Calculated Annual and Monthly Potential Evaporation (mm)

Calculated annual (00) and monthly (01a|12) potential evaporation (mm) for the period 1980-1999. Calculated by the Priestley-Taylor method. Interpretation: Potential evaporation is an expression of the amount of water that it should be possible to evaporate from an open water surface given the prevailing solar radiation, air temperature, and air dryness conditions. Potential evaporation is generally high over the Australian continent, significantly exceeding rainfall in all but the wettest areas. It is extreme (approaching 10mm/day) in the northern inland in summer. It decreases with decreasing solar radiation, that is with increasing southern latitude and in winter. Potential evaporation also decreases with proximity to coasts, because of increasing cloudiness. Actual evaporation is controlled by the various resistances to moisture loss offered by plants and soil. Notes: These are model-based estimates from the BiosEquil model. Results are given for the aBasea (pre-1788) and aAgrica (present day) conditions. The aAgrica case includes current agricultural inputs of water from irrigation.EvapPT.00, EvapPT.01 a| EvapPT.12 a Mean annual and monthly potential evaporation (mm)Data is in albers equal area, and unprojected using GDA94.

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