O conhecimento da demanda hídrica de uma cultura é fundamental para o planejamento da implantação de novas áreas, bem como para a análise da viabilidade econômica de uma cultura em determinada região. A utilização de culturas para fontes de matéria prima alternativa vem sendo altamente estudada nos últimos anos. Dentre muitas, vem se destacando no cenário nacional e mundial a cultura do pinhão-manso (Jatropha curcas L.) para a produção de biodiesel. O consumo de água por parte do pinhão-manso é pouco conhecida, necessitando ser estudada a fim de aprofundar os conhecimentos sobre a cultura e fornecer parâmetros confiáveis para a prática da irrigação. Os objetivos desse trabalho foram determinar a evapotranspiração (ET), a evaporação (E), a transpiração (T), o coeficiente de cultivo (Kc), coeficiente de evaporação (Ke) e coeficiente de cultivo basal (Kcb) do pinhão-manso na fase de formação irrigados por pivô central, gotejamento e sem irrigação na cidade de Piracicaba, SP. O experimento foi realizado na Fazenda Areão da Escola Superior de Agricultura \"Luiz de Queiroz\" da USP durante o período de março de 2012 a abril de 2013. O experimento foi dividido em três tratamentos, sendo: irrigado por pivô central, gotejamento e sem irrigação. A determinação de ET foi realizada por meio lisímetros de pesagem em cada tratamento, contabilizando a variação de massa em função das entradas saídas de água no sistema. A determinação do Kc foi realizada pela razão entre ET e ETo (estimado a partir de dados coletados na estação meteorológicos automática da Fazenda Areão). Por meio de microlisímetros de pesagem, foi determinado E. De posso dos dados de E, foram determinados os valores de T pela diferença de E (determinado no microlisímetro) e ET (determinado no lisímetro). Os valores de Ke e Kcb foram determinados pela razão de E e T por ETo, respectivamente. Os valores de ET variaram, principalmente, em função do método de irrigação. Foi observado uma superioridade dos valores de ET para o tratamento irrigado por pivô central, seguido do tratamento irrigado por gotejamento e sem irrigação. As médias dos tratamentos durante o primeiro ano foram 3,17, 2,82 e 2,82 mm dia-1 para os tratamentos irrigado por pivô central, irrigado por gotejamento e sem irrigação, respectivamente. Essa mesma proporção de ET entre os tratamentos irrigados foi observado nos valores de Kc. A média do período de Kc foi 0,69 e 0,63 para os tratamentos irrigados por pivô central e gotejamento. Essas maiores taxas de ET e Kc do tratamento irrigado por pivô central em relação ao tratamento irrigado por gotejamento foi devido ao método de irrigação por gotejamento ser mais eficiente na utilização de água pelas plantas em relação ao método por pivô central. Nesse método, a água é aplicada de maneira localizada as plantas, diferentemente do método por pivô central, em que a água é aplicada em toda a superfície do solo. Isso faz com que as taxas de E no método por gotejamento seja menor em relação ao pivô central, diminuindo as taxas de ET. De maneira geral, as taxas de E e Ke foram maiores em relação aos valores de T e Kcb durante o período analisado. Isso foi devido as plantas estarem com porte baixo e o solo estar quase por completo exposto as variações atmosféricas, fazendo com que as taxas de E e Ke sejam superiores as de T e Kcb. A média de E e Ke foram 1,85 mm dia-1 e 1,03, respectivamente, e as médias de T e Kcb foram 0,4 mm dia-1 e 0,2, respectivamente. / The knowledge of the water demand of a culture is essential for planning of new areas, as well as for the economic viability analysis of a culture in a specific region. The use of crops for alternative feedstock sources has been extensively studied in the last years. Among many, jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) has been highlighted for biodiesel production in the national and global scenarios. Water consumption by the jatropha is little known, which requires to be studied in order to increase the knowledge and provide reliable parameters for the irrigation practice. The objectives of this study were to determine the evapotranspiration (ET), evaporation (E), transpiration (T), crop coefficient (Kc), evaporation coefficient (Ke) and basal crop coefficient (Kcb) of jatropha in the formation phase irrigated by center pivot, drip and without irrigation in Piracicaba, SP. The experiment was conducted at Areão Farm of Escola Superior de Agricultura \"Luiz de Queiroz\" of USP during March 2012 to April 2013. The experiment included three treatments: center pivot irrigated, drip irrigated and dryland. The determination of ET was made by weighing lysimeters for each treatment, accounting the inputs and outputs of water in the lysimeter system. The determination of Kc was made by the ratio between ET and