Numberical Simulation of Evapotranspiration with Limited Data in the Pearl River Basin

This research compared and analyzed the adaptation of four evapotranspiration equations: the FAO56 Penman-Monteith (PM), Priestley-Taylor, Hargreaves-Samani and Thornthwaite equations by using the day-to-day meteorological data of the 42 observation stations in the Pearl River basin. Numberical simulation of the four equations in different seasons and regions was made in order to find out the most suitable one for the evapotranspiration estimate in the Pearl River basin. Results show that the calculation results of the PM equation seem more stable in different seasons and regions, and is closer to the actual observation, due to the detailed consideration of the effects of aerodynamics and energy supply on evapotranspiration in its calculation procedure. The missing data of relative humidity, sunshine duration, wind speed and air pressure would have influence on the calculation accuracy of the PM equation. Temperature can be used to instead of the above variable in the PM equation, which is called the PMT equation. The applicability and the calculation accuracy is explored in this study. And the results show that the calculation results of the PMT equation is larger than those of the PM equation. By setting a correction coefficient in the PMT equation, the calculation accuracy can be obviously improved. Therefore, in the absence of other data, the PMT equation calculated only using temperature data can be use as an ideal equation for the evapotranspiration calculation and research in the Pearl River basin.