Evapotranspiration in Urban Water Balance Models: A Methodological Framework

This paper addresses the current imperative to develop and test urban ET algorithms, incorporate these into urban water balance models, and develop these into tools to underpin and guide Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and integrated urban water management. Two approaches to modelling the urban water balance focusing specifically on urban evapotranspiration are presented: i) SUES (Single-source Urban Evapotranspiration-interception Scheme, Grimmond and Oke, 1991); and ii) Aquacycle (Mitchell et al., 2001). Aquacycle is a continuous water balance model that represents both the internal and external components of the urban water cycle: the water supply (including options for water re-use and rainwater tanks); the stormwater and the wastewater streams.