Magnitude and Trends of Reference Evapotranspiration Rates in South Central Nebraska

Reference evapotranspiration (ETref) is used to determine the actual water use rate for various crops and is one of the key variables that needs to be determined accurately for effective irrigation management. Information on the magnitude and temporal distribution of daily, monthly, annual, and growing season alfalfa-reference evapotranspiration (ETref)in south central Nebraska. It also discusses why long-term average ETref values may not represent non-average years or be accurate enough for irrigation management.