Abstract
Reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) estimation is of importance in irrigation water management for the calculation of crop water requirements and its scheduling, rainfall runoff modelling and numerous other water resources studies. This paper developed the Kohonen Self-Organizing Map (KSOM), unsupervised artificial neural networks software sensors to predict the ETo. This was achieved by using the powerful clustering capability of the KSOM to analyse the multi-dimensional data array of estimated Penman-Monteith ETo and different subsets of input climatic variables. Data obtained at two locations, Edinburgh (UK) and Udaipur (India), were used in order to demonstrate the versatility of the approach. The findings indicate that the KSOM-based ETo estimates were in good agreement with those obtained using the conventional FAO Penman-Monteith formulation at both locations. A further comparison of the KSOM estimates with other commonly used empirical methods for the ETo, e.g. Thornthwaite, Priestley-Taylor and Hargreaves, showed that the former were far superior. This offers significant potential for accurate estimation of the ETo in regions of the world where the needed climatic data are unavailable for the implementation of the full Penman-Monteith formulation.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Hydro-climatology: Variability and Change |
Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings of the Symposium JHS02 held during the IUGG GA in Melbourne (28 June-7 July 2011) |
Editors | SW Franks, E Boegh, E Blyth, DM Hannah, KK Yilmaz |
Place of Publication | WALLINGFORD |
Publisher | IAHS Press |
Pages | 7-14 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Volume | 344 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-907161-19-3 |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Event | 25th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics - Melbourne Duration: 28 Jun 2011 → 7 Jul 2011 |
Conference
Conference | 25th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics |
---|---|
City | Melbourne |
Period | 28/06/11 → 7/07/11 |