The main objectives of this research were: (i) to simulate actual evapotranspiration in a small watershed under natural conditions of Brazilian Savannah during a year, between 08/04/98 and 08/03/99; (ii) to compare observed and simulated values of actual evapotranspiration, runoff and water depth stored in the soil. Using the water balance equation, the actual evapotranspiration (830.53 mm) was computed. During the year, twenty-one intermediate measurements were made in order to use the water balance method for short time intervals. Simulated and measured values of the actual evapotranspiration and the water flow did not have a good correlation. On the other hand, simulated values of the quantity of water stored in the soil to a one meter depth presented results very similar to the measured ones. During the driest period of the year, in spite of the high values of reference evapotranspiration, the actual evapotranspiration presented small values because of the lack of available water to evapotranspirate.
evapotranspiration; water balance; Penman-FAO; water resources
