A Shootout between Forecast Reference Evapotranspiration (FRET) and ZiaMet Weather Station Data for Calculating Reference ET

The need for quality evapotranspiration (ET) data is a necessity for agricultural growers in water scarce areas such as New Mexico who wish to preserve water supplies by employing irrigation scheduling schemes. The New Mexico Climate Center operates the ZiaMet weather station network that is mostly located near agricultural lands to help provide this service. These weather stations collect air temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed data to calculate Penman-Monteith reference ET on a daily basis. Since 2016, the NM Climate Center has been comparing the daily Forecast Reference ET product provided by the National Weather Service office in Albuquerque, NM. This product provides forecasts for locations that are coincident with five ZiaMet weather stations. This poster examines the difference between daily FRET derived reference ET and reference ET calculated using the in-situ ZiaMet weather stations.