Abstract
Net radiation () values are necessary for estimating evapotranspiration. Accurate measurement of its four components is made with pyranometers and pyrgeometers. Measurement of is made also with net radiometers at a lower cost. They are equipped with polyethylene hemispherical domes to reduce natural ventilation and thermal convection. Domeless net radiometers (NR-Lite) are used to reduce maintenance and care. In this work a comparison was made with the measurements of a domed net radiometer (Q-7.1). Also, a comparison between two NR-Lite net radiometers was made. Measurements using the NR-Lite were less than that measured with the Q-7.1 with underestimations ranging from 8 to 12%. The NR-Lite had been continuously working for three years and had not been recalibrated. This may have been the cause of this increasing error over time. The differences between measurements of both types of sensors increased with wind speed. Also, a diurnal dependence of sensor measurements with the solar elevation angle was detected. Both net radiometers performed well for estimating daily and hourly Penman–Monteith ASCE reference evapotranspiration (). However, when daily estimations were obtained from hourly calculations, the Q-7.1 net radiometer showed more accuracy to estimate . The overall conclusion of this study is that the NR-Lite net radiometer can be used with confidence at locations where sensor maintenance is difficult.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 19, 2015
Accepted: May 25, 2016
Published online: Jul 15, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 15, 2016
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Architectural engineering
- Benefit cost ratios
- Building management
- Business management
- Chemical processes
- Chemistry
- Comparative studies
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Equipment and machinery
- Evaporation
- Evapotranspiration
- Financial management
- Hydrologic engineering
- Maintenance and operation
- Materials engineering
- Measuring instruments
- Methodology (by type)
- Plastics
- Polyethylene
- Practice and Profession
- Probe instruments
- Radiation
- Research methods (by type)
- Synthetic materials
- Water and water resources
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