ETo (estimated from data collected at the automatic meteorological station of Areão Farm). The determination of E was made by microlysimeters and T was determined between the difference of ET and E. Ke and Kcb values were determined by the ratio of E and T by ETo, respectively. ET values varied, mainly, according to the irrigation method. It was observed superiority of ET values for the treatment irrigated by center pivot, followed by the treatment irrigated by drip and without irrigation. The average during the first year was 3.17, 2.82 and 2.82 mm day-1 for the treatment irrigated by center pivot, irrigated by drip irrigated and without irrigation, respectively. The same proportion of ET from irrigated treatments was observed in the values of Kc. In the period, the average of Kc was 0.69 and 0.63 for the treatments irrigated by center pivot and irrigated by drip. These higher rates of ET and Kc of the treatment irrigated by center pivot compared to the treatment irrigated by drip was due to the method of drip irrigation is more efficient in water use by plants in relation to the method irrigated by central pivot. In this method, the water application is made in a localized way, differently in relation to the center pivot method in which water is applied all over the soil surface. This makes E rates given by drip irrigation method lower than the center pivot irrigation method, decreasing its ET averages. In general, rates of E and Ke were higher compared T and Kcb values during the period analyzed. This was explained due the short plants stature and the soil was almost completely exposed to atmospheric variations, causing rates of E and Ke exceed from T and Kcb rates. The average of Ke and E were 1.85 mm day-1 and 1.03, respectively, and the average of T and Kcb were 0.4 mm day-1 and 0.2, respectively.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é estimar a recarga direta e profunda do Sistema Aqüífero Guarani (SAG) na bacia representativa do Ribeirão da Onça. Paralelamente são analisados os comportamentos do aqüífero e da evapotranspiração na bacia. A bacia do Ribeirão da Onça apresenta características representativas típicas da região de afloramento do Sistema Aqüífero Guarani (SAG) no Estado de São Paulo. A bacia do Ribeirão da Onça tem a vantagem de ser uma bacia amplamente estudada em vários aspectos referentes à sua hidrologia e hidrogeologia. Obtiveram-se dados suficientes para fazer um balanço hídrico da bacia monitorada por um ano hidrológico e extrair uma estimativa da recarga direta e profunda nesta zona de afloramento do Sistema Aqüífero Guarani. Utilizaram-se dados da flutuação do nível do aqüífero para estimar a recarga direta e a variação do armazenamento subterrâneo. Os poços de monitoramento foram distribuídos em diversas culturas, possibilitando uma análise do comportamento do aqüífero por cultura. Estimou-se que a recarga direta do sistema, na bacia, está em torno de 400 mm anuais. A estimativa da recarga profunda indica um valor entre zero e 40 mm. A análise do comportamento do aqüífero mostra que a recarga direta é menor em solos cultivados com eucalipto e maior em áreas cultivadas com pastagem. A variação do nível do aqüífero apresenta forte correlação entre as culturas, exceto a de eucaliptos. A posição dos poços é fator fundamental para a estimativa da recarga direta. Terrenos mais planos tendem a produzir uma maior recarga direta do aqüífero. Avaliaram-se métodos de estimativa de evapotranspiração. A avaliação foi realizada entre alguns métodos empíricos e a evapotranspiração obtida através do balanço hídrico. Estimou-se uma evapotranspiração em torno de 900 mm anuais a partir do balanço hídrico. Todos os métodos empíricos e semi- empiríco, com exceção do de Thornthwaite, superestimaram a evapotranspiração quando comparados ao valor estimado pelo balanço hídrico. O método de Hargreaves-Samani foi o que mais se distanciou, com 1894 mm anuais. O método de Thornthwaite foi o que mais se aproximou, com 936 mm anuais, com discrepância de apenas entre 3% e -6% do valor estimado pelo balanço hídrico. A utilização dos métodos empíricos e semi- empíricos de estimativa da evapotranspiração, para estudos da recarga de aqüíferos na região da zona de afloramento do Sistema Aqüífero Guarani no estado de São Paulo, deve ser vista com cautela. Só uma avaliação prolongada poderá indicar quais os métodos mais se aproximam da realidade. Pelos resultados obtidos, recomenda-se a revisão das estimativas de disponibilidade hídrica sustentável do Sistema Aqüífero Guarani e a utilização com cautela dos métodos empíricos e semi-empíricos de estimativa da evapotranspiração, para estudos hidrológicos no estado de São Paulo. A análise do monitoramento da bacia do Ribeirão da Onça só vem a confirmar a representatividade