Validation of Selected Models for Evaporation Estimation from Reservoirs Located in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions

This paper investigates evaporation at Algardabiya Reservoir, Sirte, Libya. Evaporation from Algardabiya Reservoir is the main problem faced which contributes in water loss. Libya is considered as arid region with limited water resources. Modeling of evaporation from the reservoir is crucial for water management at the area. Three evaporation models, Linacre, DeBruin and Harbeck, were selected to predict reservoir evaporation, and meteorological data were input to the models from a weather station at the reservoir site. Daily evaporation also was measured, and statistical tests were conducted to check model accuracy. These tests showed that the models produced reasonable accuracy, with biases in model prediction of 6.5, 8.5 and 9.4 for the DeBruin, Linacre and Harbeck models, respectively. Based on the model testing, the Linacre model can be used to predict evaporation from the Reservoir when available meteorological data are limited to air temperature only. However, we recommend application of the DeBruin and Harbeck models when more meteorological data are available.