CEC 102

EVAPORATION
Evaporation is the escape of water to the atmosphere in form of water vapour.
Evaporation occurs in water bodies such as reservoirs, river channels, lake, ocean, ponds and
streams. It also occurs on soil surfaces.
Evaporation is a two-phase process. The first phase occurs when water molecules acquire
sufficient energy to break through the water surface and escape into the atmosphere. This
energy is provided principally by solar radiation. The second phase consists of transporting the
vapor molecules from the vicinity of the water surface into the atmosphere. This is controlled
by the difference between the vapor pressure of the body of water and that of the air for
molecular diffusion, and by the wind speed for evaporation due to convection.

FACTORS AFFECTING EVAPORATION

There are many factors on which the rate of evaporation depends:
1. Solar radiation
2. Air and water temperature
3. Atmospheric pressure
4. Relative humidity
5. Water temperature
6. Wind speed
7. Quality of water and
8. Surface area of the evaporating surface.
9. Salinity of the water

IMPORTANCE OF EVAPORATION
Evaporation is important in all aspect of water resources. It affects the yield of river basin
the capacity of reservoir, the size of pumping plant, the consumptive use of water by crops
and the yield of underground supplies.
MEASUREMENT OF EVAPORATION
Evaporation from water bodies can be measured by any of the following methods:
1. Comparative methods such as pan evaporation and atmometers e.g Piche Evaporimeter
2. Aerodynamic methods such as eddy correlation, gradient, and mass transfer
3. Balance methods such as water budget and energy budget
4. Combination methods such as the Penman method
 Measurement of soil evaporation can be done with tanks (lysimeters)

ESTIMATING EVAPORATION USING EVAPORATION PAN

The most common method of estimating evaporation from a free-water body is by means of an
evaporation pan. The pans are of different types.
 i) Floating pans: These pans are made of galvanized iron of 90 cm square and 45 cm deep
and are mounted on a raft floating in water. The volume of water lost due to
evaporation in the pan is determined by knowing the volume of water required to bring
the level of water up to the original mark daily and after making allowance for rainfall, if
there has been any.

ii) Land pan: land evaporation pans called CLASS A Pans are installed in the vicinity of the
reservoir or lake to determine the lake evaporation. This pan, built of unpainted
galvanized iron, is 122 cm (4 ft) in diameter by 5 cm in depth, and is mounted on a
wooden frame 10 cm. above the ground, to circulate the air beneath the pan. The
water surface level is measured twice (at 08:30 and 17:30 hours I.S.T.) daily by a hook
gauge in a stilling well. The evaporation is computed as the difference in the observed
levels adjusted for any precipitation during observation intervals. The air temperature
is determined by reading a dry bulb thermometer kept in the Stevenson’s screen
erected in the same enclosure of the pan. A totalizing anemometer is normally
mounted at the level of the instrument to provide the wind speed information
required. Allowance has to be made for rainfall, if there has been any. Water is added
to the pan from a graduated cylinder to bring the water level to the original mark, i.e., 5
cm below the top of the pan. It has been observed that evaporation occurs more
rapidly from a pan than from larger water bodies.

iii) Colarado sunken pan: This is 92 cm square and 42-92 cm deep and is sunk in the
ground such that only 5-15 cm depth projects above the ground surface and thus the
water level is maintained almost at the ground level. The evaporation is measured by a
point gauge.
Pan coefficient: It has been observed that evaporation occurs more rapidly from a pan than
from larger water bodies. This is due to differences in physical and climatological factors. For
example, a lake is larger and deeper and may be exposed to different wind speed, as compared
to a pan. The small volume of water in the metallic pan is greatly affected by temperature
fluctuations in the air or by solar radiations in contrast with large bodies of water (in the
reservoir) with little temperature fluctuations. Thus the pan evaporation data have to be
corrected to obtain the actual evaporation from water surfaces of lakes and reservoirs, i.e., by
multiplying by a coefficient called pan coefficient and is defined as

Lake evaporation
Pan coefficient = Pan evaporatio
EL = KEP
Where EL = Evaporation from lake or water body
EP = Evaporation from pan
K = Pan coefficient
EXAMPLE: 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 (mm) -5 3 0 0 7 4 3
(remove
d)

What is the evaporation loss of water in this week from a lake (surface area = 640 ha) in the
vicinity, assuming a pan coefficient of 0.75?

Solution:
Pan evaporation, E p (mm) = Rainfall + water added or - water removed
DAY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14 -- 5 = 9 6+3=9 12 8 0+7=7 5+4=9 6+3 = 9

E p (mm)

Pan evaporation in the week = ∑ E p = 63 mm

El
Pan coefficient 0.75 =
∴ Lake evaporation during the week EL = 63 × 0.75 = 47.25 mm
Ep

Piche Evaporimeter
It is usually kept suspended in a Stevenson screen. It consists of a disc of filter paper kept
constantly saturated with water from a graduated glass tube as shown in the figure below. The
loss of water from the tube over a known period gives the average rate of evaporation. Though
it is a simple instrument, the readings obtained are often more erratic than those from
standard pans

Piche evaporimeter

SOIL EVAPORATION
The evaporation from a wet soil surface immediately after rain or escape of water molecules
with more resistance when the water table lies within a metre from the ground is called soil
evaporation.
Soil evaporation will continue at a high rate for some time after the cessation of rainfall, then
decreases as the ground surface starts drying, until a constant rate is reached which is
dependent on the depth of the water table and nature of the soil in addition to meteorological
conditions.
Measurement of soil evaporation can be done with tanks (lysimeters) filled with earth and
with the surface almost flush with the ground
To measure the evaporation from a soil whose surface is within the capillary fringe, tanks
equipped to maintain the water table at any desired elevation may be used. The soil
evaporation is determined by weighing the tanks at stated intervals and knowing the amount
of water that was added in the interim.

