Evapotranspiration empirical model dependent on temperature and solar radiation in the Republic of Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24850/j-tyca-2026-02-04Keywords:
Evapotranspiration, mathematical models, irrigation, solar radiation, temperature, EcuadorAbstract
Evapotranspiration is a phenomenon highly involved for water infiltration and redistribution among the soil. It is also an important factor that determines the amount of water available for crops. In this article, evaporation data collected by evaporimeter tank in a greenhouse at Imbabura province (north of Ecuador) are presented. Based on these experimental results, the validity of five evapotranspiration reference models that depends exclusively on temperature and solar radiation has been tested for this area. It was seen that, there is a good correlation (Pearson-coefficient around 80 %) between the observed data and the prediction of these five models, being the Irmak, Irmak, Allen and Jones model (2003) what suits better with the observed data for this region. However, all these models overestimate the observed evaporation. Furthermore, it was found that the evaporation observed in this area are highly affected by solar radiation and average daily temperature. Consequently, a new empirical model has been inferred for evapotranspiration in this region of South America that depends linearly on mean daily temperature and solar radiation. This equation will be next implemented in the numerical model, Del Vigo-García, Juana-Sirgado and Rodríguez-Sinobas (2022a), that is being used to develop automation and design of trickle irrigation system in this area.
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