dos estudos feitos nessa região e a grande relevância que esses estudos terão para o gerenciamento desse importante reservatório que é o Sistema Aqüífero Guarani / The main objective of this work is to esteem the recharge direct and deep in the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) at the representative basin of Ribeirão da Onça. At the same time, the behavior and the evapotranspiration at the water basin have been studied. The Ribeirão da Onça water basin has typical representative characteristics on the outcrop region in the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS) in the São Paulo State. Its hydrology and hydrogeology have been widely studied under several aspects, what consists of an advantage. It had been gotten enough data to make a water balance of the monitored water basin for one hydrological year and get out the direct and deep recharge estimate at this outcrop region of the Guarani Aquifer System. It had been used data of the aquifer level fluctuation in order to estimate the direct recharge and the subterranean storage. The monitoring wells are distributed in several crops, making the behavior in the aquifer per crop analysis possible. The estimated direct recharge of the system, at the water basin, is about 400 mm. The estimated deep recharge is between zero and 40 mm. The aquifer behavior analysis shows that the direct recharge is smaller in soils with eucalyptus cultivated than it is in other crops. The wells position is also an important aspect to the direct recharge. Plainer and higher lands tend to produce a greater direct recharge of the aquifer. Evapotranspiration esteem methods had been also evaluated. The evaluation was made with some empirical methods and the evapotranspiration gotten through to the water balance. The evapotranspiration estimated through the water balance was about 900 mm per year. All the empirical and semi-empirical methods, excepting Thornthwaite, overestimated the evapotranspiration if compared to the water balance estimated value. The Hargreaves-Samani´s method was the most far-away, with 1894 mm per year. The Thornthwaite method was the closest, with 936 mm per year, only between -6% and 3% of the estimated value through the water balance. The use of empirical and semi-empirical methods to esteem the evapotranspiration, in order to study the aquifers recharge in the region of the outcrop zone of the Guarani Aquifer System at São Paulo State, must be used with caution. Only a long-term evaluation could say which methods get closer to the reality. Through the analysis of the gotten results, it is recommended a revision of the estimated sustained water accessibility of the Guarani Aquifer System and the cautious use of the empirical and semi- empirical methods to esteem the evapotranspiration, to hydrological studies at São Paulo State. The analysis of the monitoring of the Ribeirão da Onça water basin comes to prove the active role of the studies in this region and the importance that this studies will have to the management of this great reservoir that is the Guarani Aquifer System

In the past, the Northern Tampa Bay Area (NTBA) wetlands saw severe declines in hydrologic conditions due to excessive groundwater withdrawal rates. Eventually these rates were reduced to allow the wetlands to recover. To monitor this recovery, the Southwest Florida Water Management district (SWFWMD) set up a fieldwork based scoring methodology, called the Wetlands Assessment Procedure (WAP). WAP has been used in many studies of the area since groundwater withdrawal reductions; with many of those studies finding the recovery to be mixed at best. However, these studies were very limited in the number of wetlands they could assess due to the limitations of fieldwork. Therefore, it was proposed that remotely sensed variables associated with water consumption and stress be used to assess the recovery of the NTBA wetlands, as remote sensing allows for efficient assessments of targets over large area. Utilizing ASTER imagery scenes from 2005 and 2014, 211 wetlands’ remotely sensed responses of NDVI, Land Surface Temperature (LST), and Evapotranspiration (ET) were mapped and statistically examined for trends indicating improvement or decline. Furthermore, a subset of WAP scores for the two years were examined and compared to the remotely sensed values. The results were contradictory, with remotely sensed responses showing an improvement over the time period, WAP scores indicating a decline in hydrologic conditions, and the two methods showing little to no fit when modeled against each other. As such, it is believed at this time that the remotely sensed method is not suitable for measuring the indicators of wetland recovery used in the WAP methodology.

No description available.

