
a
yo
ft
heY
e
ar
d
a
ta
co
ur
t
esy
of
D r
.J.
L.Wr
i
ght
,US
DA
-
ARS

ETc act = K c act ETr Rs

Partial Wetting of Surface

f = min(1 - f , f ) Es = evaporation
E
=K
seE
T
o ew c w

T
E
W=
To
t
al
E v
a
po
r
ab
l
e D
~
e1
5
0m
m
W
a
t
er
fc fw fc
few
T
E
W~1
0
to
35
mm fe
Irrigation Events for estimating evaporation
from soil

Irrigations and associated evaporation from soil were

simulated using
◼ Soils database for the weather location

◼ Management Allowed Depletion (MAD) for typical

irrigation method
◼ Irrigation events were simulated for each crop and
location
◼ Dual Kcb + Ke method used to estimate Ke
 K c act = (K s K cb + K e ) ( and ETc act = K c act ETr )
Spring Grain

Kc
Winter Wheat

Kc
Wetting events from Snow, Rain and Irrigation

Snow Cover
Spring Grain (ETr is very low)

ETc

Winter Wheat
Ashton
ETc
Some growth during winter ‘Basal’ Kcb curve
for Winter Wheat
Evaporation from Soil

Evaporation from Soil

Ashton, Idaho, USA
Alfalfa harvested at high frequency

Alfalfa harvested traditionally

Grass Hay

Field Corn
CGDD creates some similarity in the Kcb shape
similar shapes during development vs. NCGDD

Basal Kcb for the ASCE PM ETr Method

based on Kimberly Lys., Wright(1982)
FC
1.2
Kcb for ASCE-PM ETr

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
Cum. GDD since planting, normalized

Potatoes 1972 Beans 1973 Beans 1974

Colorado
Sugar Beets 1975 Field Corn 1976 Sweet Corn 1976Evapotranspiration
Workshop March 12, 2010
Peas 1977 2/15/2022
Winter Wheat 1978 Spring Grain 1979
 30-day Running Average Air Temperature to Estimate
Start of Growing Season

2004 - Kimberly 1969-2005 - Kimberly

30 30
Multi-day Mean Air Temp, C

25

Multi-day Mean Air Temp, C

25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0
-5 -5
30 day 21 day 15 day 10 day 30 day
-10 -10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Day of Year Day of Year

• T30 smoothes temperature increase

• monotonically increasings
• T30 is a surrogate for soil temperature
Estimation of Killing Frosts – to end season
-7 C for alfalfa
-4 C for field corn and silage corn
-5 C for early sweet corn.
-4 C for mint
-2 C for wetland vegetation (to account for heat transfer from water surfaces.)
-5 C for turf and pasture
-5 C for leaf fall on fruit trees and poplars
-4 C for cottonwoods
-6 C for willows
-4 C for sugar beets
-2 C for potatoes
-2 C for melons
–3 C for grapes
-3 C for asparagus
Impact of Elevation on Growing Season Length
Season Length, Alfalfa Hay

400

350

300

250
Days

200

150

100

50

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Elevation

Season mean mean - S.D. mean + S.D.

Impact of Elevation on Growing Season Length
Season Length, Dry Beans - seed

140

120

100

80
Days

60

40

20

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Elevation

Season mean mean - S.D. mean + S.D.

Impact of Elevation on Growing Season Length
Season Length, Field Corn

250

200

150
Days

100

50

0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
Elevation

Season mean mean - S.D. mean + S.D.

 Required Weather Parameters

Daily maximum and minimum air temperature

(measured)
Solar radiation Rs = f (Tmax – Tmin)
Dewpoint temperature Tdew = Tmin − K o
Wind speed (long-term monthly from Agrimet)

Proposition: Using a physically-based ET equation populated

with empirically estimated Rs, Tdew, Wind is better than using an
empirically-based ET equation with T only
Adjustment to Kc during winter

to account for albedo of snow (when snow cover)

K c _ multiplier = 1 − K radiation_ term _ w int er +

(1 − albedosnow )
(1 − albedosurface ) K radiation_ term _ w int er


K radiation_ term _ w int er =
 rs 
 +  1 + 
 ra 
Kradiation_term_winter parameter changed with time of year

Some decay of snow albedo with time was assumed

Kc’s for NonAg

Desert Vegetation
(from METRIC Satellite-based ET Estimates)
(Used as upper limit before imposition of soil water stress)

Potential Kcb Curves -- Idaho Desert

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
Potential Kcbr

Sagebrush
0.5 Cheatgrass
0.4 Bunch Grass
Bromegrass
0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Percent Greenup to End of Season
Reality Check: Annual ET vs. Precipitation

