Variation and uncertainty in evaporation from a subtropical estuary: Florida Bay
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Material Information

Title:
Variation and uncertainty in evaporation from a subtropical estuary: Florida Bay
Series Title:
Estuaries and Coasts
Alternate title:
Variation in evaporation in Florida Bay
Creator:
Price, René M.
Nuttle, William K.
Cosby, Bernard J.
Swart, Peter K.
Publisher:
Springer
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Evaporation -- Florida -- Florida Bay
Genre:
article
serial ( sobekcm )
Spatial Coverage:
Florida Bay (Fla.)

Notes

Abstract:
Variation and uncertainty in estimated evaporation was determined over time and between two locations in Florida Bay, a subtropical estuary. Meteorological data were collected from September 2001 to August 2002 at Rabbit Key and Butternut Key within the Bay. Evaporation was estimated using both vapor flux and energy budget methods. The results were placed into a long-term context using 33 years of temperature and rainfall data collected in south Florida. Evaporation also was estimated from this long-term data using an empirical formula relating evaporation to clear sky solar radiation and air temperature. Evaporation estimates for the 12-mo period ranged from 144 to 175 cm yr21, depending on location and method, with an average of 163 cm yr21 (6 9%). Monthly values ranged from 9.2 to 18.5 cm, with the highest value observed in May, corresponding with the maximum in measured net radiation. Uncertainty estimates derived from measurement errors in the data were as much as 10%, and were large enough to obscure differences in evaporation between the two sites. Differences among all estimates for any month indicate the overall uncertainty in monthly evaporation, and ranged from 9% to 26%. Over a 33-yr period (1970–2002), estimated annual evaporation from Florida Bay ranged from 148 to 181 cm yr21, with an average of 166 cm yr21. Rainfall was consistently lower in Florida Bay than evaporation, with a long-term average of 106 cm yr21. Rainfall considered alone was uncorrelated with evaporation at both monthly and annual time scales; when the seasonal variation in clear sky radiation was also taken into account both net radiation and evaporation were significantly suppressed in months with high rainfall.
General Note:
Price, R.M., W.K. Nuttle, B.J. Cosby, P.K. Swart. 2007. Variation and Uncertainty in Evaporation from a Subtropical Estuary: Florida Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 30(3): 497-506.

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the users responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI14082554