Evaporative losses from soils covered by physical and different types of biological soil crusts

Evaporation of soil moisture is one of the most important processes affecting water availability in semiarid ecosystems. Biological soil crusts, which are widely distributed ground cover in these ecosystems, play a recognized role on water processes. Where they roughen surfaces, water residence time and thus infiltration can be greatly enhanced, whereas their ability to clog soil pores or cap the soil surface when wetted can greatly decrease infiltration rate, thus affecting evaporative losses. In this work, we compared evaporation in soils covered by physical crusts, biological crusts in different developmental stages and in the soils underlying the different biological crust types. Our results show that during the time of the highest evaporation (Day 1), there was no difference among any of the crust types or the soils underlying them. On Day 2, when soil moisture was moderately low (11%), evaporation was slightly higher in well‐developed biological soil crusts than in physical or poorly developed biological soil crusts. However, crust removal did not cause significant changes in evaporation compared with the respective soil crust type. These results suggest that the small differences we observed in evaporation among crust types could be caused by differences in the properties of the soil underneath the biological crusts. At low soil moisture (<6%), there was no difference in evaporation among crust types or the underlying soils. Water loss for the complete evaporative cycle (from saturation to dry soil) was similar in both crusted and scraped soils. Therefore, we conclude that for the specific crust and soil types tested, the presence or the type of biological soil crust did not greatly modify evaporation with respect to physical crusts or scraped soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatio-temporal variations of reference crop evapotranspiration and pan evaporation in the West Songnen Plain of China

Abstract

The spatio-temporal variations of reference crop evapotranspiration (ET_ref) reflect the combined effects of meteorological variables, primarily wind speed, relative humidity, net radiation and air temperature. This study investigated the spatial distribution and temporal trends of ET_ref (calculated by the FAO-56 Penman-Monteith equation), pan evaporation (E_pan) and pan coefficient (K_p) in a 140?×?10³ km² semi-humid to semi-arid area in China. The results show that: (i) although the spatial distributions of ET_ref and E_pan are roughly similar and their spatial correlation is high over the growing season, K_p varied considerably in space due to high humidity in the east of the region and low humidity in the southwest; (ii) the monthly variations of ET_ref and E_pan are similar to that of net radiation and opposite to that of relative humidity, while the monthly variation of K_p is similar to that of relative humidity and opposite to that of wind speed, and the long-term trend is slightly increasing for ET_ref and E_pan, while significantly (10% significance level) increasing for K_p; and (iii) generally, the time series of ET_ref and E_pan from 1951 to 2001 could be divided into three phases due to variations of meteorological variables.

Citation Liang, L.-Q., Li, L.-J. & Liu, Q. (2011) Spatio-temporal variations of reference crop evapotranspiration and pan evaporation in the West Songnen Plain of China. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(7), 1300–1313.     

Yield–reliability analysis for rural domestic water supply from combined rainwater harvesting and run-of-river abstraction

Abstract

In many rural areas, reticulated water supply from large water resources schemes does not exist and many households obtain water from groundwater (GW), rainwater harvesting (RWH), run-of-river (ROR) flow, or combinations of these. While comprehensive yield–reliability analysis for large water resource systems is the norm, typical rural water supply analysis unrealistically aggregates data into monthly or annual time steps and does not incorporate reliability. A daily time-step simulation of household supply and frequency analysis of the number of days supplied in each year is used herein to: (a) demonstrate a realistic approach of yield–reliability analysis for RWH, ROR and combined RWH and ROR supply; and (b) show how combined utilization of the two can lead to improved supply. Integration of RWH and ROR supply has been found to improve yield and reliability substantially. The limitations of using the simpler mass curve analysis and the effect of applying a monthly time step are demonstrated.

Citation Ndiritu, J., Odiyo, J. O., Makungo, R., Ntuli, C. & Mwaka, B. (2011) Yield–reliability analysis for rural domestic water supply from combined rainwater harvesting and run-of-river abstraction. Hydrol. Sci. J. 56(2), 238–248.     

A framework for sourcing of evaporation between saturated and unsaturated zone in bare soil condition

ABSTRACT

Sourcing subsurface evaporation (E_ss) into groundwater (E_g) and unsaturated zone (E_u) components has received little scientific attention so far, despite its importance in water management and agriculture. We propose a novel sourcing framework, with its implementation in dedicated post-processing software called SOURCE (used along with the HYDRUS1D model), to study evaporation sourcing dynamics, define quantitatively “shallow” and “deep” water table conditions and test the applicability of water table fluctuation (WTF) and “bucket” methods for estimation of E_g and E_u separately.

For the “shallow” and “deep” water table we propose E_g?>?0.95E_ss and E_g = 0 criteria, respectively. Assessment of the WTF method allowed sourcing of very small fluxes otherwise neglected by standard hydrological methods. Sourcing with SOURCE software was more accurate than the standard “bucket” method mainly because of greater flexibility in spatio-temporal discretization. This study emphasized the dry condition relevance of groundwater evaporation which should be analysed by applying coupled flow of heat, vapour and liquid water.

