Significance of soil surface moisture with respect to daily bare soil evaporation

Abstract

The significance of the soil surface moisture (0s) with respect to daily bare soil evaporation (Ea) is analyzed using data from numerical simulations. This was performed by running a mechanistic model of heat and water flows in the soil. The mechanistic model was calibrated and validated on three different soils with contrasted hydraulic properties. Results show that Os does not allow an accurate estimate of the ratio of Ea to the daily potential evaporation (EPa). Added variables such as Epa and the wind velocity are necessary to improve the prediction of the Ea/Epa ratio. In a second attempt, a simple model of E a is proposed. It is based on three empirical parameters and required the measurement of Os obtained at midday, Epa, and the daily wind velocity. For a given soil, a single set of the three parameters allows an accurate estimate of Ea under soil moisture and climatic conditions encountered through the year in temperate areas.

Evaporation Research: Review and Interpretation

“…For all three soil types, the measured (Chanzy and Bruckler 1993) Kr relationships had nearly identical falling rates. 2.…”

“…38 of Allen et al (1998). Chanzy and Bruckler (1993) presented the measured Kr rela tionship for three bare soils in Avignon, France (Fig. 2).…”

“…Because the specific loam, silty clay loam, and clay properties for the Avignon soils presented by Chanzy and Bruckler (1993) were not known, the writers used soil property ranges given in FAO-56 (Table 1) to define average FAO-56 Kr relationship for these soil types (Table 2).…”

“…3-5 illustrate the Kr relationships that were measured (squares and diamonds) by Chanzy and Bruckler (1993) and the average relationships as defined by the writers (lTRC) using FAO-56 (circles and triangles) for the three soil types. The data point in the middle of the lTRC-defined average falling-rate-stage of each Kr relationship is the wilting point of the soil.…”

Impact of Infiltration Process Modeling on Soil Water Content Simulations for Irrigation Management

“…Recently, Tinet et al [8] developed a decision tool based on Ross solution. The model proved good efficiency as compared with the TEC model [25] with 90% agreements in the results. Adding to that, Ross model can provide good results under large temporal and spatial scales [24] The advances in developing sophisticated models and the implemented procedures for model parameterization obviously increased models simulations accuracy [26].…”