Evaporative Demand

Evaporative Demand Latest News

The rising evaporative demand in India is exposing significant gaps in the country’s climate data and research.

About Evaporative Demand

• Evaporative demand is a measure of how thirsty the atmosphere is. 
• It determines the near-maximum of how much water will evaporate from a given piece of land if sufficient water is available.
• It does not necessarily relate to actual evaporation rate, as if there is little water supply there can only be a small evaporation rate, no matter how large the demand.
• It is driven by atmospheric factors including temperature, wind speed, humidity and cloud cover. 
• Periods of high evaporative demand are connected to droughts and increased fire danger.
• Tracking extended periods with above normal evaporative demand can be a useful way to detect drought onset, drought intensification, and elevated fire danger. 
• Above normal temperatures, clear skies, and wind speed, and below normal humidity all drive evaporative demand up and lead to quicker drying at the surface. 
• Soil moisture is reduced which leads to less water available for plants and vegetation becomes stressed and more flammable. 
• When extended periods of below normal precipitation overlap with extended periods of above normal evaporative demand fuels become critically dry favoring rapidly spreading wildfires.

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What is a Thirstwave?

• It denotes three or more contiguous days of intense evaporative demand.
• While heat waves are caused by particular temperature and wind patterns, a thirstwave is the product of temperature, humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed.
• When temperatures rise, the consequences include more heat as well as the mechanics of water exchange between land and atmosphere, which in turn alters humidity, wind, and solar radiation.
• In a warming world, the researchers found that thirstwaves have grown more intense, are more frequent, and are lasting longer.

Source: TH