Understanding the climatological factors that influence evapotranspiration is essential for accurately estimating POTET. These factors include temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation; each playing a distinct role in the evaporation process.
- Temperature affects the evaporation rate because warmer air can hold more moisture.
- Humidity, or the amount of moisture in the air, influences the evaporative demand; dryer air leads to higher rates of evapotranspiration.
- Wind increases evapotranspiration by moving the humid air away from the surface, allowing for more moisture to evaporate.
- Solar radiation provides the energy needed to convert water to vapor.
Any method aiming to estimate POTET effectively needs to account for these variables to provide a realistic evaporation rate.