Advancing Stormwater Beneficial Uses: ET Mapping in Urban Areas

In the United States, monitoring evapotranspiration (ET) is primarily focused in agricultural and wildland environments. With educational advancements stressing water conservation in urban areas, there is a newfound desire to apply ET data as part of wastewater reuse options for supplemental irrigation, and for more accurate modeling of rain garden and green roof controls for stormwater management. Unfortunately, most publicly available data located near urban areas is found to be substantially different from a well-watered landscape surface and required conversion for use. Likewise, adjustment factors for different landscape surfaces are, in most cases, developed for agricultural situations and their use in highly disturbed urban environments has not been well documented. One of the products of this research examined these available ET values and then mapped them for major urban areas. The product of mapping these locations will be used in conjunction with associated rainfall information to calculate irrigation requirements in urban areas as part of a Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF)-sponsored project on the beneficial uses of stormwater.