analyzing trends in reference evapotranspiration in northwest part of iran

Evapotranspiration is one of the most important components of the hydrological cycle. It is essential in all of hydro climatological studies, irrigation and drainage calculations, water balance, and crop water requirements. The aim of this study is to investigate temporal trends of reference evapotranspiration (ETo) in the Northwest part of Iran. For this purpose, the meteorological data from 20 synoptic stations over a 22-year time period (1986–2007) were used. After the calculation of ETo using the Penman-Monteith FAO-56 method, the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test was used to investigate the temporal trends on monthly, seasonal and annual scales. The Sen’s estimator method was used and to calculate the slope of the trend line. The results indicated that the ETo trend was increasing (positive) in various months, except for the Sarab station in December. On a monthly scale, the Maragheh station showed the highest positive slope in August, and the Bijar station showed the highest negative slope in May. 43.34% of the stations showed a significant trend, and 56.66% did not show a significant trend. In seasonal and annual time periods there was not a significant decreasing trend in any of the stations. The analysis of the results shows that in the spring 20%, in the summer 55%, in the fall 70%, in the winter 75%, and on an annual scale 60% of the stations under study showed an increasing trend. For modeling these changes, the spatial distribution of ETo trends (on monthly, seasonal, and annual scales) were mapped in ArcGIS. Final models determine that most stations in this study show an increasing trend on monthly, seasonal and annual scales.