Articles | Volume 26, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1745-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1745-2022
Research article
 | 
06 Apr 2022
Research article |  | 06 Apr 2022

Testing a maximum evaporation theory over saturated land: implications for potential evaporation estimation

Zhuoyi Tu, Yuting Yang, and Michael L. Roderick

Related authors

CAMELE: Collocation-Analyzed Multi-source Ensembled Land Evapotranspiration Data
Changming Li, Ziwei Liu, Wencong Yang, Zhuoyi Tu, Juntai Han, Sien Li, and Hanbo Yang
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 1811–1846, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1811-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-1811-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Hydrometeorology | Techniques and Approaches: Modelling approaches
Deep-learning-based sub-seasonal precipitation and streamflow ensemble forecasting over the source region of the Yangtze River
Ningpeng Dong, Haoran Hao, Mingxiang Yang, Jianhui Wei, Shiqin Xu, and Harald Kunstmann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 2023–2042, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2023-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-2023-2025, 2025
Short summary
High-resolution land surface modelling over Africa: the role of uncertain soil properties in combination with forcing temporal resolution
Bamidele Oloruntoba, Stefan Kollet, Carsten Montzka, Harry Vereecken, and Harrie-Jan Hendricks Franssen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1659–1683, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1659-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1659-2025, 2025
Short summary
Investigating the global and regional response of drought to idealized deforestation using multiple global climate models
Yan Li, Bo Huang, Chunping Tan, Xia Zhang, Francesco Cherubini, and Henning W. Rust
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1637–1658, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1637-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1637-2025, 2025
Short summary
Distribution, trends, and drivers of flash droughts in the United Kingdom
Iván Noguera, Jamie Hannaford, and Maliko Tanguy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1295–1317, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1295-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1295-2025, 2025
Short summary
Are dependencies of extreme rainfall on humidity more reliable in convection-permitting climate models?
Geert Lenderink, Nikolina Ban, Erwan Brisson, Ségolène Berthou, Virginia Edith Cortés-Hernández, Elizabeth Kendon, Hayley J. Fowler, and Hylke de Vries
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 1201–1220, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1201-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-1201-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Allen, R. G., Pereira, L. S., Raes, D., and Smith, M.: Crop Evapotranspiration – Guidelines for computing crop water requirements, FAO Irrigation and Drainage Paper No. 56, FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy, https://www.fao.org/3/X0490E/x0490e00.htm#Contents (last access: 4 April 2022), 1998. 
Aminzadeh, M., Roderick, M. L., and Or, D.: A generalized complementary relationship between actual and potential evaporation defined by a reference surface temperature, Water. Resour. Res., 52, 385–406, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017969, 2016. 
Andreas, E. L., Jordan, R. E., Mahrt, L., and Vickers, D.: Estimating the Bowen ratio over the open and ice-covered ocean, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 118, 4334–4345, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrc.20295, 2013. 
Bowen, I. S.: The ratio of heat losses by conduction and by evaporation from any water surface, Phys. Rev., 27, 779, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.27.779, 1926. 
Brutsaert, W.: On a derivable formula for long-wave radiation from clear skies, Water. Resour. Res., 11, 742–744, https://doi.org/10.1029/WR011i005p00742, 1975. 
Download
Short summary
Here we test a maximum evaporation theory that acknowledges the interdependence between radiation, surface temperature, and evaporation over saturated land. We show that the maximum evaporation approach recovers observed evaporation and surface temperature under non-water-limited conditions across a broad range of bio-climates. The implication is that the maximum evaporation concept can be used to predict potential evaporation that has long been a major difficulty for the hydrological community.
Share