UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHEASTERN PHILIPPINES

Bo. Obrero, Davao City

In partial fulfillment on the subject

WATER RESOURCES (MEPCE 139)

Laboratory Exercise #6

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION

Submitted by: ENGR. JOHN CARLO O. ASIS

Submitted to: DR. IRVIN C. GENERALAO
November 2019

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Contents

1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................3
1.1. Units................................................................................................3
2 OBJECTIVES.........................................................................................5
3 EVAPORATION.......................................................................................6
4 TRANSPIRATION....................................................................................7
5 WEATHER PARAMETERS.......................................................................8
6 MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS...........................8
7 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION MEASUREMENT............................................10
1.2. Davao River Watershed Divide Computation for Potential
Evapotranspiration using Thornthwaite’s Method:..................................10
8 COMMENTS.........................................................................................12
9 REFERENCES......................................................................................13

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 1 INTRODUCTION

Evapotranspiration (ET) is a physical process that refers both to evaporation

from soil and vegetative surface and transpiration from plants. Allen et al.
(1998) defined reference evapotranspiration (ET0) which represents a
complex nonlinear process. Its accurate estimation is needed for water
resource planning and management, irrigation system design and irrigation
scheduling (Petković et al., 2015). Evaporation and transpiration occur
simultaneously and there is no easy way of distinguishing between the two
processes. Apart from the water availability in the topsoil, the evaporation
from a cropped soil is mainly determined by the fraction of the solar
radiation reaching the soil surface. This fraction decreases over the growing
period as the crop develops and the crop canopy shades more and more of
the ground area. When the crop is small, water is predominately lost by soil
evaporation, but once the crop is well developed and completely covers the
soil, transpiration becomes the main process (“Chapter 1—Introduction to
evapotranspiration,” n.d.).

1.1. Units

The evapotranspiration rate is normally expressed in millimeters (mm) per

unit time. The rate expresses the amount of water lost from a cropped
surface in units of water depth. The time unit can be an hour, day, decade,
month or even an entire growing period or year.

As one hectare has a surface of 10000 m 2 and 1 mm is equal to 0.001 m, a

loss of 1 mm of water corresponds to a loss of 10 m 3 of water per hectare. In
other words, 1 mm day-1 is equivalent to 10 m3 ha-1 day-l.

Water depths can also be expressed in terms of energy received per unit
area. The energy refers to the energy or heat required to vaporize free water.
This energy, known as the latent heat of vaporization (l), is a function of the
water temperature. For example, at 20°C, l is about 2.45 MJ kg-1. In other
words, 2.45 MJ are needed to vaporize 1 kg or 0.001 m3 of water. Hence, an

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energy input of 2.45 MJ per m2 is able to vaporize 0.001 m or 1 mm of
water, and therefore 1 mm of water is equivalent to 2.45 MJ m -2. The
evapotranspiration rate expressed in units of MJ m-2 day-1 is represented
by l ET, the latent heat flux.

Table 1 summarizes the units used to express the evapotranspiration rate

and the conversion factors.

(“Chapter 1—Introduction to evapotranspiration,” n.d.)

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 2 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this report is to know the different ideas and details
regarding Evapotranspiration, that includes:

1. Evaporation
2. Transpiration
3. Weather Parameters
4. Management and Environmental Conditions
5. Evapotranspiration Measurement

3 EVAPORATION

Evaporation is a type
of vaporization that occurs on

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the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. The surrounding gas
must not be saturated with the evaporating substance. When the molecules
of the liquid collide, they transfer energy to each other based on how they
collide with each other. When a molecule near the surface absorbs enough
energy to overcome the vapor pressure, it will escape and enter the
surrounding air as a gas. When evaporation occurs, the energy removed
from the vaporized liquid will reduce the temperature of the liquid, resulting
in evaporative cooling.

On average, only a fraction of the molecules in a liquid have enough heat

energy to escape from the liquid. The evaporation will continue until an
equilibrium is reached when the evaporation of the liquid is equal to its
condensation. In an enclosed environment, a liquid will evaporate until the
surrounding air is saturated.

