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Evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models

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Abstract

Actual evapotranspiration is a key process of hydrological cycle and a sole term that links land surface water balance and land surface energy balance. Evapotranspiration plays a key role in simulating hydrological effect of climate change, and a review of evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models is of vital importance. This paper firstly summarizes the evapotranspiration estimation methods applied in hydrological models and then classifies them into the integrated converting methods and the classification gathering methods by their mechanism. Integrated converting methods are usually used in hydrological models and two differences exist among them: one is in the potential evaporation estimation methods, while the other in the function for defining relationship between potential evaporation and actual evapotranspiration. Due to the higher information requirements of the Penman-Monteith method and the existing data uncertainty, simplified empirical methods for calculating potential and actual evapotranspiration are widely used in hydrological models. Different evapotranspiration calculation methods are used depending on the complexity of the hydrological model, and importance and difficulty in the selection of the most suitable evapotranspiration methods is discussed. Finally, this paper points out the prospective development trends of the evapotranspiration estimating methods in hydrological modeling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle & Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Lingling Zhao, Jun Xia & Zhonggen Wang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Lingling Zhao

  3. State Key Lab. of Water Resources & Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Jun Xia

  4. Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Chong-yu Xu

  5. Department of Hydrology and Water Management, Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland

    Leszek Sobkowiak

  6. Puyang Water Conservancy Bureau, Puyang, 457000, Henan, China

    Cangrui Long

Authors
  1. Lingling Zhao
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  2. Jun Xia
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  3. Chong-yu Xu
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  4. Zhonggen Wang
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  5. Leszek Sobkowiak
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Correspondence to Jun Xia.

Additional information

Foundation: CAS-CSIRO Cooperative Research Program, No.CJHZ1223; National Basic Research Program of China, No.2010CB428406

Author: Zhao Lingling, Ph.D, specialized in hydrological cycle simulation.

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Zhao, L., Xia, J., Xu, Cy. et al. Evapotranspiration estimation methods in hydrological models. J. Geogr. Sci. 23, 359–369 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-013-1015-9

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