Eighty years of meteorological observations at Wageningen, the Netherlands: precipitation and evapotranspiration

• Published in: International journal of climatology 2010-07, Vol.30 (9), p.1315-1321
• Main Authors: Jacobs, A. F. G., Heusinkveld, B. G., Holtslag, A. A. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: actual evapotranspiration; class A pan; climate; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Geophysics. Techniques, methods, instrumentation and models; grassland; Meteorology; potential evapotranspiration; precipitation; Water in the atmosphere (humidity, clouds, evaporation, precipitation)
• ISSN: 0899-8418; 1097-0088; 1097-0088
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.1957

Annual and seasonal characteristics of precipitation and evapotranspiration were analysed of an 80‐year data record (1928–2008) at Wageningen (the Netherlands). The precipitation series shows a mean annual rainfall of 765 ± 130 mm with a relatively high interannual variability [coefficient of variation (CV) = 17.0%]. Both the annual and seasonal rainfall trends show a small but statistically insignificant increase. Potential evapotranspiration was estimated by Makkink's formula, using observations of incoming solar radiation and air temperature as inputs. This provides a mean evapotranspiration of (525 ± 50) mm annum−1 with a relatively low interannual variability (CV = 9.5%). The annual and seasonal trends appear to be statistically significant, except for the summer season. In addition, since 1992, actual evapotranspiration is measured by the eddy‐covariance technique and these results were found to be highly correlated with the potential evapotranspiration (Eact ≈ 0.75Epot). A comparison is made with a class A evaporation pan operating between 1984 and 1989. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society