Evaporation is an essential part of the water cycle. The sun (solar energy)

drives evaporation of water from oceans, lakes, moisture in the soil, and
other sources of water. In hydrology, evaporation and transpiration (which
involves evaporation within plant stomata) are collectively
termed evapotranspiration. Evaporation of water occurs when the surface of
the liquid is exposed, allowing molecules to escape and form water vapor;
this vapor can then rise up and form clouds. With sufficient energy, the
liquid will turn into vapor. (“Evaporation,” 2019)

4 TRANSPIRATION

Transpiration is the process

of water movement through
a plant and
its evaporation from aerial
parts, such
as leaves, stems and flowers.

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Water is necessary for plants but only a small amount of water taken up by
the roots is used for growth and metabolism. The remaining 97–99.5% is
lost by transpiration and guttation. Leaf surfaces are dotted with pores
called stomata, and in most plants they are more numerous on the
undersides of the foliage. The stomata are bordered by guard cells and their
stomatal accessory cells (together known as stomatal complex) that open
and close the pore. Transpiration occurs through the stomatal apertures,
and can be thought of as a necessary "cost" associated with the opening of
the stomata to allow the diffusion of carbon dioxide gas from the air
for photosynthesis. Transpiration also cools plants, changes osmotic
pressure of cells, and enables mass flow of mineral nutrients and water
from roots to shoots. Two major factors influence the rate of water flow from
the soil to the roots: the hydraulic conductivity of the soil and the
magnitude of the pressure gradient through the soil. Both of these factors
influence the rate of bulk flow of water moving from the roots to the
stomatal pores in the leaves via the xylem. (“Transpiration,” 2019)

5 WEATHER PARAMETERS

The principal weather parameters affecting evapotranspiration are radiation,

air temperature, humidity and wind speed. Several procedures have been
developed to assess the evaporation rate from these parameters. The
evaporation power of the atmosphere is expressed by the reference crop
evapotranspiration. The reference crop evapotranspiration represents the
evapotranspiration from a standardized vegetated surface. (“Chapter 1—
Introduction to evapotranspiration,” n.d.)

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Reference evapotranspiration is an important agro-meteorological parameter
for climatological and hydrological studies, as well as for irrigation planning
and management. It is a climatic parameter and can be computed from
weather data. This work has shown the degree of the relationship between
ETo and climatic parameter, which depend on the prevailing climatic
conditions of the study area. The results obtained can help agriculturists
and engineers for effective irrigation planning and management. (Audu,
2015)

6 MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Factors such as soil salinity, poor land fertility, limited application of

fertilizers, the presence of hard or impenetrable soil horizons, the absence of
control of diseases and pests and poor soil management may limit the crop
development and reduce the evapotranspiration. Other factors to be
considered when assessing ET are ground cover, plant density and the soil
water content. The effect of soil water content on ET is conditioned primarily
by the magnitude of the water deficit and the type of soil. On the other
hand, too much water will result in waterlogging which might damage the
root and limit root water uptake by inhibiting respiration.

When assessing the ET rate, additional consideration should be given to the

range of management practices that act on the climatic and crop factors
affecting the ET process. Cultivation practices and the type of irrigation
method can alter the microclimate, affect the crop characteristics or affect
the wetting of the soil and crop surface. A windbreak reduces wind velocities
and decreases the ET rate of the field directly beyond the barrier. The effect
can be significant especially in windy, warm and dry conditions although
evapotranspiration from the trees themselves may offset any reduction in
the field. Soil evaporation in a young orchard, where trees are widely spaced,
can be reduced by using a well-designed drip or trickle irrigation system.
The drippers apply water directly to the soil near trees, thereby leaving the

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major part of the soil surface dry, and limiting the evaporation losses. The
use of mulches, especially when the crop is small, is another way of
substantially reducing soil evaporation. Anti-transpirants, such as stomata-
closing, film-forming or reflecting material, reduce the water losses from the
crop and hence the transpiration rate.

