WWRC 84-25
Predicting Temperature and Precipitation at Ungaged Sites in the Upper Green River Basin
Introduction
A method for estimating monthly irrigation
requirements was needed for the Upper Green
River Basin of Wyoming to properly size proposed
reservoirs. Monthly irrigation requirements
are equal to monthly crop evapotranspiration,
less monthly precipitation. The simplest
and most commonly used method in the western
United States to estimate monthly evapotranspiration
is the Soil Conservation Service version
of the Blaney-Criddle method (SCS, 1967). This
method requires only mean monthly temperature
to estimate monthly evapotranspiration. Thus,
mean monthly precipitation and temperature for
the growing season are the minimum climatic
measurements necessary to determine evapotranspiration
rates and subsequent irrigation
requirements.
Historic measurements of temperature and
precipitation were limited in the Upper Green
River Basin which comprises some 38,800 square
km. Long-term data were available from twelve
National Heather Service stations. Therefore,
a practical, theoretically correct method was
needed to estimate monthly temperature and
precipitation, respectively, at ungaged sites
in the Basin.
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