Drought poses a threat to socio-economic activities across eastern Africa and its river basins. While there are indications that global warming may continue to enhance evaporation and intensify droughts at all scales, most drought projections over eastern Africa are based on rainfall alone and are limited to meteorological droughts. The present study combines rainfall and Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) to examine the characteristics of meteorological and hydrological droughts in present and future climates at the regional and river basin scales. To accomplish that we have applied five objectives; i) Study the temporal and spatial characteristics of eastern Africa droughts modes, ii) Investigate how some atmospheric teleconnections influence the characteristics of the Africa droughts modes, iii) Examine the influence of 1.5°C and 2°C global warming levels on drought modes in eastern Africa under two future climate scenarios, RCP 4.5 and RCP8.5 iv) Assess how increases in global warming will influence drought characteristics over eastern African river basins. v) Examine the potential impacts of climate change and land use change on water availability in the Rufiji River basin (RRB), Tanzania, with an emphasis of hydrological droughts in this basin. Different types of datasets, including gridded and station observation datasets, regional climate model simulations (CORDEX: Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment) and hydrological simulations (SWAT: Soil and Water Assessment Tool), were analysed for the study. The meteorological drought were characterised using two indices (i.e. Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI; Standardized Precipitation Index, SPI) at 3- and 12-month scales, while the hydrological droughts were characterised using four indices (i.e. soil water index, SWI; Surface Runoff Index, RFI; Water Yield Index, WYI; and Stream Flow index, SFI). The study combined principal component analysis (PCA) with wavelet analysis to identify the spatio-temporal structure of four dominant drought modes over the region. It also used wavelet coherence to quantify the influence of four atmospheric teleconnections (i.e. El Niño Southern Oscillation, ENSO; Indian Ocean Dipole, IOD; Tropical Atlantic Dipole Index, TADI; and Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, QBO) on the drought modes. The study also projects the characteristics of future droughts over eastern Africa and its major river basins at different global warming levels (GWLs). Series of hydrological simulations were used to assess the sensitivity of future droughts to four land use change scenarios (i.e. increase in forestry, shrubs, cropland and agriculture) over the Rufiji River Basin (RRB), a prominent river basin in eastern Africa. Although eastern Africa have been documented with several drought studies, the application of a combination of PCA, Wavelet analysis, wavelet coherence and Self Organizing Maps provides more comprehensive representation of droughts in the region using SPEI/SPI derived from both models and observations The results of the study show that the four drought modes, which have their core areas over different parts of eastern Africa, account for more than 45% of drought variability in the region. All the drought modes are strongly coupled with either ENSO or IOD indices (or both); but, in addition, one of the modes is also strongly coupled with the TADI. CORDEX models give a realistic simulation of the relevant climate variables for calculating drought indices over eastern Africa and the river basins. However, the ensemble mean struggles to reproduce the spatial distribution and frequency of drought intensity in the region. The CORDEX simulations project no changes in the spatial structure of the drought modes but suggest an increase in SPEI drought intensity and frequency over the hotspots of the drought modes and elsewhere in the region. The magnitude of the increase, which varies over the drought mode hotspots, increases with increasing GWLs. The projections also show that the increase in intensity and frequency of drought can be attributed more to increased PET than to reduced precipitation. In contrast to the SPEI projection, the SPI projection shows a weak change in intensity and frequency of droughts, and the magnitude of the increase does not vary with the GWLs. Over the river basins, the SPEI projections are more robust than the SPI projections. Over the RRB, the future projections of some hydrological drought indices (i.e. RFI and SFI) follow the change in the SPEI projections, while others (i.e. SWI and WYI) follow that of SPI. Among the four land use scenarios considered, only forestry and shrubs show a substantial change in the hydrological drought indices. The results of the study thus give valuable insight into the characteristics of future droughts in eastern Africa and provide a useful guide to the effectiveness of using land cover to reduce the severity of hydrological droughts over river basins in the region. However, resolution of CORDEX dataset (50km, i.e. 0.44deg) could be among the potential limitation as it is too low to capture the influence of local-scale processes (e.g. sea breeze, mountain induced circulations) on drought over the region.

Lysimeter experimental studies were conducted in a greenhouse to investigate canola (Brassica Napus) plant water use, growth and yield parameters under three different water table depths of 30, 60, and 90 cm. Additionally, control experiments were conducted and only irrigation was applied to these lysimeters without water table limitation. Canola plant’s tolerance level to shallow groundwater was determined. Results showed that groundwater contributions to canola plant were 97, 71, and 68%, while the average grain yields of canola were 4.5, 5.3, and 6.3 gr for the treatments of 30, 60, and 90 cm water table depths, respectively. These results demonstrated that 90 cm water table depth is the optimum depth for canola plant to produce high yield with the least amount of water utilization.

