Comparison of Standardized Reference Evapotranspiration Equations in Southern Spain
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 1
Abstract
ASCE and FAO-56 standardized reference evapotranspiration equations were compared using data from 31 meteorological stations in Andalusia, Southern Spain. Comparisons were made between daily obtained by summing hourly standardized ASCE–Penman–Monteith estimations and calculated from the addition of hourly FAO56–Penman–Monteith estimations, daily estimated on a daily basis, and calculated by the Hargreaves equation. On an hourly basis, the FAO-56 version estimated lower than the ASCE version as 6% in some locations, with a difference of 4% on the average, mainly due to the higher surface resistance used in the FAO-56 version during daytime periods, as opposed to the value used by the ASCE version. Differences between both estimates were higher when evaporative demand increases. The level of agreement improved when the two computational time steps were compared, because differences were lower (2% on the average) and did not depend on the wind speed or values. The Hargreaves equation showed a higher spatial variability. At coastal areas, the equation generally underpredicted ASCE Penman–Monteith and provided good estimations for inland locations. Accuracy of the equation was affected by annual averages of evaporative demand and wind speed.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by the Spanish National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIA) under Project Nos. UNSPECIFIEDRTA01-124 and UNSPECIFIEDRTA04-063. The writers are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. Furthermore, they thank Mr. Juan de Haro for his valuable work in the Agroclimatic Information Network of Andalusia.
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 1 • February 2008
Pages: 1 - 12
Copyright
© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 23, 2006
Accepted: Mar 29, 2007
Published online: Feb 1, 2008
Published in print: Feb 2008
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