SYNOPTIC WEATHER TYPES: AN INDEX OF EVAPORATION IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA

Abstract

Synoptic weather types have been found to be useful tools in the study of various environmental processes. One of the advantages of synoptic weather types is that they represent several climatic factors as a unit. Thus, synoptic weather classifications may be utilized to form an environmental baseline that can be employed in a wide variety of applications. One viable use of synoptic weather types is the determination of regional estimates of evaporation. In southern Louisiana, rates of mean daily pan evaporation by synoptic weather types are useful as an index of evaporation, based on the frequency of weather type occurrence. Such estimates have been found to be as good as those from various models and are especially useful for areas of southern Louisiana where climatic data are not collected.