SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE EVAPORATION ESTIMATION TECHNIQUE FOR CONTINUOUS MODELING1

ABSTRACT: The importance of evaporation in hydrologic modeling has been investigated by analysis of water budget at various scales and application of a water management model at plot scale. The data at all scales indicate that evaporation constitutes a major hydrological output. Accurate determination of watershed evapotranspiration depends upon appropriate accounting for the various components of evapotranspiration and their areal and temporal variability. An application of a water management model has revealed that the ranking of the sensitivity of input parameters depends upon the method of determination of evapotranspiration.