Comparative analysis of 31 reference evapotranspiration methods under humid conditions

Evaluation of simple reference evapotranspiration (ETo) methods has received considerable attention in developing countries where the weather data needed to estimate ETo by the Penman-Monteith FAO 56 (PMF-56) model are often incomplete and/or not available. In this study, eight pan evaporation-based, seven temperature-based, four radiation-based and ten mass transfer-based methods were evaluated against the PMF-56 model in the humid climate of Iran, and the best and worst methods were selected from each group. In addition, two radiation-based methods for estimating ETo were derived using air temperature and solar radiation data based on the PMF-56 model as a reference. Among pan evaporation-based and temperature-based methods, the Snyder and Blaney-Criddle methods yielded the best ETo estimates. The ETo values obtained from the radiation-based equations developed here were better than those estimated by existing radiation-based methods. The Romanenko equation was the best model in estimating ETo among the mass transfer-based methods. Cross-comparison of the 31 tested methods showed that the five best methods as compared with the PMF-56 model were: the two radiation-based equations developed here, the temperature-based Blaney-Criddle and Hargreves-M4 equations and the Snyder pan evaporation-based equation.