Chapter- Three

Evaporation
 Outlines
 3.1 Definition of evaporation and types of abstractions
 3.2 Factors affecting evaporation
 3.3 Measurement of evaporation
 Types of Evaporation Pan
 Pan coefficient
 3.4 Empirical Evaporation Equations
 Water-budget method
 Energy balance method
 Mass transfer method
 3.5. Evapotranspiration and its Estimation
 Penman Montieth Method
 3Makkinks Method
 Evaporation

 Evaporation is the Process by which water is changed from the

liquid state into the gaseous (vapour) state through the transfer of
heat energy.
 It occurs when some water molecules attain sufficient kinetic
energy to break through the water surface & escape into the
atmosphere.
 Due to continuous supply of heat more molecules accumulate, then
air becomes saturated.
 Evaporation is the net escape of water molecules from liquid to gas.
 Evaporation & particle motion
 For evaporation to continue
there should be:
 Constant water supply
 Constant heat supply
 Vapour deficit in the
atmosphere Evaporation is the
escape of fast-moving particles
from the surface of a liquid.
 Thus, some particles have
higher K.E.! Evaporation and
particle motion Different
particles have different velocity
Factors affecting Rate of Evaporation
 Energy supply for  Relative humidity gradient
vaporization (latent heat) above surface
 Solar radiation  Vegetated surfaces
 Temperature  Supply of moisture to the
 Heat storage capacity surface
 Surface roughness
 Transport of vapour
 Evapotranspiration (ET)
away from evaporative  Potential
surface Evapotranspiration (PET)-
Moisture supply is not
limited.
Factors affecting………
 Vapour pressure

 es – the saturation vapour pressure at the water

atmosphere
 ea – the actual vapour pressure in the air
 EL – rate of evaporation (mm/day)
 Evaporation continues till es=ea, if es>ea condensation
takes place
 Terminology
 Transpiration is the evaporation occurring through
plant leaves (stomata openings).
 Evapo-Transpiration (ET) is a combined loss of
water vapor from within the leaves of plants
(transpiration) and evaporation of liquid water from
water surfaces, bare soil and vegetative surfaces.
 Potential Evaporation (PE) is the climate
controlled evaporation from an open water surface
with unlimited supply and (no thermal capacity).
 Estimation of Evaporation
 Purposes of evaporation estimation are for:
 Planning and operation of irrigation projects,
 Estimating evaporation from large water bodies like
reservoirs and lakes,
 Planning and operation of other water resources schemes,
 The following methods are used to estimate evaporation:
I. Evaporimeter data,
II. Empirical evaporation equations,
III. Analytical methods ,
 Evaporimeter is an instrument that measures the rate of
evaporation of water into the atmosphere, sometimes it is
called an atmometer.
 Evaporation Stations
 WMO recommended the following values of
minimum density of evaporimeters /Evaporation
stations
 Arid Zones-One station for every 30,000 sq.km area,

