Author(s): Hoa. X. Pham; Asaad Y. Shamseldin
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Potential evapotranspiration; Climate change; HadC M3; FAO-56
Abstract: The debate on the accuracy of evapotranspiration estimation is still open. This may be due to the errors persistent in measuring and calculating evapotranspiration. In order to minimize the errors of model performance and to maximize the use of data availability, an integration of regional climate model outputs and physical-based evapotranspiration method is used in this study. Data generated from the Hadley Centre Coupled Model version 3 (Had CM3) with daily 5 km resolution is employed. It is expected that this data coupled with the use of FAO-56 method could improve the accuracy of evapotranspiration estimation. The observed evaporation at seven stations across the Waikato catchment of New Zealand is used to compare the observation against the simulations. Different statistical coefficients are used to evaluate the accuracy of simulated daily evapotranspiration. In addition, monthly evapotranspiration patterns are tested. The result shows that there is a good agreement between the observation and simulation at all stations. It is concluded that the use of Had CM3 outputs is reliable for estimating potential evapotranspiration under current climate; therefore it is recommended for future projections.
Year: 2014