Improvement of Hargreaves–Samani Reference Evapotranspiration Estimates in the Peruvian Altiplano

Abstract

The FAO 56 Penman–Monteith equation (PM) is considered the most accurate method for estimating reference evapotranspiration (ETo). However, PM requires a large amount of data that is not always available. Thus, the objective of this study is to improve the Hargreaves–Samani (HS) reference evapotranspiration estimates in the Peruvian Altiplano (PA) by calibrating the radiation coefficient KRS. The results show modified HS (HSM) ETo estimates at validation after KRS calibration, revealing evident improvements in accuracy with Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) between 0.58 and 0.93, percentage bias (PBIAS) between −0.58 and 1.34%, mean absolute error (MAE) between −0.02 and 0.05 mm/d, and root mean square error (RMSE) between 0.14 and 0.25 mm/d. Consequently, the multiple linear regression (MLR) model was used to regionalize the KRS for the PA. It is concluded that, in the absence of meteorological data, the HSM equation can be used with the new values of KRS instead of HS for the PA.

Keywords

• radiation coefficient <i>K_RS</i>
• reference evapotranspiration
• Hargreaves-Samani
• Penman-Monteith