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On the ambiguous interpretation of the Turc‐Budyko nondimensional graph
Author(s) -
Andréassian Vazken,
Perrin Charles
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/2012wr012532
Subject(s) - potential evaporation , evaporation , graph , representation (politics) , streamflow , interpretation (philosophy) , water balance , mathematics , precipitation , meteorology , environmental science , computer science , geology , drainage basin , physics , discrete mathematics , geography , geotechnical engineering , cartography , politics , programming language , political science , law
This technical note discusses the Turc‐Budyko nondimensional graph, a widely used nondimensional representation relating long‐term actual evaporation to precipitation and potential evaporation. Since long‐term actual evaporation cannot be directly measured, it is usually derived from catchment‐scale hydrological water balance. We show that for this reason, the common interpretation of the nondimensional graph is ambiguous, and we suggest giving up this classic representation and adopting instead one where actual evaporation is replaced by streamflow.