What is the Priestley–Taylor wet-surface evaporation parameter? Testing four hypotheses

Crago, Richard D.; Szilagyi, Jozsef; Qualls, Russell J.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3205-2023

Articles | Volume 27, issue 17

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3205-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3205-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 27, issue 17

Research article

|

08 Sep 2023

Research article |

| 08 Sep 2023

What is the Priestley–Taylor wet-surface evaporation parameter? Testing four hypotheses

Richard D. Crago, Jozsef Szilagyi, and Russell J. Qualls

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3205-2023-supplement

Data sets

Collection of FLUXNET Data Richard Crago, Joe Szilagyi, and Russell Qualls https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8172604

Collection of FLUXNET Data R. Crago, J. Szilagyi, and R. J. Qualls https://github.com/r-crago/FLUXNET_Wet_sfc_evap

Model code and software

Collection of FLUXNET Data Richard Crago, Joe Szilagyi, and Russell Qualls https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8172604

Collection of FLUXNET Data R. Crago, J. Szilagyi, and R. J. Qualls https://github.com/r-crago/FLUXNET_Wet_sfc_evap

Short summary

The Priestley–Taylor equation is widely used in hydrologic, climate, and meteorological models to estimate evaporation. α represents the impact of dry air that is carried into the region; this occurs even in extensive saturated regions. Four hypotheses regarding the nature of α are evaluated. Data from 171 FLUXNET stations were used to test the hypotheses. The best-supported hypothesis sees α as a constant fraction of the distance between theoretical minimum and maximum values.