Characteristics of meteorological variables and their implications on evaporation in Roorkee (India)

Abstract Estimation of evaporation from meteorological variables and analysis of its properties are very important in the planning of cropping pattern and in the studies of climate change. This study presents the estimation of evaporation, its trends and variation with meteorological variables for the observatory located in Roorkee (India) using the data from 1987 to 2018. The observed pan evaporation was compared with the estimated pan evaporation. The anomalies, trend and shifts in the meteorological variables were correlated with observed pan evaporation. The conclusions from this analysis are (1) decreasing trend for maximum temperature and wind speed was observed for the period from 1987 to 2018, (2) pan evaporation observed during the post-monsoon season indicated a decreasing trend (3) fast urbanization of Roorkee after the creation of Uttarakhand state in the year 2000 enhanced the anthropogenic activities which was evidenced by the shifts in the data of relative humidity and temperature.