The determination of the probability of occurring soil water deficit (DHS) is important for planning agricultural and livestock activities and for environment management. The objective of this study was to determine probability distribution function that fit soil water deficit distribution. Ten-day and monthly DHSs were estimated by calculating daily soil water balance assuming several storage water capacities of soils in the under the scope of the meteorological station of Santa Maria. Monthly and ten-day DHS fit to lognormal, gama, exponential and Weibull probability distribution functions. It is possible to determine the probability of occurring any DHS value at any time throughout the year in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul with the probability distribution functions selected in this study.
water balance; evapotranspiration; data transformation