Salmon, Idaho 1930-1967 - Sagebrush

400

350 Potential
300
Recharge
Annual ET, mm

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Annual Precipitation, mm
ETIdaho
website
where data
can be
downloaded
by the
public
All computed data and report are available
From the University of Idaho website:

http://www.kimberly.uidaho.edu/ETIdaho

(or just google for “ETIdaho”

Application to Nevada and Western US studies

Original “ETIdaho” model with alfalfa reference was

adapted to Nevada by Huntington and Allen (2010)
◼ A grass reference ETo was added to fit Nevada practice
◼ CGDD and T30 terms were fit to Nevada crops

US Bureau of Reclamation adapted ETIdaho for US

West-wide studies of climate change impacts
(Huntington et al., 2015)
◼ Model was renamed “ETDemands”
◼ Converted from Visual Basic to Python 2.7
◼ California and other Pacific crops were added and CGDD’s
developed
State of Nevada

Ko = Tmin – Tdew for

Nevada was spatially
distributed in a GIS
system by Hydrologic
Unit
Western US Climate Change Impacts on Irrigation Water
Requirements
Results from the USBR
Climate Change Impacts
Study – Colorado Basin

Projected percentage change in

crop ET for HUC 8 sub-basins
within the Colorado River basin

Five different climate scenarios

and time periods:
S1 = warmer-dryer,
S2 = warmer-wetter,
S3 = hotter-dryer,
S4 = hotter-wetter, and
S5 = central tendency
(from Huntington et al., 2015).

This was possible because of:

• Using T30 to start growing season
• Using CGDD for length of growing
season
• Simulation of Irrigation (wetting)
Thank you

ETDemands model (in Python)

◼ Available on GITHUB
◼ GitHub - usbr/et-demands: Dual crop coefficient crop water
demand model
Extra slides
 Good day to day correspondance with lysimeter

Kimberly, Idaho 1969

12
Lysimeter ASCE P-M
Evapotranspiration, mm/day

10
8
6
4
2
Full cover alfalfa - Data from Dr. J.L. Wright
0
100 125 150 175 200 225 250 275 300
Day of Year
 Kc’s for NonAg
Cottonwood, Willow, Russian Olive
(from METRIC Satellite Estimates)
(Used as upper limit before imposition of
soil water stress)
250
(ETrF = Fraction of ETref = Kc)
1
0.9
200
0.8
ET (mm/mo.)

0.7
150 0.6

ETrF
0.5
100 0.4
0.3
50 0.2
0.1
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month Month
Cottonwood Saltcedar R.Olive Willow Cottonwood Saltcedar R.Olive Willow
 Growing Season ET, mm
Al
fa

200
400
600
800
1000
1200

0
lfa
Al Ha
fa
lfa y
Se
ed
Agrimet
Be
an
s
F.
co
rn
Si
l.c
or
Sw n
.co
rn
Po P
tat eas
o
-
Po earl
tat y
o
- la
te
S.
Be
e
S. t
G
ra

Agrimet - Act. Season

Pa
stu W in
re .G
Pa - hi rain

Allen-Brockway (1983) Mar-Oct

stu gh
re m

Allen-Robison (2006) - Act. Season

- lo an.
Or w m
Comparison with Allen-Brockway and

ch an
ar
Seasonal ET - Twin Falls - Periods of Record

Or d- .
ch b
ar are
d-
co
ve
r
Ve
g.
On
ion
Comparison with Kc from METRIC and AgriMet

Alfalfa - Dairy hay

Twin Falls, ID 2000
1.2

1.0

0.8
Mean Kc

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/200 1/1/2001
0
Month

Agrimet for 2000 Allen-Robison - 14 yr ave. METRIC for 2000

Evaporation from Water

Three classes:
Small shallow ponds, Kc = 0.70
Shallow lakes and rivers, Kc = 0.60
Deep lakes and reservoirs,
full aerodynamic approach using Tmean
from Allen and Tasumi 2005
Evaporation from Water

American Falls, Evaporation/ETr ratios

2004
1
0.9
Evaporation / ETr

0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
ETrF from Am.Falls study 2004Aerodynamic ETrF from Tmean
Evaporation from Water

American Falls Reservoir Evaporation

2004
Evaporation, ETr (mm/month)
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Month
Evaporation from Weather (aero)
Alfalfa Reference ET

Allen&Tasumi, 2005 (meas.)

