Calculated Annual and Monthly Potential Evaporation (mm)

Brief description

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.

See [further metadata](http://data.daff.gov.au/anrdl/metadata_files/pa_ampe_r9cl
__01512a00.xml) for more detail.

Full description

ampe_r9cl__01511a00eifgeo___.zip -
ampe_r9cl__01511a00egageo___.zip -