På senare tid har koldioxidavtryck och det ekologiska fotavtryck som vi människor lämnar efter oss fått större uppmärksamhet. Vattenavtryck är däremot något som i Sverige inte förekommer lika frekvent i olika medier. Definitionen på vattenavtryck är den mängd vatten som konsumeras för att producera en vara eller tjänst i alla processens ingående delar och finns dolt i den färdiga produkten. För att ur vattensynpunkt beräkna påverkan av en process finns en mängd olika vatten-avtrycksmetoder. Hoekstra och Hung (2002) introducerade under tidigt 2000-tal konceptet Water Footprint, vattenavtryck. År 2010 publicerade de en global standard för beräkning av vatten-avtrycket hos en process, produkt, producent eller konsument som idag används världen över av olika organisationer och verksamheter. Med fokus på nötfärsbiffen syftar studien i denna rapport till att beräkna och utvärdera vattenavtrycket hos en konventionell och en ekologiskt framställd hamburgare, med målet att kvantifiera och jämföra den relativa betydelsen av de olika produktionsstegen. Att göra en analytisk bedömning av ineffektiva processer och kritiskt granska data samt beräkningsmetoden är även en del av målet. Platsspecifika data kunnat användas för att åstadkomma ett trovärdigt resultat genom att studera en konventionell och en ekologisk gård. För att presentera ett jämförbart värde för en hel hamburgare har resultat från tidigare publikationer använts. Resultaten visar att vattenavtrycket av en konventionell hamburgare är ungefär hälften så stort som för en ekologisk och samma resultat gäller för enbart nötfärsbiffen. Nötköttet står för den betydande delen då vegetabilierna i snitt endast utgör cirka 5 % av det totala vattenavtrycket. Att räkna på vattenavtryck är en komplicerad process där många parametrar hanteras. Valet av data är avgörande då felen i beräkningarna ackumuleras i varje steg. Även om metoden är en förenkling av verkligheten kan vi konstatera att resultaten pekar på att en utveckling mot en lägre köttkonsumtion är nödvändig för att minska miljöpåverkan. / The carbon- and ecological footprint due to human activities has in later years gained more attention. In the Swedish media however the water footprint is not as commonly heard of. The definition of a water footprint is the amount of water consumed within the different steps of production of goods and services, the embedded water in the final product or service. There are different methods to calculate the water consumption and water footprint in production in order to measure environmental impact from a water perspective. During the early 21st century Hoekstra and Hung (2002) introduced the concept of water footprint and in 2010 a global standard was published. This study means to calculate and analyze the water footprint of a conventional and organically produced hamburger, with the aim to quantify and compare the relative importance of different production steps focusing on the beef. To evaluate the ineffective processes and the calculation method as well as critically review data are also part of the purpose. Two specific farms have been examined to achieve site specific data on conventional and organic meat production. Some results from previous official publications have been used to fill in data in order to enable analysis of a complete hamburger. The result shows that the water footprint of the conventional hamburger is approximately half of the organic one, with the same results showing regarding the ground beef. In both cases the water footprint of the vegetables constitutes about 5 % of the total. Calculating the water footprint is a complicated process with many parameters to consider. The selection of data is crucial due to errors in data accumulating in every step of the calculating process. Ever though the method is a simplification of reality we conclude that the results are pointing to the importance of a higher awareness of the environmental impact of meat consumption.