 Humid Temperate Zones-One station for every

50,000 sq.km area,
 Cold regions-One station for every 100,000 sq.km
 Types of evaporimeter
I US Class A Evaporation Pan
A pan of diameter 1210mm and
depth 255mm
Depth of water is maintained
between 18 and 20cm
The pan is made of unpainted
Galvanized Iron (GI) sheet
The pan is placed on a wooden
platform of height 15cm above
ground level to allow free air
circulation below the pan
Evaporation is measured by
measuring the depth of water in a
stilling well with a hook gauge
Cp~0.70
II. ISI Standard Pan (modified US Class A Evaporation Pan)
 Specified by IS:5973 and known as modified US Class A Pan
 A pan of diameter 1220 mm and depth 255 mm
 The pan is made of copper sheet (CS) 0.9 mm thick, tinned inside
and painted white outside
 The pan is placed on a square wooden platform of width 1225mm
and height 100 mm above ground level to allow free air
circulation below the pan
 A fixed point gauge indicates the level of water
 Water is added to or removed from the pan to maintain the water
level at a fixed mark using a calibrated cylindrical measure
 The top of the pan is covered with a hexagonal wire mesh of GI to
protect water in the pan from birds
 Presence of the wire mesh makes the temperature of water more
uniform during the day and night
 Evaporation from this pan is about 14% lower as compared to that
 III. Colorado Sunken Pan
 Buried in to the ground
 920 mm square and 460 mm
deep
 Made of GI
 Advantage
 Radiation & aerodynamic
characteristic are similar to
those of a lake
 Disadvantage
 Difficult to detect leaks
 Extra care is needed to keep
the surrounding area free from
tall grass
 Expensive to install
 cp~0.75
 IV. USGS Floating Pan
A square pan of 900 mm sides and 450 mm deep
 Supported by drum floats in the middle of a raft of size
4.25m x 4.87m, it is set a float in a lake with a view to
simulate the characteristics of a large body of water
 Water level in the pan is maintained at the same level as
that in the lake, leaving a rim of 75 mm
 Diagonal baffles are provided in the pan to reduce surging
in the pan due to wave action
 Disadvantages-High cost of installation and maintenance,
difficulty in making measurements
 Cp~0.80
 Types of Evaporimeters
 Pan Coefficient (cp)
Evaporation pans are not exact models of large reservoirs
 Their major drawbacks are the following
 They differ from reservoirs in the heat storage capacity and heat
transfer characteristics from the sides and the bottom (sunken and
floating pans aim to minimize this problem).
 The height of the rim in an evaporation pan affects wind action
over the water surface in the pan. Also it casts a shadow of varying
size on the water surface.
 The heat transfer characteristics of the pan material is different
form that of a reservoir.
 Hence evaporation measured from a pan has to be corrected to get
the evaporation from open water body under identical climatic and
exposure conditions.
 Evaporation from open water = Pan Coefficient x Pan Evaporation
 Values of Pan Coefficients

Example 3.1:
 US Weather Service Class A evaporation pan was set up adjacent to a lake. The depth of
water in the pan at the beginning of a certain week was 195 mm. In that week there was a
precipitation depth of 45 mm and 15 mm water was removed from the pan to keep the
water level within the specified depth range. If the depth of the water in the pan at the end
of the week was 190 mm, calculate the pan evaporation. Using suitable pan coefficients
estimate the lake evaporation in that week.
 Combined Evaporation Equations
Values of es and s can be obtained as follows:

 Pa= 101.3 (293-0.0065*Z/293)^5.26

 y= 0.00066*Pa
 The following meteorological data are required
 Tmin, Tmax minimum and maximum temperature of the air (oC), or if
not available, the mean temperature, Ta
 RH = relative humidity
 U2 = wind speed (m/s)
 Rn = net radiation (W.m-2) or the relative sunshine duration, n/
 Example 3.4
 The following meteorological data are collected in Ethiopia at
15oN latitude for the month of June at an altitude of 1000 masl.
Min. and max. temperatures are 23 oC and 35 oC , RA= 435
w/m2, wind speed at a height of 2 m is 2.1 m/s, sunshine hours
equals 10 hours, RH=38 % and N=13 hours. By neglecting heat
storage below evaporating surface calculate evaporation from a
reservoir located in this area.
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.
 Factors Affecting Rate of Evaporation
Atmospheric
conditions/Meteorological
factors
 Solar radiation Physicalfactors/
 Temperature Evaporating surface
 Heat storage capacity factors
Impurities
 Wind velocity over
Reflection coefficient
surface
(Albedo)
 Relative humidity Roughness of the
gradient above surface
surface Heat storage capacity
 Transpiration (T)
 Transpiration is affected by plant physiology and
environmental factors such as:
 Type of vegetation
 Stage and growth of plants

 Soil conditions (type and moisture)

 Climate and weather conditions
 Evapotranspiration (ET)
 ET is the collective processes of evaporation from the land surface
and transpiration from vegetation.
 Potential Evapotranspiration (PET)-Moisture supply is not limited.
 Factors affecting evapotranspiration
 Atmospheric conditions
 Temperature
 Wind velocity
 Etc.
 Physical factors
 Impurities
 Reflection coefficient (Albedo)
 Etc.
 Characteristics of the plant/ plant physiology Such as the root and
the leaf systems
 Measurements of Evapotranspiration
1. Field experimental plots
2. Soil moisture depletion studies
3. Water balance method
4. Analytical equations
5. Combined method
Water balance method
 The water balance method, also called the inflow-
outflow method, is suitable for large areas
(watersheds) over long periods.
 Evapo-transpiration = Precipitation + Irrigation
input - runoff - sub-surface drainage (ground water
loss) - change in soil water contents
Evapotranspiration Analytical Equations
 Evapotranspiration is often predicted on the
basis of Climatological data.
 Relate the magnitude and variation of ET to one
or more climatic factors such as temperature,
day length, humidity, wind, sunshine, etc.
I.Penman-Monteith (1965)

