Evapotranspiration Estimation for South Florida

Abstract

A regional estimate of potential evapotranspiration (ETp) for central and south Florida is provided based on cumulative literature and lysimeter studies of evaporation and evapotranspiration measurements and estimations. General estimates of annual ETp for the south Florida Water Management District range from 122 cm in the north to 137 cm in the south. Open water and wetland systems evaporate at the potential rate. Otherwise, actual evapotranspiration will be lower due to limited availability of water or moisture. A network of weather stations and an ETp computation software developed in-house is currently being used at the South Florida Water Management District to develop a daily ETp database. A simple ETp estimation model that was previously calibrated with lysimeter data is being applied.