Editor D. Koutsoyiannis; Associate editor S. Kanae     

Evaporation from shallow groundwater in closed basins in the Chilean Altiplano

Abstract

The hydrological cycle in arid and semi-arid climates is highly controlled by evaporation. The correct quantification of this process is essential for improving the accuracy of water balance estimates, especially in closed basins. The objective of this paper is to characterize evaporation rates from shallow groundwater using the chamber approach in six closed basins in the Altiplano of northern Chile. Measurements were made at 49 locations with water-table depths ranging from 0.09 m to 3.3 m. Estimated daily evaporation rates appeared to be strongly related to groundwater depth and soil texture. In particular, the highest rates were recorded in areas with high groundwater tables and coarse-grained soils. Evaporation curves were derived by fitting exponential and power relationships as functions of the groundwater depths that we proposed to use in the study area. An application of these curves for the Salar de Pedernales basin produced an estimated evaporation flow of 530 L s^-1, using the average curve.

Citation Johnson, E., Yáñez, J., Ortiz, C. & Muñoz, J. (2010) Evaporation from shallow groundwater in closed basins in the Chilean Altiplano. Hydrol. Sci. J. 55(4), 624–635.     

季节性冻结-冻融期地中蒸渗计资料处理探讨

本文针对地中蒸渗计在冻结-冻融期存在的问题,利用实验站冻土及土壤水分势能资料,探索了冻土层的发育及其水分运移规律,通过对亚砂土不同埋深及不同年度的地中蒸渗计资料处理,得出冻结期和冻融期地中蒸渗计资料的处理方法及其埋深临界值。这对准确利用冻结-冻融期地中蒸渗计资料具有重要的指导意义。     

大连市蒸发量变化特征及影响因子

采用线性倾向估计法和累积距平曲线和完全相关系数法,分析了1951—2001年大连市蒸发量变化特征及其影响因子。结果表明：大连市年蒸发量呈增加趋势,其中夏季蒸发量的增加趋势最为明显,其次为春季,秋季和冬季蒸发量增加趋势不显著;年蒸发量的增加主要来自夏季的贡献。大连市年及四季蒸发量与日照时数、平均地面温度、平均气温日较差和平均风速总体上呈正相关,与平均相对湿度呈负相关。平均相对湿度减小和平均地面温度上升是大连市蒸发量增加的主要原因。     

中国区域蒸发潜力不均性发展趋势及其气候成因分析

气象台站20 cm蒸发皿观测资料自然正交分解显示,1980～2000年中国区域气温显著增加期间,长江中游至河套、东北等区域地表年蒸发潜力呈增加趋势;相反在长江以南、东部和西南等地区年蒸发潜力呈下降趋势.辐射观测资料分析结果表明,自20世纪70年代中国区域太阳入射能整体呈下降趋势,因此对于蒸发潜力增加的地区,太阳辐射产生...     

Simultaneous solution for water,heat and salt balances in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Mar Menor,Spain)

A modelling approach is proposed to evaluate the environmental dynamics of coastal lagoons. The water, heat and salt balances are addressed simultaneously, providing a better estimation of evaporation and water exchanges. Compared to traditional approaches, the model presented accounts for the effects of water salinity, heat storage and net energy advected in the water body. The model was applied daily to the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (SE Spain) from 2003 through 2006. Water exchanges with the Mediterranean Sea were estimated based on the monthly trend of the lagoon salinity and were correlated with monthly averages of wind speed. The mean daily water exchange with the sea was 1.77 hm³ d⁻¹. This exchange accounted for only 1% of the heat losses in the lagoon heat balance, and it is the most important flow in the water balance. The mean annual evaporation flux amounted to 101.3 W m⁻² (3.55 mm d⁻¹), while the sensible heat flux amounted to 19.7 W m⁻², leading to an annual Bowen ratio on the order of 0.19. To validate the model, daily water temperatures were predicted based on the daily heat balance of the water body and were compared with remote sensing data from water surface standard products.     

中国近海蒸发波导的数值模拟与预报研究

利用中尺度大气模式MM5对2007年中国近海大气蒸发波导进行了全年的高分辨的数值模拟。模拟结果统计表明,整个海域蒸发波导的平均出现概率约为90%。本文重点关注强度较大的蒸发波导,详细分析了其季节分布特征及其与海洋环流和海面气象条件的相关关系。研究发现,25°N以南的开阔海域的蒸发波导出现概率全年都较高,而以北的东海西北部、黄海与渤海,蒸发波导的出现概率呈现明显的季节特征;蒸发波导的空间分布受中国近海海洋环流的强烈影响,存在1个与黑潮区域相一致的带状波导高出现概率区域,台湾暖流、黄海暖流和对马暖流使得在某些季节相应海域蒸发波导出现概率高于其周围海域。此外,本文还基于WRF模式及其3DVAR系统构建了大气波导数值预报系统,尝试对中国东南海域的蒸发波导进行数值预报。