More Slides
 14 Grass Pasture – low management
15 Grass - Turf (lawns)
16 Orchards - Apples and Cherries w/ground cover
Crop Types in Idaho 17 Orchards - Apples and Cherries no ground cover
18 Garden Vegetables – general
Table 6. Names of Crops and Land Use Covers for Evapotranspiration 19 or Carrots
Evaporation.
No. Descriptive Crop and Land Use Name 20 Onions
General to Idaho (22 classes) 21 Melons
1 22 early
Alfalfa Hay - peak (no cutting effects (i.e., alfalfa reference except Grapes--wine
and late))
2 Alfalfa Hay - frequent cuttings - dairy style
3 Alfalfa Hay - less frequent cuttings - beef cattle style Specific to Southern Idaho (10 classes)
4 Grass Hay 23 Alfalfa Seed
5 Snap and Dry Beans - fresh 24 Garden Peas--fresh
6 Snap and Dry Beans - seed 25 Garden Peas--seed
7 Field Corn having moderate lengthed season 26 Potatoes--processing (early harvest)
8 Silage Corn (same as field corn, but with truncated season) 27 Potatoes--cold pack (late harvest)
9 Sweet Corn--early plant 28 Sugar beets
10 Sweet Corn--late plant 29 Hops
11 Spring Grain 30 Mint
12 Winter Grain 31 Poplar (third year and older)
13 Grass Pasture – high management 38 Asparagus
14 Grass Pasture – low management
15 Grass - Turf (lawns) Specific to Northern Idaho (6 classes)
16 Orchards - Apples and Cherries w/ground cover 32 Lentils
17 Orchards - Apples and Cherries no ground cover 33 Sunflower
18 Garden Vegetables – general 34 Safflower
19 Carrots 35 Canola
20 Onions 36 Mustard
21 Melons 37 BlueGrass Seed
22 Grapes--wine
Natural land-use conditions (14 classes)
Specific to Southern Idaho (10 classes) 39 Bare soil
23 Alfalfa Seed 40 Mulched soil, including wheat stubble
24
25 37 Crops
Garden Peas--fresh
Garden Peas--seed
41
42
Dormant turf (winter time)
Range Grasses- early, short season (cheat, etc.)
26 Potatoes--processing (early harvest)
Other Land Uses

Bare soilMulched soil, including wheat stubble

Dormant turf (winter time)
Range Grasses- early, short season (cheat, etc.)
Range Grasses- long season (bunch, wheatgrass, etc.)
Range Grasses- bromegrass
Sage brush
Wetlands--large stands
Wetlands--narrow stands
Willows
Cottonwoods
Open water – shallow systems (large ponds, streams)
Open water – deep systems (lakes, reservoirs)
Open water – small stock ponds
Solar Radiation

Thornton and Running (1999)

Somewhat more accuracy than the Hargreaves-Samani
method
Hargreaves: R = 0.16 (T − T )0.5 R
s max min a

 (
Thornton-Running: Rs = Rso 1 − 0.9 exp − B(Tmax − Tmin )
1 .5
)
B = 0.023 + 0.1 exp(− 0.2 Tmonth )

ΔTmonth is the long-term average Tmax-Tmin for the month

Benefit: T-R is self-limited to the Rso curve and has

Somewhat wider spread in Rs on cloudy days
 Estimation of Daily Solar Radiation (blue dots)

Aberdeen Agrimet measured (green), NWS est. (blue dots)

 Thornton-Running or Hargreaves-Samani

Aberdeen 1992-2004
35.0 Aberdeen 1992-2004
30.0 35.0
30.0

Radiation, MJ/m2/d
25.0 25.0
Radiation, MJm2/d

20.0 20.0
15.0
15.0 10.0

10.0 5.0
0.0
5.0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
0.0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Rs, Agrimet Rs, Hargreaves Rs-Thornton-Running-arid
Rs, Hargreaves Thornton-Running-arid 1:1

Monthly Measured Rs, MJ/m2/d

 Estimation of Daily Dewpoint Temperature

Full Cover Alfalfa - Kimberly 1969-71

Tdew ~ Tmin − K o
20

15

10
Temperature, C

-5

-10
75 125 175 225 275
Day of Year, 1969-1971
Daily Minimum Air Temperature

0800 Dewpoint Temperature

 Monthly average Ko =Tmin-Tdew for
Agrimet Stations across S. Idaho

Mean Tmin-Tdew at Agrimet Stations Mean NWS Tmin - Tdew at Agrimet Stations

w/Agrimet Tmin w/NWS Tmin

4 4
Aberdeen Aberdeen
Ashton Ashton
2 2Malta
Malta
Tmin-Tdew, C

Tmin-Tdew, C
Parma Parma
0 0Picabo Picabo
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Rexburg Rexburg
Rupert Rupert
-2 -2
Twin Falls Twin Falls
Month Mean Month Mean
-4 -4final curve final curve

-6 -6

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
-2 -1.5 0 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1 -1 -2
ET is estimated for wintertime

Amount of Total Evaporable Water (TEW in FAO56

dual Kcb procedure) is reduced in wintertime when
soil is cold
Reductions in Es or Ke when there is snow cover
Reductions for surfaces with mulch (residue)

