Evapotranspiration rates refer to the combined process of evaporation and transpiration, where water is converted from its liquid state to vapor and then released into the air from plants, soil, and other surfaces. It indicates how quickly water is being lost from a specific area due to evaporation and plant transpiration.
Full definition
DiGiovanni, K., F. Montalto, and S. Gaffin, 2018: A comparative analysis of micrometeorological determinants of
evapotranspiration rates within a heterogeneous urban environment.
Event attribution analysis suggests that human induced greenhouse gas increases may also have contributed by
causing evapotranspiration rates to be higher than they would have been under pre-industrial conditions.
The lower relative humidity and increased temperatures that would result from potential reductions in fog and low cloud cover could increase
plant evapotranspiration rates, raise soil water deficits, and accelerate risks of forest fire.
Since
the evapotranspiration rates of the study's cropping systems held steady across several years of varying precipitation levels, the study also suggests that crop evapotranspiration rates may not be as sensitive to climate change as is currently assumed.
changes in soil moisture due to shifting precipitation regimes and
evapotranspiration rates, which changes infiltration and runoff ratios;
An important contribution to present day sea level rise could result from changes in the amount of water stored in the ground, on the surface in lakes and reservoirs, and by modifications to surface characteristics affecting runoff or
evapotranspiration rates.