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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414148
Research Project: Enhancing Cropping System and Grassland Sustainability in the Texas Gulf Coast Region by Managing Systems for Productivity and Resilience

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: Version 1.3.0 - pyfao56: FAO-56 evapotrasnpiration in Python

Author
item Thorp, Kelly
item DeJonge, Kendall
item POKOWSKI, TYLER - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item GULATI, DINESH - Pennsylvania State University
item KUKAL, MEETPAL - Pennsylvania State University
item FARAG, FARED - Arkansas State University
item HASHEM, AHMED - Natural Resources Consulting Engineers, Inc
item ERISMANN, GABRIAL - Agroscope
item BAUMGARTNER, TAMARA - Agroscope
item HOLZKAEMPER, ANNELIE - Agroscope

Submitted to: SoftwareX
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/25/2024
Publication Date: 4/11/2024
Citation: Thorp, K.R., DeJonge, K.C., Pokowski, T., Gulati, D., Kukal, M., Farag, F., Hashem, A., Erismann, G., Baumgartner, T., Holzkaemper, A. 2024. Version 1.3.0 - pyfao56: FAO-56 evapotrasnpiration in Python. SoftwareX. SoftwareX Volume 26 (2024) 101724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2024.101724.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2024.101724

Interpretive Summary: The seminal publication of FAO-56 described standardized methods to estimate crop water use or evapotranspiration (ET), which is a critical aspect of irrigation management, water rights in many Western states, and large-scale studies of hydrology. In the first release of the "pyfao56" software, the FAO-56 methodology was programmed using the modern open-source Python programming environment. The current pyfao56 release (version 1.3.0) adds considerable functionality to the original software and previous releases, including runoff calculations, automatic irrigation scheduling, consideration of irrigation efficiency, and other improvements. The pyfao56 software serves as a useful tool or framework for users of ET-based irrigation scheduling, which includes agronomists, crop consultants, irrigators, and agricultural water researchers.

Technical Abstract: The pyfao56 software package is a Python-based implementation of the standardized evapotranspiration (ET) methodologies described in Irrigation and Drainage paper No. 56 of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, commonly known as FAO-56. This update improved pyfao56 by 1) adding an optional surface runoff methodology, 2) adding an extensive algorithm for automating the computation of irrigation schedules, 3) considering irrigation losses due to irrigation system inefficiencies, 4) adding an optional method to compute the transpiration reduction coefficient (Ks) based on the curvilinear approach from AquaCrop, 5) incorporating a module for computing 15 goodness-of-fit statistics between simulated and measured data, and 6) computing a cumulative seasonal water balance summary. Most of these updates arose from user requests to add new features or options, and the collaborations demonstrated the value of community-based development for rapid improvement and generalization of scientific software.