S
t
age
1an
dS
ta
ge
2Dr
yi
ng
E
=K
seE
T
o
(
1-K
c)
bE
To

-
1 T
E
W=
To
t
al
E v
a
po
r
ab
l
e D
~
e1
5
0m
m
E
,m
s m
d W
a
t
er
S
t
age
1 S
t
age2
D
r
yi
ng D
r
yi
ng

R
E
W T
EW T
E
W~1
0
to
35
mm
D
e
pt
hof
W a
t
erE
va
po
r
at
ed,m
m
 Wright’s winter-time Kc - Kimberly
Wright - Kimberly - Grassed Lysimeter
Wright - Kimberly - Bare Lysimeter
ASCE PM ET r basis
ASCE PM ET r basis

0.8 1.0
0.7 0.9

.
Crop Coefficient .

1985-86
0.6 0.8 1985-86 disked alfalfa
1986-87

Crop Coefficient
0.7 1986-87 winter wheat
0.5 1987-88
0.6 1987-88 disked stubble
0.4 1988-89
0.5 1988-89 disked soil
0.3 1989-90 0.4 1989-90 disked soil
1990-91 0.3 1990-91 alfalfa
0.2
mean 0.2 Mean
.

0.1 0.1

.
0.0 0.0
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

The winter surface was represented by three different conditions:

- dormant turf
- organic mulch (dead vegetation)
- bare soil

Snow amount and snow accumulation was reported by NWS stations

- A Ke was assigned as a function of snow age and reflectance
Ashton Crop Coefficients, Kc

Cottonwoods

Willows

Winter
 CE u ( qw − qa )
Open, deep water (Aerodynamic Calculation) E=
86400
Summer

Evaporation from deep water was estimated via an aerodynamic equation

assuming a relation between water temperature and air temperature -
from Allen and Tasumi 2005
 Crop Coefficient
Salmon
dark blue line = potential Kcb light blue symbols are actual, limited by stress
Cheatgrass
Summer Summer

Winter

1942 1943
Sagebrush

Evapotranspiration Summer
Cheatgrass Winter

Sagebrush
 Comparison with Satellite-based
Energy Balance (METRIC)
Seasonal ET in the Magic Valley - 2000
1400

1200
~Growing Season ET, mm

1000

800

600

400

200

0
Alfalfa Dry Beans Sugar Corn Potato- Potato- Sp. Grain Winter
Beets early late Grain*
METRIC Magic Valley 2000
Allen-Robison (2006) - Twin Falls
Allen-Robison (2006) - Jerome
Agrimet - Twin Falls - 2000**
Allen-Robison (2006) -Twin Falls - Mar-July 2000
Allen-Robison (2006) - Twin Falls Agrimet 2000
Trends in annual computed ETr
Oakley, Idaho – small town surrounded by
irrigated area since 1910 and with growing
trees that may have cooled temperatures
at the NWS station
Trends in annual computed ETr
Idaho Falls – sizable city surrounded by
irrigated area since 1870 and with growing
trees that may have cooled temperatures
at the NWS station
Comparison of Agrimet Kc with METRIC (satellite) -- south-central Idaho
Sugar Beets Potatoes
Twin Falls, ID 2000 Agrimet Kc’s
Twin are ID
Falls, based
2000on
Wright (1981) (lysimeter)
1.2 1.0
0.9
1.0
0.8
0.8 0.7
Mean Kc

Mean Kc
0.6
0.6 0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1
0.0 0.0
1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/2000 1/1/2001
Little need to adjust Kc 1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/2000 1/1/2001
Month Month
Agrimet for 2000 METRIC for 2000

Agrimet for 2000 METRIC for 2000

Field Corn Alfalfa - Dairy hay
Twin Falls, ID 2000 Twin Falls, ID 2000
1.2 1.0
0.9
1.0
0.8
0.8 0.7
Mean Kc

Mean Kc 0.6
0.6 0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.2 0.2
Little need to adjust Kc 0.1
0.0 0.0
1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/2000 1/1/2001 1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/200 1/1/2001
Month 0
Month
Agrimet for 2000 METRIC for 2000 Agrimet for 2000 METRIC for 2000
Comparison with Kc from METRIC and AgriMet

Alfalfa - Dairy hay

Twin Falls, ID 2000
1.2

1.0

0.8
Mean Kc

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/200 1/1/2001
0
Month

Agrimet for 2000 Allen-Robison - 14 yr ave. METRIC for 2000

Comparison with Kc from METRIC and USBR AgriMet

Dry Beans
Twin Falls, ID 2000
1.2

1.0

0.8
Mean Kc

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
1/1/2000 3/2/2000 5/2/2000 7/2/2000 9/1/2000 11/1/200 1/1/2001
0
Month

Agrimet for 2000 Allen-Robison - 14 yr ave. METRIC for 2000

The advantage of the ETIdaho model was year-long estimates