Establishment of a crop evapotranspiration calculation model and its validation

Abstract In order to contribute knowledge on the method used to calculate the actual crop evapotranspiration, soil, crop, atmosphere, and water spatial structure were integrated into a complete system. Based on the energy balance equation and aerodynamic equation, the meteorological data was reduced and the crop physiological parameter was increased, then the crop evapotranspiration calculation model under natural conditions was derived. The crop evapotranspiration calculation model was verified by the water balance formula using data generated from corn, potato, and flue‐cured tobacco grown under field conditions for three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019. The results showed that: from 2017 to 2019, the average root mean square error for measured and calculated evapotranspiration of corn, potato, and flue‐cured tobacco at different growth times were 0.5948, 0.4753, and 0.3326, respectively, the mean deviation, mean absolute error, and mean relative error were small, and the coefficient of determination and consistency index were both greater than 0.9100. The measured and calculated crop evapotranspiration of the selected crops increased at first and then decreased gradually as the crops matured, and finally decreased to harvest evapotranspiration, showing a parabolic trend. The crop evapotranspiration calculation model not only reflects the actual evapotranspiration of crops at different growth time but also reflects the change law of actual crop evapotranspiration. The model does not need the correction of soil moisture content, irrigation method, and crop coefficient and can directly calculate the actual crop evapotranspiration. It has the characteristics of consistency between the calculated value and the measured value, strong applicability, simple calculation process, and high accuracy and has the best effect on monitoring soil moisture and crop water shortage sensitivity. The model is significance in that it guides for monitoring soil moisture, determining actual crop evapotranspiration, crop water shortage index, and high yield and efficiency under water‐saving conditions.