Evapotranspiration information reporting: II. Recommended documentation

Researchers and journal authors, reviewers and readers can benefit from more complete documentation of published evapotranspiration (ET) information, including description of field procedures, instrumentation, data filtering, model parameterization, and site review. This information is important for discerning the likely accuracy and representativeness of the reported data and ET parameters, including derived crop coefficients. Documentation should include a description of the vegetation, its aerodynamic fetch, water management and background soil moisture, types of equipment and calibration checks, photographs of the measured vegetation/equipment combinations, and independent assessments of measured ET using models or other means. Documentation and assessment should include a description of, or reference to, all weather recording equipment and parameters, including the vegetation and water management environment of the weather station. Suggestions are given for documentation describing the primary types of ET measuring systems including recommended independent testing.

Research highlights▶ Published evapotranspiration (ET) and crop coefficient information needs sufficient documentation to judge representativeness and accuracy. ▶ Recommended documentation includes description of field procedures, instrumentation, data filtering, model parameterization, and site review. ▶ Documentation on vegetation includes description of the vegetation, its aerodynamic fetch, water management and background soil moisture. ▶ Documentation on measurement includes types of equipment and calibration checks, photographs of the measured vegetation/equipment combinations, and independent assessments of measured ET using models or other means.