Estimación de la evapotranspiración de referencia mediante atmómetro con fines de calendarización de riego

Abstract

In arid and semi-arid zones, evapotranspiration represents a great loss of water into the atmosphere, which is why it is necessary to understand and quantify this process. The work was carried out in the Valle del Fuerte Experimental Field during the autumn-winter 2012-13 agricultural cycle. A meteorological station was used to measure the climatic variables and the atmometer to measure ETo. The mean square of the error (MSE), mean square root of the error (CTMR) and the linear regression were obtained to statistically evaluate the performance of the atmometer. The estimate of ETo were 1495 and 1455 mm for the atmometer and the weather station. The linear regression coefficient was R2 = 87%, the MSE and CTMR were 0.71 and 0.84 mm. The yield was 2.66 and 2.64 th a–1 for the atmometer and IrriModel, with water productivity of 0.71 and 0.68 kg m–3. The linear regression analysis of the atmometer presents a high level of confidence to estimate ETo. The atmometer with proper management and maintenance is an alternative to estimate the ETo for the scheduling of irrigation in crops.