RN-16 : Estimation of evapotranspiration for variable water table situations

Abstract

Many investigators have studied rates of evaporation from soils where water table is at shallow depth. The rate of evaporation may be controlled by either the capacity of the atmospheric environment to evaporate water or the capacity of the soil to transmit water to the surface. A review note has been prepared which gives in detail the methods for estimation of evapotranspiration which considers both the soil properties and meteorological factors. The evaporation rate decreases with water table depth more steeply in coarse textured soil than in fine textured soils.