7 EVAPOTRANSPIRATION MEASUREMENT

Evapotranspiration is not easy to measure. Specific devices and accurate

measurements of various physical parameters or the soil water balance in
lysimeters are required to determine evapotranspiration. The methods are
often expensive, demanding in terms of accuracy of measurement and can
only be fully exploited by well-trained research personnel. Although the

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methods are inappropriate for routine measurements, they remain
important for the evaluation of ET estimates obtained by more indirect
methods.

Evaporation of water requires relatively large amounts of energy, either in

the form of sensible heat or radiant energy. Therefore, the
evapotranspiration process is governed by energy exchange at the vegetation
surface and is limited by the amount of energy available. Because of this
limitation, it is possible to predict the evapotranspiration rate by applying
the principle of energy conservation. The energy arriving at the surface must
equal the energy leaving the surface for the same time period. (“Chapter 1—
Introduction to evapotranspiration,” n.d.)

1.2. Davao River Watershed Divide Computation for Potential

Evapotranspiration using Thornthwaite’s Method:

Average minimum and maximum temperature over the year

(“Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines Monthly Weather | AccuWeather,”

n.d.)

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PET (Potential Evapotranspiration) in mm/month =
Heat Index,

Air Temperature,
(Sellinger, n.d.)

Total Volume Evapotranspiration for Davao River Watershed Divide:

Area = 175,960 Has or 1.7596x10^9 m²

Volume = 356.65mm x 1.7596x10^9

Volume = 6.2756x10^11 Liters or 627,561,340 m³

8 COMMENTS

Evapotranspiration is an important process in the water cycle because it is

responsible for 15% of the atmosphere’s water vapor.  Without that input of
water vapor, clouds couldn’t form and precipitation would never fall. 
Evapotranspiration is the combined name for the processes of evaporation

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and transpiration.  When water vapor is released into the atmosphere both
processes are involved, so they have been combined into one word to cover
all bases. Looking at the calculation on the Davao River Basin for potential
evapotranspiration, the total volume in a year is about 6.2756x10^11 Liters
or 627,561,340 m³. Converting this in average per month is 52,296,778.33
m³, 1,743,225.944 m³ per day and 72,634.41 m³ every hour.

Base on my research, the factors that affect evapotranspiration are

temperature, humidity, wind speed, water availability, soil type and plant
type. These factors are essential in identifying or computing the
evapotranspiration value of a place. Especially in our country where
temperature is very significant; as temperature increases, the rate of
evapotranspiration increases.  Evaporation increases because there is a
higher amount of energy available to convert the liquid water to water
vapor.  Transpiration increases because at warmer temperatures plants
open up their stomata and release more water vapor. Our country also has
very large area for plants, trees and crops can release copious amounts of
water vapor in a day.  For example, an acre of corn can release 4,000
gallons of water vapor a day and a single large oak tree can transpire 40,000
gallons of water vapor in a year. Therefore, our country contributes or has a
significant amount of evapotranspiration.

9 REFERENCES

Audu, M. (2015). Correlation of Evapotranspiration with Climatic

Parameters in some selected Cities in Nigeria. Journal of Earth

Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering, 5, 103–115.

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Chapter 1—Introduction to evapotranspiration. (n.d.). Retrieved November

25, 2019, from http://www.fao.org/3/x0490e/x0490e04.htm

Davao City, Davao del Sur, Philippines Monthly Weather | AccuWeather.

(n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2019, from

https://www.accuweather.com/en/ph/davao-city/262966/january-

weather/262966?year=2018

Evaporation. (2019). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Evaporation&oldid=926710899

Petković, D., Gocic, M., Trajkovic, S., Shamshirband, S., Motamedi, S.,

Hashim, R., & Bonakdari, H. (2015). Determination of the most

influential weather parameters on reference evapotranspiration by

adaptive neuro-fuzzy methodology. Computers and Electronics in

Agriculture, 114, 277–284.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2015.04.012

Sellinger, C. E. (n.d.). Computer program for estimating evapotranspiration

using the Thornthwaite Method. 9.

Transpiration. (2019). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Transpiration&oldid=927688143

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