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Understanding Evaporation in Hydrology

Evaporation is the conversion of liquid water to vapor, influenced by factors such as solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. The rate of evaporation is determined by the difference between saturated vapor pressure and actual vapor pressure, and can be measured using evaporimeters, empirical formulas, or analytical methods. Among these, analytical methods yield more accurate results, although they are complex, while pan measurements are widely used for practical applications.

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104 views2 pages

Understanding Evaporation in Hydrology

Evaporation is the conversion of liquid water to vapor, influenced by factors such as solar radiation, temperature, and wind speed. The rate of evaporation is determined by the difference between saturated vapor pressure and actual vapor pressure, and can be measured using evaporimeters, empirical formulas, or analytical methods. Among these, analytical methods yield more accurate results, although they are complex, while pan measurements are widely used for practical applications.

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Ozzie Ozzie
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HYDROLOGY: EVAPORATION

Evaporation is the process by which liquid water from water bodies (rivers, ponds, lakes) or soil is converted to
vapor. It is commonly expressed in mm/h or in/hr.
Water molecules in a water body are tightly held by intermolecular forces. In evaporation, energy is consumed
to overcome these forces and move the molecules away. The energy required to move to the vapor form is called
the latent heat of vaporization (λ). Its value is about 2.5 MJ/kg; this also depends upon temperature and is
computed by:

𝛌 = 𝟐. 𝟓𝟎𝟏 − 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟐𝟑𝟔(𝐓) where T = Temperature in degrees Celsius

The figure shows that under normal conditions, there is a regular


exchange of molecules between a water body and the atmosphere.

The rate at which water is converted into vapor is called the rate of
vaporization. While the rate at which water vapor is converted to liquid water, is called the rate of condensation.

When the vapor pressure is low, vaporization takes place, and so does evaporation. If the rate of vaporization
equals condensation, the air is saturated and evaporation stops. The difference between saturated vapor
pressure (es) and vapor pressure of the air (ea) determines the rate of evaporation. As this difference
increases, evaporation also increases, and vice versa.

Factors that affect evaporation in open water include solar radiation, temperature of the water and air,
difference in vapor pressure between water and the overlying air, and wind speed across the lake.

The amount of water evaporated from a water surface is estimated by the following methods: (a) using
evaporimeter data, (b) empirical formulas and (c) analytical formulas.

Evaporimeters are water-containing pans exposed to the atmosphere wherein loss of water is monitored at
regular intervals.
Where each pan has a coefficient given by CP, so that lake evaporation is estimated as,
Lake Evaporation = (CP ) X (pan evaporation)
Examples of these are the following:
Empirical Equations commonly used meteorological data. Some formulas are enumerated below:

Analytical Methods include the water budget, energy budget and mass transfer methods.

Between the three approaches, 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.

PRACTICE PROBLEMS:

1. A sunken pan was set-up adjacent to a lake. The depth of water in the pan at the beginning of the week was
195mm. In that week, there was rainfall of 45mm and 15mm of water was removed from the pan to keep the
water level within the specified depth range. If the depth of water in the pan at the end of the week was
190mm, calculate the pan evaporation. Using a pan coefficient of 0.78, estimate the lake evaporation in that
week.

2. The monthly pan evaporation measured in a lake for the month of January was 16.7 cm. If the average water
surface area is 2.55 km2, estimate the evaporation loss that month in cubic meters if the pan coefficient is 0.70?

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