Lysimeter For Measuring Soil Evaporation

EXERCISE
Enumerate ten ways to reduce lake/reservoir evaporation

TRANSPIRATION
Tanspiration is the process by which the water vapour escapes from the living plant leaves and
enters the atmosphere.

Various methods are devised by botanists for the measurement of transpiration and one of the
widely used methods is by phytometer. It consists of a closed water tight tank with sufficient
soil for plant growth with only the plant exposed; water is applied artificially till the plant
growth is complete. The equipment is weighed in the beginning (W1) and at the end of the
experiment (W2). Water applied during the growth (w) is measured and the water consumed
by transpiration (Wt ) is obtained as
Wt = (W1 + w) – W2
Evaporation losses are high in arid regions where water is impounded while transpiration is the
major water loss in humid regions.

EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Evapotranspiration (Et ) or consumptive use (U) is the total water lost from a cropped (or
irrigated) land due to evaporation from the soil and transpiration by the plants or used by the
plants in building up of plant tissue. Potential evapotranspiration (Ept) is the
evapotranspiration from the short green vegetation when the roots are supplied with
unlimited water covering the soil. It is usually expressed as a depth (cm, mm) over the area.

Estimation of Evapotranspiration
The following are some of the methods of estimating evapotranspiration:
(i) Tanks and lysimeter experiments
(ii) Field experimental plots
(iii) Installation of sunken (colarado) tanks
(iv) Evapotranspiration equations as developed by Lowry-Johnson, Penman, Thornthwaite,
Blaney-Criddle, etc.
(v) Evaporation index method, i.e., from pan evaporation data

One of the most widely used methods is the Evaporation equation developed by Blaney-Criddle
referred to as Blaney-Criddle method.
Evaporation Equation - Blaney-Criddle method. This method is used throughout the world for
the consumptive use determinations and is given by :

where
U = seasonal consumptive use (inches in FPS units and cm in metric units)

t = mean monthly temperature (°F in FPS units and °C in metric units)

p = monthly percentage of hours of bright sunshine (of the year)
k = monthly consumptive use coefficient determined from experimental data
f = monthly consumptive use factor K,
F = seasonal values of consumptive use coefficient and factor, respectively Σ refers for the
summation for all the months of the growing season.
Example: Determine the evapotranspiration for wheat, if the water application efficiency is
65% and the consumptive use coefficient for the growing season is 0.8 from the following data

Factors Affecting Evapotranspiration

The following factors affect the evapotranspiration:
(i) Climatological factors like percentage sunshine hours, wind speed, mean monthly
temperature and humidity.
(ii) Crop factors like the type of crop and the percentage growing season.
(iii) The moisture level in the soil.
 INFILTRATION
Water entering the soil at the ground surface is called infiltration. It replenishes the soil
moisture deficiency and the excess moves downward by the force of gravity called deep
seepage or percolation and builds up the ground water table. The maximum rate at which the
soil in any given condition is capable of absorbing water is called its infiltration capacity (f p).
Infiltration (f) often begins at a high rate (20 to 25 cm/hr) and decreases to a fairly steady state
rate (fc ) as the rain continues, called the ultimate fp (= 1.25 to 2.0 cm/hr)

The infiltration rate (f) at any time t is given by Horton’s equation.

f = fc + (fo – fc ) e–kt
fc−fo
k= Fc
where f0 = initial rate of infiltration capacity
fc = final constant rate of infiltration at saturation
k = a constant depending primarily upon soil and vegetation
e = base of the Napierian logarithm
Fc = shaded area
t = time from beginning of the storm

The infiltration depends upon the intensity and duration of rainfall, weather
(temperature), soil characteristics, vegetal cover, land use, initial soil moisture content
(initial wetness), entrapped air and depth of the ground water table. The vegetal cover
provides protection against rain drop impact and helps to increase infiltration.

Methods of Determining Infiltration

The methods of determining infiltration are:
(i) Infiltrometers
(ii) Observation in pits and ponds
(iii) Placing a catch basin below a laboratory sample
(iv) Artificial rain simulators (v) Hydrograph analysis

(i) Double-ring infiltrometer: A double ring infiltrometer is shown below. The two rings
(22.5 to 90 cm diameter) are driven into the ground by a driving plate and hammer, to
penetrate into the soil uniformly without tilt or undue disturbance of the soil surface to
a depth of 15 cm. After driving is over, any disturbed soil adjacent to the sides tamped
with a metal tamper. Point gauges are fixed in the centre of the rings and in the annular
space between the two rings. Water is poured into the rings to maintain the desired
depth (2.5 to 15 cm with a minimum of 5 mm) and the water added to maintain the
original constant depth at regular time intervals (after the commencement of the
experiment) of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60 min, etc. up to a period of atleast 6 hours is
noted and the results are plotted as infiltration rate in cm/hr versus time in minutes as
 shown in Fig. 3.8. The purpose of the outer tube is to eliminate to some extent the edge
effect of the surrounding drier soil and to prevent the water within the inner space
from spreading over a larger area after penetrating below the bottom of the ring.

Double ring infiltrometer

Tube infiltrometer: This consists of a single tube about 22.5 cm diameter and 45 to 60 cm long
which is driven into the ground at least to a depth up to which the water percolates during the
experiment and thus no lateral spreading of water can occur . The water added into the tube at
regular time intervals to maintain a constant depth is noted from which the infiltration curve
can be drawn

Tube Infiltrometer