Increased frequency of severe drought events, coupled with rising air temperatures and vapor pressure deficits (VPD), pose a great threat to Mediterranean forests. Pinus halepensis Mill. is one of the most widespread species in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin. Thus, water use of this species plays a critical role in the regions water balance. Studying transpiration patterns and the mechanisms behind stomatal responses to the combined effects of changing VPD and soil moisture can help us improve estimation of forest water use in a changing climate. To improve the estimation of forest evapotranspiration in the Mediterranean basin, the objective of this thesis is to evaluate the transpiration patterns of Pinus halepensis and the role of this species in the soil-water balance under different environmental conditions. Two pine forests in the Turia river basin, eastern Spain, were monitored over a two-year period. The two locations were selected at contrasting altitudes and distances to the sea but within the same hydrological basin, to evaluate if this placement would change the relationship between environmental conditions and the water use of the pines. Sap flow measurements were obtained on a 30-minute interval together with soil moisture measurements and meteorological variables. A soil-water balance was performed on a forest plot-level using an eco-hydrological model in combination with the transpiration data, to assess the contribution of pine transpiration to actual evapotranspiration. Transpiration was dictated by changes in VPD, relative extractable water (REW) and the interaction between these two variables at both sites, indicating that the pines depended on water in the shallow soil layers, and this was restricted during large parts of the year. Except for low winter temperatures having a decreasing effect on transpiration only at the inland site, no significant differences were found in the relationship between environmental drivers and transpiration patterns between the two sites. Using a predictive model, sap flow was shown to be restricted on days of mean VPD values of 2.5 kPa, even when soil moisture levels were relatively sufficient (REW = 0.30), indicating a VPD threshold that decreases pine transpiration. This could potentially affect performance and survival of the species with predicted increases in air VPD. Transpiration levels were highly restricted throughout the first year demonstrating that physiological stresses were not limited to summer months. Using two-year old seedlings in an experiment under controlled conditions confirmed that high levels of VPD can have a decreasing effect on transpiration of P. halepensis (in response to instant changes from 1.5 kPa to 2.7 kPa), while there is an intermediate VPD range that increases transpiration (between 1.0 kPa – 1.5 kPa). This demonstrate how important it is to incorporate VPD changes when predicting forest water use under future climatic changes. Combining transpiration data with eco-hydrological modelling demonstrated that transpiration levels accounted for 62% of total ETa levels during two years of study. Interception levels where 32% of gross precipitation, representing a large water loss to the forest ecosystem. With increased frequency of drought events, soil moisture levels are predicted to become even more limited. Together with a rise in temperatures and consequently VPD, transpiration and growth are likely to be constrained.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The climate variability and climate change-induced events experienced worldwide have caused a significant decrease in the rainfall volume. South Africa is considered to be one of the driest countries in the world, as it receives an average annual rainfall that is lower than the global annual average. To sustain and grow the agricultural sector, South Africa supplements the low rainfall with its freshwater resources, for irrigation purposes. This action is necessary, especially for meeting the high water requirements of the South African fruit industry, as it is one of the major exporters of fruit in the world. Research has been conducted in an attempt to accurately quantify the water requirements of various fruits, which will assist farmers to save water, to increase their productivity and to managing their irrigation water. However, a knowledge of the water use, actual water consumption rates and the factors that drive them, is minimal and inadequate, and this has had a detrimental effect on the effective management of irrigation water and water allocation by the responsible stakeholders.

A mathematical expression was developed and tested which describes the relation between evapotranspiration and soil moisture. A general premise of this mathematical model is that the evapotranspiration-soil moisture relationship is determined by interaction of climatic, soil and plant factors. The basic model is dETa/dYs = -ke[1-(ETa/ETmx)] in which ETa is the actual evapotranspiration, Ys is the total soil water potential, k is a proportionality coefficient , E is the soil moisture extraction capacity of the atmosphere , and ETmx is the evapotranspiration that would occur from a particular crop-soil unit when soil moisture was not limiting. From this model the following expression was derived: ETa = (1/1+(Ys/Ys’)^[2.56/log (Ymi/Ymx)])g E0 where Ymx', Ys', Ymi are the soil potentials at which ETa is equal to 95%, 50% and 5% of ETmx' respectively; E 0 is the evaporation from a free water surface and expressed the evaporative demands of the atmosphere. The term g is a proportionality coefficient equal to ETmx/E0. A second formula was developed that expresses the same relationship in terms of soil water content, and was derived from the former by assuming a hyperbolic relationship between soil water potential and water content. These formulas, as well as various other models which are described in the literature, were tested using experimental data covering a wide range of climatic, soil and plant variables. It was concluded that: (a) Most models advocated in the literature are only adequate to describe the relation between evapotranspiration and soil moisture under particular climatic , soil and plant conditions. (b) The formulas derived from the proposed model provide a good fit for the evapotranspiration-soil moisture relationship under widely different circumstances. If proper values are chosen for the coefficients, these formulas yield relations that are similar to several of the models taken from the literature. Consequently, the proposed mathematical expression appears to be a general model of the manner in which plants use soil water under different vegetative and environmental conditions. (c) It seems possible to predict in a comparative way the pattern of soil water utilization in a soil-plant-atmosphere system . This may be done from a knowledge of the relations between the coefficients of the formulas and climatic, soil and plant factors influencing evapotranspiration.