Estimation of potential evaporation from water surface using meteorological data

This research consists of two parts. In the first part, the significance of five evaporation rate governing factors i.e. radiation, temperature, vapor pressure deficit, and relative humidity were evaluated using daily metrological data, for the Atatürk dam, Turkey and their impact on the evaporation rate were established using standardization method. It was established that the effect of these leading factors varied with the time-scale. For the precise management of water balance in rapidly diminishing water resources such as channels, lakes and water reservoirs, it is important to know the rate of evaporation from the water surface. Due to the difficulty in measuring the evaporation from the water surfaces experimentally, different methods and techniques are developed and suggested for its determination. Evaporation from the reservoir of Ataturk dam, located in southeast Turkey on Euphrates river was estimated using different methods and their robustness and vigorousness were tested. Evaporation was calculated using Penmen- Monteith combination equation. Penmen-Monteith model for evaporation is considered to be the standard model for estimating evaporation. Measurements of climatological parameters enabled estimation of energy balance components. Other radiations and temperature-based methods were tested and evaluated in accordance with the Penman- Monteith method.