Radiation calibration of FAO56 Penman–Monteith model to estimate reference crop evapotranspiration in China

The standardized FAO56 Penman–Monteith model, which has been the most reasonable method in both humid and arid climatic conditions, provides reference crop evapotranspiration (ETo) estimates for planning and efficient use of agricultural water resources. Net radiation is an important and site-specific component to determine ETo. The empirical radiation estimation in FAO56 Penman–Monteith model was calibrated by observed solar radiation of 81 meteorological stations over China during 1971–2000, and measurements of net longwave radiation in the Tibetan Plateau. Results showed that Ångström formula based on simple annual linear regression coefficients of 0.20 and 0.79 yielded the least error for the preserved 30 validation stations, and are thus recommended for estimating solar radiation in China. The optimal calibration of net longwave radiation was based on Penman estimation combined with the minimum and maximum temperatures. The calibrated net radiation served as the basis to estimate ETo accurately, which would be overestimated by about 27% if no local calibration is performed on the FAO56 Penman–Monteith model in China. The average ETo was 769 mm yr−1 based on calibrated radiation model in China during 1971–2000.