Where:
rc (s.m-1) = the crop resistance
Cont.…
 II. Makkink (1957) ET in (mm.d-1)

 The constant cm = 0.65 and the other symbols

have been explained above. The equation of
Makkink is also known as the Radiation
method.
 Quiz
1. What are the different factors that are affecting
evaporation? How evaporation could be measured?
2. Explain briefly about analytical methods used for
estimating evaporation.
3. Differentiate between Evaporimeters, empirical
equations & analytical methods in estimating
evaporation.
4. Differentiate between evaporation, evapotranspiration,
and transpiration?
5. What is the difference between Penman-Monteith &
Makkink’s evapotranspiration estimation methods
 Chapter – Four
Infiltration

Outlines
4.1. Infiltration Process

4.2. Factors affecting infiltration

4.3. Measurement of infiltration

4.4. Estimation of infiltration rates

4.4.1. ɸ-Index

4.4.2. W-Index
 Infiltration
 Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil from the
ground surface,
 Infiltration first replenishes the soil moisture deficiency,
 Infiltration is responsible for subsurface and ground water flow,
 The supply to groundwater reservoir also depends upon
infiltration,
 Percolation provides space for infiltration to continue otherwise it
will stop,
 The infiltration rate is used for the computation of the water loss
due to infiltration for the determination of the surface runoff,
 Infiltration has high initial rate that diminishes during continuous
rainfall towards a nearly constant lower rate,
 Infiltration rate, f expressed in centimeters per hour, is the rate at
which water enters the soil at the surface.
 Infiltration Capacity
 One of the earliest infiltration equations was developed
by Horton (1939) who observed that “Infiltration
begins at some rate, fo and exponentially decreases
until it reaches a constant rate, fc”
 Philip's Equation (1969)
 cumulative infiltration, F(t) which is approximated by:
 F(t) =St½+ Kt
Where:
S=a parameter called sorptivity which is a function of
the soil suction potential,
K=the hydraulic conductivity.
By differentiation we can get:
f(t)=1/2* St -½+K
Factors affecting infiltration rates
 Soil moisture
 Type of soil medium
 Permeability
 Vegetation cover
 Storm characteristics
 Compaction of soil
 Available storage in soil stratum
 Depth of surface detention
 Temperature of water
 Other factors
 Measurement of infiltration capacity
The following two types of infiltrometer are
commonly used in practice:
1. Flooding type infiltrometer
2. Rainfall simulator-type infiltrometer
 1. Infiltration indices
 An average constant value of infiltration is
called infiltration index.
 Two types of infiltration indices are commonly
used.-index
1. -index
2. w-index
 They are extremely used for the analysis of
major floods when the soil is wet and the
infiltration rate becomes constant.
 - index

 The value of - index can be derived from the

rainfall hyetograph and the resulting surface
runoff volume by trial and error.

 The unshaded area below the horizontal line is assumed that all
losses are due to infiltration only.
 For determination of -index, a horizontal line is drawn on the
hyetograph such that the shaded area above that line is equal to the
volume of surface runoff.
 If the shaded area is not equal to the volume of measured surface
runoff, the horizontal line is shifted upwards or downwards till this
 W-index

 W-index=(P-R-S)/tf

 Where: P=total storm precipitation (cm)

 R=total surface runoff (cm) S=depression and
interception losses (cm) tf=time period (in
hours)
 The W-index is more accurate than the W-index
because it excludes the interception and
 Example 4.1
Estimate Ø-index for the catchment having an
area of 2.26 km2. The observed runoff caused by
a rainfall of 282, 097 m3

Example 4.2
For a storm of 3-hr duration, the rainfall rates are as
follows

If the surface runoff is 3.4 cm, determine the Ø-index and w-

index.
 Quiz
1. What are the factors that are affecting Infiltration? How

infiltration could be measured?

2. Explain briefly about the different methods used for estimating

infiltration.

3. Differentiate between the different types of Infiltrometers used

for estimating infiltration.

4. Differentiate between infiltration and percolation?

5. What is the difference between Ø-index and w-index for

infiltration estimation?