Estimation of evaporation and drainage losses from two bare soils in Sri Lanka

Abstract

In this study, evaporation, drainage rates and water storage of two bare soils in the east (Batticaloa) and west (Puttalam) regions of Sri Lanka, were simulated using the E-DiGOR model. Daily simulations were carried out for each of the years during the periods of 1978 to 1987 in Batticaloa and 1998 to 2007 in Puttalam using standard climate data. The soils in the locations were predominantly sandy loam and/or sandy clay loam. Grass reference evapotranspiration and potential soil evaporation were higher, whereas actual soil evaporation was lower during the dry seasons. The 10-year average annual reference evapotranspiration and potential soil evaporation were 2069.3 mm and 1814.1 mm in Batticaloa, and 1908.8 mm and 1714.5 mm in Puttalam, respectively. Aridity index (precipitation/reference evapotranspiration) was 0.685 for Batticaloa and 0.606 for Puttalam. The actual evaporation from bare soil varied between 463.1—725.0 mm in Batticaloa and 543.6—646.3 mm in Puttalam. Annual drainage rates below 150 cm soil depth ranged from 321.7 to 1581.2 mm in Batticaloa and from 346.7 to 957.0 mm in Puttalam. Soil water storage changed daily depending on the intensity and frequency of rainfall events and on evaporation rates.